AIL Opening Round.
Banbridge 8 Ballynahinch 43.
James Kirk reports.
Ballynahinch warmed up for the opening round of the AIL with a resounding six try victory over derby rivals Banbridge to set up a Christmas shootout with Queens for the Stevenson Shield.
Adam Craig made good on his promise to allow everyone enough game time over the past month to stake a claim for a place on the AIL team, giving Yasser Omar another start in midfield and Ben Cullen another crack at the loosehead prop slot. John Donnan returned at lock with his brother Tommy shifting to blindside.
Banbridge made the better start and took an early lead before Ronan Patterson quickly replied for Ballynahinch. A penalty took the home side ahead by a point but that was the last time they troubled the scorers all afternoon as Ballynahinch ran in 36 unanswered points to win at a canter.
Zack McCall scored to give his team a half time lead and the second half was a procession as Bradley Luney, Patterson, Chris Gibson and Paddy Wright crossed for scores.
Four victories from four in the revamped Ulster Premiership is the perfect preparation for an extremely tough start to the AIL campaign away at Young Munster. The reality is that no team truly knows where they stand until the first block of AIL fixtures is complete and Craig and hid team will hope to be picking from a full squad this week as a few injury niggles clear up just in time.
Young Munster have also started the season well and are traditionally a force at home but the likes of Aaron Cairns, Zack McCall, John Donnan and James Simpson have the experience to cope with a partisan crowd and Ballynahinch will look to play the kind of uptempo rugby which has given them such a good start to the season.
All supporters are welcome in Limerick.
Ballynahinch 1-20: B Cullen, Z McCall, K McCall, J Simpson, J Donnan, T Donnan, O Loughead, C Irvine, C Gibson, G Hutley, A Cairns, R Wilson, Y Omar, R Patterson, P Wright, K Hamilton, P Cooper, B Luney, D Vidal, C McAuley
