INSTONIANS BEAT BALLYMENA 48 – 24 WITH A BONUS POINT IN AIL DIV 2A

On Saturday 28 September 2024 Instonians welcomed Ballymena President Peter Crabbe and Chairman Jamie Smith and their party to Shaws Bridge for this AIL 2A league match. No-one could question the tremendous contribution these 2 great Ulster clubs have made to Ulster, Irish and British Lions rugby over many years and a lot of reminiscing was done at the packed pre match lunch.

As noted in Ciaran Donaghy’s Newsletter article in the morning these 2 sides had met in the very 1^st match of the AIL in 1990 when both sides where in the top division, at Shane Park. It ended up a 12 all draw that day with 4 Derek McAleese penalties for Ballymena and a Keith Crossan try (worth 4 points back then) and a conversion and 2 penalties from this year’s Instonian President Peter Russell. It was great to see 2 Ballymena stars of the past Trevor Ringland and Philip (Chipper) Rainey sitting with Instonians equivalents in Keith Crossan and Davy Irwin at the lunch.

With the weather set fair with dry overhead conditions and a slight breeze everyone was ready for the next encounter between these 2 traditional rivals.

14:30 – Instonians 0 – Ballymena 0

Ballymena kicked off playing towards the car park and sent the ball deep into Instonian territory. The home side went through the phases and then cleared well into Ballymena’s half.

14:35 – Instonians 5 – Ballymena 0

From the 1^st scrum of the day on Instonians put in near halfway, they worked a great planned back move off the scrum and were only tackled into touch 5 metres from the line. The referee had already his arm out, however, for an Instonian penalty around the tackle area and captain David Whitten had no hesitation in asking young out-half Josh Eagleson to put the ball into touch for a line out. Moments later hooker Neil Saulters was grounding the ball at the end of the driving maul for an early Instonian try. Josh missed the touchline conversion from the right-hand side of the pitch.

14:41 – Instonians 5 – Ballymena 0

Ballymena’s response was immediate and they went through their phases with good strong runners testing the Instonian defence. When they then moved the ball across the backline, Ian Whitten saw the opportunity to intercept but as often happens when you just miss out you are open to a yellow card and that is what happened on this occasion.

Ballymena kicked for a line out 10 metres out from the Instonian line out and went to their own impressive driving maul but Instonians did well to hold out on this occasion and exit well.

Despite being a man down Instonians were still trying to run the ball at every opportunity and a very good wrap around loop from scrum half Ruari O’Farrell saw him put captain David Whitten into a gap before his trademark step saw him into even more open space with the last man to beat. David chose to try a long pass to the supporting left-wing Hugo Ellerby but unfortunately the ball did not find its target and a good try scoring opportunity was lost.

14:49 – Instonians 12 – Ballymena 0

Ballymena’s pack was very good at line out and maul and they used the extra man well to put pressure on the Instonian defence with the penalty count in their favour. They kicked for a line out 10 metres outside the Instonian 22 on the clubhouse side of the pitch on their right but when they looked to attacked left and go through their phases again, a great read from another Whitten, this time Robert, saw him get the intercept this time and take off up the pitch eating up the ground with his big strides which took him to within 10 metres off the line where he had the presence and awareness to pass to his supporting team mate centre Bevan Prinsloo who scored under the posts giving Josh an easy conversion.

14:51 – Instonians 12 – Ballymena 7

Ballymena did not drop their heads and immediately went back on the attack. From a scrum on the Instonian 22 they moved the ball infield towards the posts and won a penalty in front of the sticks. They turned down the 3 points to kick for the corner to kick for a line out 5 metres out and this time their driving maul went over for a try which was followed by a good conversion at 15 metres in from touch on the right.

14:56 – Instonians 12 – Ballymena 10

Both teams continued to run the ball with the respective defences fronting up well. Ian Whitten returned to the field from his yellow card just in time to see his team penalised for a high tackle in midfield on their 22 and this time Ballymena chose the easy 3 points to narrow the gap to just 2 points.

15:01 – Instonians 17 – Ballymena 10

Instonians went straight back on the attack and when Ballymena were penalised for a high tackle in midfield, Instonians kicked for a line out 5 metres out and a great opportunity to use their driving maul. They lost the line out at the tail however, and the chance had gone.

Ballymena then took play up towards halfway and kicked deep into the Instonian 22. Home fullback Bradley McNamara did ever so well to keep the ball in play by releasing the ball into play as his momentum was taking him out of play and then regathering the ball to start a simply sensational period of play which resulted in an early try of the season contender with what looked like most of the team handing the ball at least once as it was kept alive in Barbarian fashion until Bevan Prinsloo finished it off in the corner. The touchline conversion was missed.

15:05 – Instonians 17 – Ballymena 17

Ballymena’s response was again immediate and after a penalty against Instonians at the breakdown they found touch 15 metres from the Instonian line on their right. This time they set up the next phase and their impressive no 8 broke blind. He was tackled by Instonian hooker Neil Saulters but managed to release the ball, get back on his feet and regather to score close to the touchline. The conversion was good and we were all square in this very competitive encounter.

15:09 – Instonians 22 – Ballymena 17

It was now Instonians turn to respond and they showed good continuity with forwards and backs combining to take play up to the Ballymena 22 where scrum half Ruari O’Farrell put in a nice grubber kick in behind the onrushing Ballymena defence which talented full back Bradley McNamara did well to gather and run round under the post to make the conversion easy. Unfortunately for young Josh Eagleson he had the conversion attempt charged down and on hindsight he probably had placed the ball too close to the posts.

15:12 – Instonians 22 – Ballymena 17

Instonians did, however, have their bonus point try but the win was far from certain in this very close contest.There was just time for one more play with Instonians holding the Ballymena attack and the referee blew for half time.

HALF TIME –Instonians 22 – Ballymena 17

What a great first half of rugby for the neutrals with only 5 points separating the sides at the break and the big crowd on the balcony and up the touchlines were looking forward to the 2^nd half.

For the coaching sides on both sides it was a case of keeping the attacking intent, continuing the in general good defence but trying to cut down on the penalties for high tackles or at the breakdown.

15:17 – Instonians 22 – Ballymena 17

Josh Eagleson kicked off towards the far car park with the slight breeze in his favour and his team started off the half at a high tempo and a great opening sustained passage of play saw them put huge pressure on the Ballymena line. For their part, however, the Ballymena defence did extremely well to hold out and as with the first half Instonians were continuing to be penalised for high tackles when Ballymena attempted to run the ball back at them.

15:25 – Instonians 22 – Ballymena 17

With their line out functioning well Ballymena were using these penalties to gain territory and put pressure on Instonians line but a great jackal by winger Mark Keane on the Instonian 22 saw a relieving penalty from Josh find touch 10 metres outside the Ballymena 22. Instonians immediately moved the ball infield and following a late tackle from the Ballymena player who had just come on the field saw him go to the bin for a yellow card as Bevan Prinsloo received attention on the pitch.

15:30 – Instonians 29 – Ballymena 17

When played resumed after treatment to Bevan, Instonians kicked for a line out at 15 metres out and after a good break from their 7 Max Preston up to 5 metres from the line, Instonians used runners to hammer at the Ballymena line but the ball was held up over the line.

When Ballymena cleared the ball from their line Instonians ran it straight back and a nice break from Josh Eagleson in midfield saw him make ground and find Ian Whitten on his shoulder and then Ian does what he does best by taking the pass and drawing the last man to find his brother Robert Whitten on his shoulder to score under the posts with Josh adding the extras.

15:34 – Instonians 29 – Ballymena 24

In this topsy turvy game Instonians were again penalised for a high tackle and Ballymena found touch mid-way into the Instonians 22 and showed great patience to keep control off the ball in their pack with willing runners making themselves available to score under the posts giving them an easy conversion and we were back to a 5-point game.

15:38 – Instonians 36 – Ballymena 24

The next score was crucial with just a quarter of the match left and Instonains looked intent on getting it with very sharp and precise passing stretching and testing the Ballymena defence. They established field position in the Ballymena 22 and after their 2^nd line out in there, they were attacking the Ballymena line who were having to make a lot of tackles and then scrum half Ruari O’Farrell looked up to see space on the far left and a long pass from him saw him find left wing Hugo Ellerby who stepped and beat his man to give Instonians breathing space again. Josh nailed the touchline conversion for good measure.

15:53 – Instonians 36 – Ballymena 24

It was no surprise that both teams had emptied their bench by now as a lot of honest effort had been put in on both sides and as defences remained on top in the final quarter Ballymena’s focus was probably now two-fold, try for the late win but if not then at least come away with a losing bonus point.

With Instonians now on top at scrum time, they won a scrum penalty and a great opportunity with a line out 5 metres out, but the driving maul was held up on the line.

15:59 – Instonians 41 – Ballymena 24

It was a short reprieve however, and within minutes Instonians had a similar line out on the right-hand side of the pitch on the clubhouse side and this time Oli Clarke went over at the back of the driving maul with the conversion going close from the touchline.

16:04 – Instonians 48 – Ballymena 24

Ballymena’s sole focus was now on a 4^th try to get the bonus point their efforts deserved but Instonians were not in the mood to allow that and the last score went to them with centre Bevan Prinsloo finishing off another good passage of continuity between forwards and backs with the conversion added to signal the full time whistle.

FULL TIME – Instonians 48 – Ballymena 24

What another very good advert for AIL rugby with the large crowd richly entertained by the running rugby they had witnessed. Ballymena will be very disappointed not to take something from this game which they were in for a long period of time. They should take the positives into their next games.

Instonians will be pleased with the result but will no doubt assess the penalty count against them.

MOM is now being picked by our sponsors and Preston Plumbing awarded that to Robert Whitten who had a very good game.

Greystones away next Saturday 5 October and all support would be warmly welcomed.The mantra is as per previous league campaigns, “one game at a time”. See you all there.