Ballynahinch U16’s 38 Donaghadee U16 0
A gap in the league fixtures allowed Ballynahinch to arrange a friendly against Donaghadee and team manager James Kirk rested many of his frontline players to allow the wider squad a chance to get some much needed time on the pitch. As a result they were a little loose for the first ten minutes but soon settled into the game and played some excellent possession rugby into the wind.
Quick thinking from skipper Matthew Reynolds saw him score the first try from a tap penalty. Caleb Maguire then finished the move of the match in the corner after backs and forwards had linked from almost their own goal line to take his side 12 points clear. Donaghadee then forced the Hinch boys onto the back foot but the home side held out in relative comfort to close out the half.
A scrappy start to the second half was brought to an end with the introduction of powerhouse prop forward Shaun Lin. He scored with his first touch of the ball when he was driven over close to the posts and then blasted his way through three tackles to score from 40m out and take the game away from the away side. Leon Orsi, making his first start at outhalf, then made an excellent break only to be hauled down on the 22m line.
Tiernan Keating, who was excellent at scrum half, darted through from the resulting ruck to score a fine try. When replacement number 8 Morgan Croskery powered over from a scrum for the sixth try with ten minutes to play it looked like there was plenty more to come but to their credit Donaghadee fought their way up the pitch and were unlucky not to get a consolation score.
The depth of the squad available was certainly on display and for the boys to play with such fluency despite never having played a match together is testament to all the hard work being done on the training paddock on a Wednesday night. There are bigger games to come for this team and squad depth will be vitally important at the business end of the season so well done to all those involved, especially Liam Coote, who caught the eye with an all-action display on the wing.
The depth of the squad available was certainly on display and for the boys to play with such fluency despite never having played a match together is testament to all the hard work being done on the training paddock on a Wednesday night. There are bigger games to come for this team and squad depth will be vitally important at the business end of the season so well done to all those involved, especially Liam Coote, who caught the eye with an all-action display on the wing.
Ballynahinch 1-15
Oliver Rickey, Kai Shields, Logan Mallon, Guy Crichton, Anthony Donnelly, James McMaster, Josh Graham, Matthew Reynolds, Tiernan Keating, Leon Orsi, Liam Coote, Damien McDowell, Thomas Owen, Sam Pour, Caleb Maguire.
