Ballynahinch RFC on a roll with a win against Armagh as the season gradually unfolds
AIL Division 1A,
Armagh 22 29 Ballynahinch,
Venue: Palace Grounds, Armagh,
James Kirk reports,
Ballynahinch underlined their status as Ulster’s leading club with superb away victories against Ulster rivals on Saturday.
The senior side were always in control as they condemned Armagh to the relegation playoffs with a bonus point victory at the Palace Grounds while the seconds pulled off a sensational victory at Mullaghmeen to defeat a strongly fancied Enniskillen side in the Towns Cup semi-final to reach the Easter Monday showpiece Final at Kingspan Stadium writes James Kirk.
(Photos by Colin Heyburn).
Adam Craig and his coaching team balanced their resources as evenly as possible to give both sides the chance of victory and were rewarded with excellent performances from some unlikely sources.
There were three debutantes for the firsts with Kobi Dunn, Josh McMullan and Rory Fulton getting their first taste of the AIL experience, while veterans Kelvin Hamilton and Harry McCormick helped provide a platform for a young back row and halfbacks to influence the game for the seconds.
In Armagh a flying start by Ballynahinch left the home side playing catch-up with converted tries from Marcus Rea and Claytan Milligan.
Ruairi Meharg was also on the scoresheet before half time but a try just before half time from the home side closed the gap to just seven points at the break and with the threat of relegation as a motivating factor Armagh had confidence that they could go on to win against a Ballynahinch side with nothing to play for.
This scenario looked likely to play out when an Armagh try closed the gap to two points with half an hour to go. However, Ballynahinch view their excellent AIL record against Armagh with pride and dug in to score another try through Meharg to once again move two scores clear.
Armagh scored again to set up a grandstand finish, but a smartly taken penalty by the ever-reliable Conor Rankin gave his side control of the game and despite a late Armagh rally Ballynahinch saw the game out in relative comfort for a bonus point victory and a third successive fifth place finish in Division 1A.
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The Towns Cup
Enniskillen 30 34 Ballynahinch IIs
In Enniskillen a fired up second team fed off an early intercept score from veteran Aaron Cairns to jump into a seventeen point lead before the home side bounced back to turn around at halftime with the wind at their back and a narrow lead.
They were strong favourites at this stage given their recent cup pedigree but a rollercoaster second half saw the lead change hands with every score and left Ballynahinch trailing by three points in the closing stages. Up stepped Cairns to finish a fine move under the posts and send his side into another Towns Cup Final.
Armagh must pick themselves up off the floor as they head to what is sure to be a packed Ballymacarn Park this weekend for the Senior Cup semi-final for the right to play a rejuvenated Dungannon side in the final on May 3rd.
All support welcome for the final Saturday of the season.
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Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 05/04/2025
Club Notes
The fourths warmed up for their Forster Cup defence at Kingspan on 19th April with victory over Enniskillen thirds while the fifths had a narrow defeat to a very strong Dromore side as they prepare to tog out at Kingspan for the McCambley Cup Final the same day.
Best of luck to the U16s as they take on Virginia in the Provincial Cup Final at Kingspan this Saturday after another successful year. The players and management team are a credit to themselves and their club and it would be great for this group to get their hands on some silverware.
Congratulations to the P5 minis after their appearance at Aviva Stadium on Saturday. They represented their club superbly with four wins out of four and the mini section continues to be a huge success story under new supremo Kenny Morton and his crew.
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 05/04/2025
City of Armagh 22 Ballynahinch 29 (AIL Division 1A)
Enniskillen 30 Ballynahinch 2 34 (Towns Cup SF)
Enniskillen 3 20 Ballynahinch 4 29 (Provincial South)
Dromore 3 35 Ballynahinch 5 31 (Regional South)
