Ballynahinch Firsts lose an edge in the match against St Mary’s affecting their league standing
AIL Division 1A,
Venue: Templeville Road, 24 3 2025,
St Mary’s 34 Ballynahinch 21.
Ballynahinch came away from Templeville Rd on Saturday wondering how they had nothing to show from an even contest and finding the odds firmly stacked against them in the race for a play-off semi-final position writes James Kirk.
Adam Craig re-jigged his back row with Peter Heasley at open side and Ulster’s Marcu Rea at blindside on his return from injury.
Conor McKee was back at scrum half following his successful senior Ulster debut. Claytan Milligan continued his return from injury at hooker and Ruairi Meharg again stepped up the right wing in the absence of Zac Ward.
The first half featured a gung ho display of all out attack from both sides.
Ballynahinch went ahead early on when Bradley Luney capitalised on a mixup at the back of a home scrum to touch down. St Mary’s then levelled with some slick handling in the wide channels before Ballynahinch showed their intent by turning down a very kickable penalty to go for the corner.
They failed to get over and an intercept allowed St Mary’s an easy exit. A few minutes later they were further ahead following a crossfield kick.
Ballynahinch won another kickable penalty directly from the restart but went to the corner again and an overthrow allowed the home side to clear their lines.
Moments later they pounced on a loose kick to shred the covering defence for a fine try and a fourteen point lead. McKee narrowed the deficit with a fine finish after excellent link play from Paul Kerr and Mark Best before the pivotal phase of the match as the game approached half time.
Ballynahinch put the home defence under huge pressure and looked certain to level the scores before a huge hit on Milligan forced a knock on and the hosts retained their seven point lead as the teams turned around.
The second half was a more cagey affair and the loss of prop Matthew Burke to injury proved crucial for the away side as they were put under massive pressure before eventually conceding a pushover try.
To their credit Ballynahinch upped the physicality and after another punishing series of carries they scored from a lineout maul to get themselves within a score as the game entered the final fifteen minutes.
A St Mary’s penalty thwarted the growing Ballynahinch momentum but there was a final chance to score a fourth try to earn two bonus points when the Co Down men drove upfield to earn a lineout deep in the home 22.
Superb Maul defence kept them out and St Mary’s sealed the victory with a penalty as the clock went red to cement their play off place.
Ballynahinch will rue their first half decision making but have shown once again they are a force to be reckoned with in this extremely challenging league.
Ballynahinch 1-21: Matthew Burke, Claytan Milligan, Harry McCormick, Will Hopes, Declan Horrox, Marcus Rea, Peter Heasley, Bradley Luney (Capt), Conor McKee, Paul Kerr, Ethan Graham, Mark Best, George Pringle, Ruairi Meharg, Conor Rankin, Kelvin Hamilton, Callum Smyth, Ronan McCusker, Zack McCall, Chris Gibson, Matthew Booth.
***
Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 22/03/2025
Club Notes
Over 550 kids were in attendance at the Aviva Mini Festival on Sunday. Congratulations to Kenny Morton and his team of volunteers for providing a brilliant day out for everyone involved.
There were excellent wins for the 2nds and 4ths as they keep the pressure on at the top end of their respective leagues.
The thirds continue to struggle in a very competitive league and find themselves towards the bottom as the season draws to a close.
The next pre match lunch on March 29th vs Cork Constitution is sold out. Seats can be booked for the final home fixture vs Armagh on April 12th via James Kirk on 07966143184.
Youth Training continues on Mondays at 7pm for boys and Wednesdays at 7pm for girls. All players U12/U14/U16/U18 welcome and no experience necessary. Contact Clifton Quinn for details on 07501228045.
Mini rugby continues on Saturday mornings from 9.30-11am. Boys and girls from P1 – Yr8 are all welcome, with training run for each age group in their school year. Mini rugby news is posted weekly on the club Facebook page – www.facebook.com/ballynahinchrfcofficial.
For more details contact Kenny Morton – Mini Convenor on 07813157614 or email:
Results 22/03/2025
St Mary’s 34 Ballynahinch 22 (AIL Division 1A)
Ballynahinch 2 43 Clogher Valley 2 17 (2nd XV League)
Dromore 2 55 Ballynahinch 3 24 (Provincial Prem 1)
Ballynahinch 4 74 Dungannon 3 14 (Provincial South)
