Ballina Rugby.ie

Ballina 2XV 22 Buccaneers 3XV 18

Ballina 2XV made it into the second round of the Ard Na Cregg cup with a thrilling extra time win against Buccaneers on a beautiful sunny Sunday spring afternoon.
Buccs started well and had a try after 15 mins despite some good Ballina defending.  The Ballina scrum was doing well against a physically bigger Buccs pack and after a shaky first 15 minutes the line-out was churning out good possession with Stephen Dolan and Gary Langdon securing their own ball and stealing a few Buccaneers throws aswell thanks to some excellent lifting.  Alan Jennings at 9 was spreading the ball well but also put in some awesome tackles, usually on the aforementioned bigger Buccs forwards.  Ballina pressed the Buccs defence hard and were unlucky to not score and it stayed 5-0 until half time.

Buccaneers went 12-0 ahead with an intercept try after 5 mins of the second half.  This was severe blow for Ballina and they could have allowed their heads to drop but they got stuck in to the job they had to do and played most of the rest of the half in the Buccs 22.  Russell O’Brien crashed over for the first try, then when Buccs had a man in the bin Ballina pressed home their advantage.  After a series of penalties close to the line, the final carry, again by O’Brien, was a fraction of an inch short but was awarded as a penalty try.  12-12 with 7 minutes to go made for a dramatic last few minutes but it finished all square.

Ballina had all the momentum going into the 2 halves of 10 minutes extra time but it was Buccs that struck first with a penalty to make it 12-15.  However the Ballina backline continued to do well with David Brunker, Charlie Flynn and Patrick Crowe putting together some excellent play and pressuring the Buccs back 3 into mistakes which led to Ballina’s 3rd try to make it 17-15.  But the Buccaneers refused to roll over and regained the lead in the second period of extra time with a successful long range penalty to lead 17-18.  Far from loosing their composure Ballina kept plugging away and exploiting the spaces and with 90 seconds left on the clock the ball came out the line to Mervyn Kneafsey, playing at outside centre, having started at open-side.  He drew the cover and passed to Craig Culkin (he started at inside centre and finished on the wing) who had a lot of work to do to get past the 3 defenders that met him in the corner.  A quick shimmy and a step back inside saw him through to score the winner, 22-18 to the delight of the Ballina players and supporters.

It is difficult to pick out any individual for a “man of the match” accolade.  This was above all a performance where the whole Ballina Seconds team of 20 players performed with outstanding courage and ability for an amazing 100 minutes of rugby.
They look forward now to the Quarter-final against Loughrea on 11/4/10 in Ballina.  Put it in your diary and come along to see the next installment in the saga.  It will be worth it.

Ballina team:- Leo Troy, John Keaveney, Russell O’Brien, Ronan Hennigan, Donal Gilvarry, Gary Langdon, Mervyn Kneafsey, Stephen Dolan, Alan Jennings, Stephen Lacken, Philip Thornton, Craig Culkin, David Brunker, Michael Wilson, Patrick Crowe, Frank O’Meara, Brian Dunleavy, Charlie Flynn, Henry Hewson, John Clarke

Photos by Corinne Beattie

Ballina 2XV lost their first JL2 match at Ballina on Sunday 4/10/09.  They had by far the majority of the possession and teritory in the first half, but only managed a single try.  Then early in the second half Creggs sored under the posts but missed the conversion.  A second try put Ballina 12-5 ahead, but Creggs continued to chip away and 3 penalties got them to a lead 12-14.  Despite lots of possession and pressure Ballina could not crack the Creggs defense.

Ballina 2nd XV travelled to Castlebar to play the semi-final of the Mayo Cup on the beautiful sunny evening that was Saturday 20/9/08. This was the first outing for the 2nds this season and they travelled with a squad of 18 players, many from last years team, but boosted by some players new to the club, a couple of ex U-18s, and some returning players.

Castlebar got off to a good start, with their outhalf cutting through the Ballina defensive line to score their first try after 10 minutes and making a second similar score for his centre a few minutes later. However Ballina responded well with a score by Arthur West. The conversion was missed leaving the score 12-5. Ballina lost Judd Ruane to injury who had been putting in some great hits shortly after this, but he was ably replaced by Andrew West.

The second half brought some new faces and positional changes, most notably Rory Collins playing his first ever rugby match at tighthead and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact. In only the second scrum of the half, Ballina pushed a previously dominant Castlebar pack off their own ball and several phases later Craig Culkin, who was Ballina’s man of the match (in his first senior match after graduating from U18), squeezed over for the second score to make it 12-10.

Unfortunately, a few minutes later Collins was injured following a blistering 40 yard run with the ball down the blind side and had to go off. Ballina’s woes were compounded when Castlebar score 2 more tries after some, actually a lot of, very lax tackling. But far from lying down, Ballina responded with another fine try from captain Stephen Lacken.

While the final scoreline didn’t work out for Ballina, this was a performance with lots of positives. The game was played with great pace, energy and attitude, they threw the ball about well, there was great continuity and interplay between forwards and backs and this was acheived with a team playing together for the first time, with a number of players playing in unfamiliar positions playing against a well organised and settled Castlebar team. There were more than a few dropped passes which is understandable for the first game of the season and there is definitely work to be done on the defensive side of things.  All of the 18 players put in strong performances but especially the afforementioned Culkin, the West brothers, Andrew and Arthur, James O’Connor, Kenny Forde and particularly debutant Des Howley playing his first ever full match who looked like he’d been playing since he was 10.  Thanks must go to all the Ballina supporters who showed up in numbers not seen for a long time at this level, lets hope it continues.

Team: James O’Connor, Kenneth Forde, Brian Dunleavy, James Cawley, Mark Healy, Arthur West, Judd Ruane, Craig Culkin, Robert Melody, David Lynn, Orrie Collins, Morgan Foley, Stephen Lacken, Des Howley, Patrick Lacken. Subs: Andrew West for J Ruane 20 mins, Robert Gawley for MHealy 1/2 time, KFord to Outhalf 1/2 time, BDunleavy to Hooker 1/2 time, David Lynn to Scrumhalf 1/2 time, Rory Collins on, RMelody off 1/2 time, Con Rooney for A West 70 mins

Ard na Cregg Cup – Round 1

BALLINA 8

GALWEGIANS 12

By: Clive Moore in Heffernan Park, Ballina

BALLINA’S second XV exited from the Ard Na Cregg cup last Sunday, despite putting in one of their best performances of the season. In a very entertaining encounter both sides put in committed performances, producing some good rugby to entertain those on the terraces who braved the biting wind.

Ballina put the pressure on Galwegians early on with a solid performance from their pack. They achieved parity in the scrums and had no problem winning their lineouts, with Leo Troy accurately finding jumpers Stephen Dolan and Robert Gawley. The latter two also managed to exert some pressure on their opponents throw in, success-fully spoiling Galwegians efforts.

As the match wore on chinks began to appear in each side’s defensive armour and a score seemed inevitable when the visitors out half Jack Clarke kicked a ball in behind the Mayo men’s backline inside their own 22.
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Ballina 2nd XV travelled the long road to Ferbane to play the West Offaly Lions – the newest club in the country with plenty of hope and expectation of improving on their recent outings. However the Lions were out to prove they were not there just to make up the numbers and were soon showing Ballina how rugby should be played.

The Lions played  hightempo rugby, with plenty of offloading in the tackle, strong support runners coming from deep and aggressive rucking both on their own ball and defensively and before long had racked up a number of scores. (more…)