First Trust Senior Cup:
0n 15 October 2016
Ballynahinch RFC 20 Rainey OB RFC 11
Richard Hart reports from Ballymacarn Park
Rainey Old Boys RFC made the journey through torrential rain and wind to a wet Ballymacarn Park on Saturday to play the County Down side in the Quarter Final of the First Trust Senior Cup.
Charles Henderson –
Rainey OB have had a fantastic start to their All-Ireland Division 2C season, winning four from four matches with Try bonuses in each of their fixtures, so Derek Suffern knew that they would test his players’ mettle, particularly with his resources stretched at the eternal behest of the professional game setup!
In what was a scrappy match throughout, but played at full pace for the 80 mins, Rainey clearly came to lay down a marker that they would be no respecters of the four division difference between the Clubs.
With only Craig Trenier released by the professional setup, the County Down outfit had to call on several players from the 2nd XV squad to fill-in for missing or injured players, notably the swift Chris Orr was given a starting place on the wing and Stewart Evans services were once again called upon to cover in the second row for the injured James Simpson.
The County Londonderry side have a sizeable if young pack and they pressured the home side from early on, forcing a penalty on 7 and 16 mins, with Scott McLean slotting them both over to give the visitors an early lead. 0-6
Hinch soon found their flow and upped the work rate in the tight eight towards the end of the half and on 27mins, a rolling maul after several phases of ball carrying, saw Brian Howard dot down for the first try of the match. Justin Rea missed the extras, leaving the visitors narrowly in the lead. 5-6
Rainey did not rest on their laurels and attacked well into the Hinch 22 and after a working through a few phases on the ground, worked the ball wide for Jody McMurray to dot down in the corner, with McLean missing the extras. 5-11 and the Referee Chris Busby blew for half-time.
Derek Suffern’s charges came out of the blocks with huge intent at the start of the second half and the pressure from the Hinch forwards was clearly starting to tell on the young set of forwards that Rainey had. On 42 mins, after several warnings, Rainey second row John McCusker (one of three brothers in the pack) saw yellow for repeated infringements.
This was followed two minutes later with a penalty try being awarded to the home side as they dominated in the loose and particularly at the set piece. Rea added the extras for the home side to take the lead 12-11.
The visitors were clearly struggling without their talisman lock and on 47 mins, Rainey again saw yellow as young scrum half Andrew Donaghy did the walk of shame for interfering with play, leaving the visitors down to 13 men, but The County Down outfit failed to use their two-man advantage and butchered several try scoring opportunities.
Hinch’s good fitness levels were starting to show as they were able to keep the momentum into the final quarter of the game, but credit to Rainey as they never stopped defending the County Down onslaught.
Referee Chris Busby was back on the whistle again on 65 mins and Rainey lock John McCusker saw a second yellow and immediate red card for again, interfering with play in the loose. Rea slotted the resultant penalty to stretch the home side’s slim lead. 15-11
Fourteen man Rainey applied huge pressure in the 10mins as a last ditched attempt to salvage the match, but the mature heads of the County Down outfit defended the onslaught and forced the visitors to continue to give away penalties through ill-discipline.
Some big performances where shown from Ben Pentland, Keith Dickson and Brian Howard in the loose and solid tackling from Jordan Grattan and Davy Nicholson saved the day on several occasions.
Craig Trenier, ex-Rainey player Joe Roe and young Jonny Blair gave a masterclass in scrummaging and Club stalwart Kenny Morton at lock proved his worth. The half-back connection of Chris Gibson and Ross Carlisle, both had excellent performances and Chris Orr was notable in this testing match.
The final say of the match was to go to the home side as again, Rainey ill-discipline saw a desperate and wayward high tackle give away another penalty.
James McBriar deftly kicked the ball into touch on the 5m line and the resulting lineout saw replacement lock Andy Simpson win a clean catch and the Hinch forwards successfully mauled to the line for Craig Trenier to dot down, with Rea missing the difficult extras.
FT: Ballynahinch 20 Rainey OB 11
Overall, an untidy but successful performance against a capable, if very young Rainey side. Ballynahinch now play County Down neighbours Banbridge at Rifle Park in the Semi-Final, on or before 19th November.
Ballynahinch RFC:
Jonny Blair, Joe Roe, Craig Trenier, Kenny Morton, Stewart Evans, Keith Dickson, Ben Peatland, Mike Graham (C), Chris Gibson, Ross Carlisle, Chris Orr, Jordan Grattan, Justin Rea, Davy Nicholson, James McBriar, Andrew Weir, Jerry Cronin, Brian Howard, Andy Simpson, Calum McLaughlin.
