Cork Con 24 Ballymena 17
Ballymena travelled to Cork to take on the Constitution in their final league game and as expected lost by 24 points to 17.
However not many people predicted that Ballymena would get anything out of the game but after a battling display the Braid men scored 2 late tries to earn them a bonus point which ensured their place in the AIB AIL division one next season.
This was the final day of a long hard season for Ballymena and at the start of the day it was possible that they could have been relegated.
As it turned out results went Ballymena's way and Belfast Harlequins will be playing in the second division next year.
Con took an early lead with a penalty in the 12th minute but Ballymena replied with a Chris Smith try to send Ballymena in at the interval with a slender lead.
Cork made three substitutions at the interval and these had an immediate impact on the game. The home side stepped things up a gear and Ballymena had to defend desperately to keep the opposition at bay. However they conceded 2 penalties and Richie Lane converted both to put Con into the lead. Things got worse for the Braid men when sub Tom Ryan went over in the corner and Lane converted before out-half Darragh Lyons dropped a goal.
In the 65th minute things got worse when another home try stretched the lead to 24 points to 5.
However Ballymena were not finished yet and after some good pressure Ian Caldwell got a try to put 14 points between the sides. Spurred on by this success Ballymena took the game to Cork and really pressed for another score. Chris Smith got the all important try out wide with three minutes to go and the responsibility of the conversion was placed on the young shoulders of Craig Woods who had come on as a substitute. The young man did not let anybody down and put it over. Now Ballymena, if they could hold out, had secured a bonus point. Indeed they fought hard to the last whistle and ensured that top-class rugby teams would be visiting Eaton Park next season.
This was a very tough match but the Ballymena side rose to the occasion and gave everything in their quest to save the club from relegation. Congratulations to all and hopefully the club can start building for next season to avoid a repeat of this poor season.
Ballymena: C Smith; J McGrugan, S Young, P Budina, A Smyth; S Paul, D Drake; A Kirkpatrick, M Harshaw, S Shawe, I Caldwell, D Best, N McMillan, G Moore, C Henry. Subs: A Ferguson, J Taggart, A Cupples, C Woods, P Campbell.
