Ballymena Youth Too Strong for Local Rivals
Ballymena Under 15s proved the strength of their squad with an excellent performance at Ballymoney, despite being without several key players. With the pack missing the leadership of second row Getty the boys dug deep to take the game to their hosts. The battle around the breakdown was to prove key to their success and the ever impressive Jennings supported by new signing Thompson soon took control. The Ballymena pack made full use of the ball with Scott and McLeister taking the ball into contact and driving the boys up the field. The pressure exerted was soon to prove too much for the home defence with a slick move involving Bell and Forrester releasing Jennings to score in the corner. The game continued in this vein with the Braid boys remaining in control of all the key areas. Mattisont and Mills led several forward drives which pinned the hosts back into their twenty-two. Again the pressure was to have dividends and a pass from scrum half Kerr released wing Stewart whose clever pass to McNeill saw him cross the line for the second try of the game. A further try was added before half time by Crooks.
The second half continued in the vein of the first with Ballymena dominating the early exchanges. Fyfe and Hunter led the assault on the Ballymoney line. A strong run from second row Rock saw him move the ball to Bell who crossed for a try in the corner. Ballymena were now firmly in control and only some last ditch defence from Ballymoney prevented the score from escalating. However the continued pressure did eventually tell and Ballymena ran in a further six tries with hatricks for Jennings and Crooks.
Final score Ballymoney 0 Ballymena 70
The Under 13s, who are unbeaten this season were equally impressive. Led again by the power of the pack the boys were soon in control of the match. With the forwards through Pattison and Lamont taking the game to their hosts it was not long before the first try came. An excellent backline move involving Lennon and Dunne saw McGarry cross for the first score. The Braid boys continued to dominate and the first half saw further tries with McLeister and McLaughlin scoring their first triesd for the Club. The second half saw more of the same with the 13s in excellent form. Some quick backline play involving Davidson and Mark saw the ball moved to Harper who sprinted clear of the defence to score in the corner. The backs were now running freely and two tries in quick succession from Ian and Luke Mills saw the game effectively finish as a contest. The match moved towards a conclusion with further tries from Lamont and Roebuck. This was another fine performance from a young group of boys who are improving each week
Final Score Ballymoney 0 Ballymena 60
Saturday also saw the first outing for the Under 17s. With several players playing in their first ever rugby match this was always going to be a difficult fixture. The boys did remarkably well with centre partnership of Gilkinson and McAfferty proving a handful for the hosts. With Appleton and McGarry probing around the fringes the boys took the game to Ballymoney and were unlucky not to score. The second half was an equally tight affair with the pack led by Hyndeman and McLaughlin making inroads. Man of the match Millar proved a handful in the loose. However much against the run of play Ballymoney broke away with the ball. A ruck on one side of the pitch saw Ballymena harshly punished for the blindside winger being given as offside, despite being on the opposite side of the pitch. A quick penalty saw Ballymoney take the lead much against the run of play. Ballymena thought they had scored where some excellent ball from the scrum saw the ball move to the backs, only for the referee to bring the game back to the scrum where Ballymena were penalised for pushing beyond the allowed 1 metre. Further penalties saw Ballymoney move down the pitch before they scored the try which settled the match. However with Ballymena playing seven players who had never played rugby before this was a very good first performance and one which the coaches can build on.
Final score Ballymoney 10 Ballymena 0.