Ballymoney punished for silly errors
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Andrew Surgenor touched down to take the score to 24 – 20 and leave it all to play for against Cooke on Saturday.
ON Saturday Ballymoney travelled to Shaws Bridge to take on Cooke in the League. Ballymoney were looking to bounce back from their heavy defeat the previous week against City of Derry. The Toon welcomed back Martin Irwin from injury.
Ballymoney kicked off in great conditions for rugby but allowed their opponents an easy first score when a missed tackle saw their forwards crash over the line to give them a 5 nil lead. Ballymoney then applied the pressure and were awarded when Clelland converted a penalty to take the score to 5 - 3. Then another lapse in concentration from the Ballymoney team allowed Cooke to press hard into the Ballymoney half, they used their larger pack to set a good platform for their backs which in turn saw their winger go in for a converted try 12 - 3. Indecision in the Ballymoney ranks saw Cooke score again to take the score to 17 - 3 with half time beckoning. Ballymoney refused to lie down and got a score from winger Watson after good initial work from Irwin. 17 - 10 at half time.
The second half started as badly as the first for the Toon as again a lapse in concentration allowed Cooke to stroll in for an easy try. Ballymoney responded well and scored through out half Williams to take the score to 24 - 15. Ballymoney then scored again through Andrew Surgenor to take the score to 24 - 20 with all to play for. Ballymoney again fell asleep and paid the price when the Cooke forward pack barged their way over for another try to take the score to 29 - 20. They then scored close to full time to take the score to 36 - 20 not allowing Ballymoney enough time to get back into the game and winning by a comfortable margin.
Captain David Watson Commented: "We played well for 20 minutes in the game and scored 20 points but silly mistakes cost us dearly and we got punished for that. We have a few of the guys coming back from injury so we can reassess this week and look ahead to playing Belfast Harlequins in the Junior Cup next weekend."
