Comfortable win for Firsts
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Action from Ballymoney’s league match against Enniskillen.
ON Saturday Ballymoney First XV entertained Enniskillen at home in the league and at the final whistle it was the hosts that claimed the four points with a 17 points to nil victory.
The Ballymoney side welcomed back Jonny Hanna from injury in the place of Peter Irvine who will be sidelined for some time with a shoulder injury sustained against Dromore the previous week.
Enniskillen kicked off in good rugby playing conditions and Ballymoney immediately took the game to the visitor's. It wasn't long before the deadlock was broken when Enniskillen were penalised for going off their feet at the ruck. Clelland converted a penalty to take the home side into a 3 - 0 lead. The Ballymoney eight were holding their own in the scrums and getting their fair share of lineout ball, allowing the backs to exert the pressure. It soon told as Enniskillen had their flanker sent to the sin-bin for team offence. Clelland was unlucky not to convert the ensuing penalty and was just wide with another attempt prior to the half time whistle. The second half proved to be more fruitful for the hosts with them putting numerous phases together and making good headway into the Enniskillen defence. If it wasn't for some poor passes and decision making the score line would have been more favourable to the home side. Ballymoney made life hard for themselves as ill-discipline allowed Enniskillen break into the Ballymoney twenty two. Good defence from the hosts allowed them to clear their lines. The first try came from concerted pressure from the Ballymoney team, a kick to the corner paid dividends when Andrew Surgenor crashed over the line for a converted try to take the score to 10 - 0. Ballymoney continued to apply the pressure and were unlucky not to score on several occasions. The final score of the game came from the Ballymoney eight, after numerous penalties in the Enniskillen twenty two, James Carson took a quick tap and strolled his way over the line to take the score to 17 points to 0 at the final whistle. Club Captain David Calvin commented: "We got the win which as always is our objective. We played well in parts but we punished ourselves with some silly penalties that allowed them into the game at times. Our defence held strong when we needed it to and we took some chances and scored our points.
“We just have to get playing with confidence and be a bit more decisive in certain situations. We will assess this through the week and get ready for City of Derry this Friday night. I know the boys would appreciate a big support for this game."
