BHSFP II XV 12 v Ballymoney 15

A games of 2 halves for Bhsfp Rfc 2nd XV. Ballymoney arrived with a huge pack, but every single High school forward fronted up. Camped on our own line, the forwards fought tooth and nail to keep them out, Scottasarus Velociraptor Kalashnikov, Collin Alexander, Stephen Heasley, John and Jack Balmer, Gareth Adams (c), Ivan Swarbrick and our number 8 (whose name escapes me, *Ross Reid) defended like heroes, while the backs got cold….the Ballymoney pack scored two hard fought tries, but the tides were turning when team manager Tommy entered the fray from the sidelines. The start of the second half started with a dubious refing decision (but that was par for the course) to allow Ballymoney in at the corner. Lead by Kenneth Mccullough at 9, we started to pick up the pace of the game and with flyers like Davy Maine, Jonathan Murphy (who shall be known as Murph from now on) and Andrew Jackson, the tide was turning. In very difficult conditions, and with fast ruck ball High School began to dominate a tired looking Ballymoney. A beautifully given miss one to Murph from Davy, (and some fabulous dummy lines from the rest of the backs) allowed him to ghost over in the corner….Game on….High School in the ascendancy, our fullback (*Stephen Drennan) made a great break that unfortunately came to nothing but more quick ball from Kenny got Collin on the charge who offloaded after dragging half of Ballymoney with him. Simple hands and burst of pace from Murph;) saw him scoring a brace. An incredible conversion by Heasly brought the scores to 12-15 with 6 minutes remaining. After kick off the game got scrappy with some horrendous hand from yours truly allowed Ballymoney to hold on for the win. Honourable mention to Sam on the right wing who had his first game for the High school and played very well (Damien McAlister will have some competition when he returns from his knee injury)