Ballymena Under 15s Overcome Letterkenny
Ballymena Under 15s made the long journey to Letterkenny on Saturday looking for their first win of the season. With a young, inexperienced team it has been a tough season but recent results have shown that huge improvements were being made. The improvements came to a head on Saturday with a well deserved victory over the Donegall boys.
From the outset Ballymena took the game to Letterkenny. Indeed Letterkenny appeared surprised by the determination shown by the Braid boys. Some excellent forward play saw the Under 15s pin Letterkenny back into their 22. A five metre scrum led to Ballymena establishing a driving maul which culminated with Dylan McCallion scoring a try in only his second rugby match. The boys continued to take the game to Letterkenny with outhalf Crooks providing the platform with cleverly weighted kicks and an excellent passing game. Despite more pressure the boys wer not able to add to the score in the first half and turned around at halftime 5 points to the good. The second half saw the forwards produce more ball with Getty and Hyndeman leading the way. Some excellent rucking saw the ball overturned and a slick backline move saw man of the match Appleton cross for a well deserved try.
The boys sat back a bit at this stage and for the first time allowed Letterkenny back into the match. With their first real possession Letterkenny made the most of several penalty decisions to cross for a try under the posts closing the deficit to three points. However the Ballymena boys were not in the mood to surrender their lead and again took the game to their opponents. With McNeill and McCooke causing problems for the Letterkenny defence it was only a matter of time before another opening came. This time outhalf Crooks was put clear by a pass from his brother. He sprinted clear and after faking two passes outwitted the three covering defenders to score the winning try in the corner. Overall this was an excellent performance for the boys four of who were playing in only their second ever rugby match. The 15 – 7 victory will now set them up for the rest of the season.
In the other fixture of the day the Under 17s were unlucky to go down 10-0 in a close fought match with Letterkenny. Having only travelled with 14 players the Under 17s were always going to be up against it, however they showed a lot of fight and determination to take the game to their opponents. With stand in outhalf Gaston in excellent form Ballymena kept the opposition at bay and created a number of chances. Scrum half Nelson provided excellent ball for the backs and new inside centre Davison was always a danger. However two tries for Letterkenny early in the second half sealed the game with the final score Letterkenny 10 Ballymena 0.
