Ballynahinch RFC battles on despite the poor weather
Ballynahinch took to the field as favourites in their U16 League quarter-final having topped their section with nine wins from eleven matches writes Colin Donaldson.
They were missing the heavyweight presence of Callum McCargo and Jack Patterson up front but the coaching team had them well prepared and home advantage in blustery conditions would prove crucial.
They played into the wind in the first half and the forwards kept ball in hand to dominate possession and territory. Two Joshua Woods penalties gave them a six-point lead and only a superb poach from Rainey prevented a home try.
A change of tactics sent Ballynahinch further ahead when the ball was flashed wide after more superb work from the forwards. Excellent handling from scrum-half Ethan Donaldson and Woods put rapid winger Mathew Fitzsimons in space and he showed great footwork to evade the Rainey defence for a score.

Woods added the extras but Rainey managed to score against the run of play in the lead up to half-time when some uncharacteristic missed tackles allowed the Rainey full back to crash over and narrow the gap to six points at the interval.
Ballynahinch turned round in the knowledge that they had control of the game with conditions in their favour and a dominant pack.
Rainey continued to give away penalties and Woods added another three points to his tally before some excellent carrying from front rowers Ryan McMullan and Charlie Willis and a line break from Curtis Johnston had the Rainey defence in disarray.
Quick ball from the ensuing ruck saw Player of the Match cut a hard line to run under the posts for what looked like the game winning score.

A raft of replacements on both sides disrupted the flow of the game and to their credit Rainey refused to give up and put the home side under huge pressure resulting in a yellow card for persistent Ballynahinch infringement at the breakdown.
Rainey duly took advantage to score a try and cast some doubt into the minds of the Ballynahinch team. The home side responded magnificently with a huge clearing kick from Jack Fallon winning them an attacking scrum from a knock-on.
Several phases later Ballynahinch had sucked in the Rainey cover and moved the ball wide for replacement left winger Josh McKibbin to close out the game in style.
All support welcome for League semi-final play-off this weekend versus Armagh at Ballymacarn Park.
Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 01/02/2025
Club Notes
Lansdowne are the visitors this weekend as the battle for the Top 4 playoffs intensifies. All support is welcome.
Ballynahinch suffered another defeat to find themselves bottom of the Women’s Premiership and will be hopeful for a turnaround in fortune to close the season.
The 2nds set up a Towns Cup QF away to Portadown this weekend with a comfortable win at Ballyclare.
Meanwhile the bandwagon rolls on for the 4ths and 5ths as they racked up big wins over Portadown and Lisburn respectively. They are both back in action this weekend in cup quarter-finals with the 4ths facing a tough trip to Enniskillen in the Forster Cup and the 5ths at home to big rivals Armagh in the McCambley Cup
Mixed fortunes for the youth section as the U16s defeated Rainey to reach the League SF play-off but the U14s suffered a heavy QF defeat away to Letterkenny. As the league reaches its conclusion both U16s and U14s are in playoff contention.
The next pre-match lunch is on February 8th vs Lansdowne. Seats can be booked for all fixtures via James Kirk on 07966143184.
Other diary dates include our 70th Anniversary Gala Ball on 7th March. See social media for details.
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 emai:
Results for 1 2 2025
Ballynahinch 14 Dungannon 33 (Womens Premiership)
Ballyclare 2 17 Ballynahinch 2 33 (Towns Cup)
Lisburn 2 7 Ballynahinch 4 41 (Provincial South)
Portadown 3 22 Ballynahinch 5 67 (Regional South)
Ballynahinch U16 28 Rainey U16 0 (League QF Playoff)
Letterkenny U14 42 Ballynahinch U14 0 (League QF Playoff)