SONI Premiership.
Ballynahinch 28 Banbridge 34.
James Kirk reporting.
Ballynahinch slumped to a third successive SONI Premiership defeat in perfect conditions at Ballymacarn Park on Saturday as they failed to recover from an awful start against derby rivals Banbridge.
Despite being able to call on Ulster releases Tom Stewart, Zack McCall, Connor Rankin, Aaron Hall and Bradley Luney the locals failed to get out of the blocks and were 14 nil down after ten minutes, with passive defence allowing Banbridge to score a try under the posts through the forwards and a try out wide.
Luney then drove over after the first sustained piece of Hinch pressure but despite gaining a scarcely deserved foothold in the game, a quickfire penalty and converted try from Banbridge following another defensive error stretched the lead out to 7-24 and the away side looked a genuine threat every time they had the ball.
Johnny McCoubrey gave Hinch a lifeline when he went over following wing Connor Phillips’ neat knockdown under a high kick from Sean O’Hagan and they really looked to have rediscovered their appetite for the fight when they went from deep just before HT only for Phillips to knock on in the tackle as he attempted to deliver a scoring pass.
The second half started well for the home side as they dominated field position but McCoubrey was denied a second try following a forward pass and when they lost a lineout on their own throw to turn the ball over, Banbridge made the most of their opportunity by showing real patience and composure in the Hinch 22 to find the space to go over and take the lead out to seventeen points at 14-31.
Desperate to gain some parity on the scoreboard, Hinch rolled the dice with McCall entering the fray, and despite needing some treatment for running repairs he barged over for a try at the front of a broken-down Banbridge lineout. When Aaron Hall galloped in from 40 metres to close the gap to three points going into the last ten minutes the home faithful began to believe. However a badly executed exit from the resulting kick-off gave away a penalty and Bann opened the lead out to six points again with ten minutes to go.
Ballynahinch gave themselves a chance in a frantic final act when they won a penalty and aimed for the corner only to miss touch allowing the ball to return to the opposition who duly wound down the clock to clinch an excellent victory by 34 points to 28.
