During the week the Ballymoney community had a player loose a parent, and a player reaching the immense milestone of 700 games in the jersey. the sense of community at Ballymoney is real and growing and we are delighted to have covered them at the weekend. Below the club Chairman comments on the season so far from youth to ladies and mens rugby within the I XV official weekely match report. Following that is the clubs own notes to the media regarding the milestone of 700 caps by Tosss Skelton and they also list the considerable number of people hot on his heels with 600 caps. Enjoy!
Ballymoney entertained neighbours Ballymena 2nd’s in a Conference League fixture on Saturday and in a keenly contested game points were shared as it ended 5-5 draw.
Stuart Nevin was a late addition to the side at Scrum half as Scott Nelson was unavailable due to his father’s death early Friday morning. The thoughts of the players and club members are with the Nelson family at this difficult time.
Although the score line suggests that it was a dull affair the pace of the game was actually quite high. With the recent rain the surface of the pitch was quite mucky but this didn’t stop both sides trying to move the ball. Ballymoney welcomed back past 1st XV captain Aidy Graham who was turning out for Ballymena 2nd’s after coming back from injury.
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Graham gave Ballymena a slight edge in the lineouts but Ballymoney made up for this as they seemed to get the upper hand in the scrums. Ballymena had a large amount of procession in the first half but could not really penetrate the Toon line. Ballymoney Captain James Cleland showed the intention of the home team as he ran any early penalties that the home side were awarded.
The break through came for Ballymena after 20 minutes when a good break from their full back after initial drives from the forwards resulted in the no.15 breaking the line. He found the support of his winger and the pace he came onto the ball allowed him to split the Ballymoney defence and score in the corner. O’Hara missed the difficult conversion and the lead stayed a 5-0.
The game moved from one 22 to the other, only broken up by a few handling errors and the occasional penalty. The score remained 5-0 until the 35th minute due to Ballymena missing two more attempts at the posts. From a penalty in the Ballymena 22, Cleland took a quick tap and broke the defence. His pass found young scrum half Stuart Nevin who’s pace allowed him to break away from the cover defence and score just right of the posts. The kick was not converted and the half ended 5-5.
The second half started with the home team stepping up their defence and a number of large tackles coming in which limited Ballymena from making much ground. Ballymoney waivered a number of kickable penalties in the spirit of the game and opted to run the ball, but either handling errors or the sound Ballymena defence prevented any further scores.
With 10minutes to go Ballymena forced their way into the Ballymoney 22 and tried to put pressure on the line with their forwards picking and driving. However unlike last week Ballymoney kept their discipline and turned over the ball to clear their lines.
The game ended with play in the middle of the pitch as the draw seemed a far result for both sides.
SPECIAL TRIBUTE: Toss Skelton 700 Caps for Ballymoney RFC
Toss was presented a tanker to mark his 700th appearance by Club President John Campbell. On receiving his award Toss commented “It is great to receive this award and great to receive all the comments from friends and family. It was great to see some of the older players come to the Club today and especially my first captain Joe Killen was here today, giving me some needed advice as normal! I never thought when I started playing all those years ago, that I would go on to play 700 games and make history for the Club. A big thank you must go to my Wife Wilma for all the support she has given me over the years and not to mention washing all those dirty kits every week! Today days game was the icing on the cake as we played well and deserved the win. However to be honest the nicest thing was to play along side my two sons in the winning team, Thomas and Andrew. It is something which I am proud off and will be something I will remember for the rest of my days. I consider this Club to be one of the best in Northern Ireland and to be apart of the Club over the years has been special and I can only see it going from strength to strength.
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Toss – History
Toss Skelton who is famous in Ballymoney RFC for wearing the no7 shirt, will make his 700th appearance for Ballymoney when he plays for the 3rd XV against Ballymena 4th XV in the Foster Cup this Saturday 4 February at Kilraughts Road.
Toss Skelton is a well known face to most people in Ballymoney as he is the current Headmaster of Dalriada Grammer School. It is no coincidence that since his involvement at the school, it’s rugby has grown from strength to strength each year.
Toss has been a stalwart for the Club for many years. He has been Club and 1st XV Captain for 5 seasons in 1980-82, 1986-88 and 1992-93, meaning he is the only person to Captain the team on three separate occasions. Toss has played an important part off the pitch also being Club Chairman from 2001-03 and playing a large part in the structure of rugby at the Club as Youth and Game Development Co-ordinator for more years than anyone can remember.
However, his playing career at Ballymoney began on Saturday 23 March 1974 when he made his debut under Captain Joe Killen away to Bangor 2Bs in the league as a young raw 16-year-old. At 16-years-old Toss dedication and enthusiasm would mean he would play for Dalriada School in morning and then Ballymoney Rugby Club in the afternoon.
Toss first full season at the Club was 1976-77 where he played for the firsts under Captain John Paul which highlighted in him being part of the 1st XV who reached the semi-final of the Towns Cup. Another Towns Cup semi-final appearance came in 1979-80. In Toss first year as Captain he lead the 1st XV to win the league and go on to win the Past Players Cup Final at Ravenhill, 24-13 against a very strong Ballymena 2nd XV. Further success came for the 1st XV and Toss Skelton as they won the North West Cup in 1992-93 and on a personal level he represented Junior Ulster and played a major part in Ulster winning the Inter-provincial title.
After “retiring” from the 1st XV in the mid 1990’s Toss was persuaded to play for the 3rd XV and nearly 20years on he is still enjoying the “Crack” playing down the club and winning the odd league title in Junior Rugby on the way!
Toss has went on to play with both his sons at Ballymoney RFC and a rumour has it that all 3 Skelton’s could appear together again this week!
All players, members, supporters and associates of Ballymoney RFC would like to congratulate Toss Skelton on being the 1st Ballymoney player to make 700 appearances and we wish him the best of luck for this game and for the rest of his playing career. Well-done Toss and “Come on The Toon”!
OFFICIAL HIGHEST CLUB CAPS AND STATS
Ballymoney RFC Club Patron, Billy Nichol started to record the number of times each player represented the Club from the date the Club began. This tradition has always been honoured and is the role of the club’s match secetary.
With Toss Skelton reaching his 700th apperance for the Club this Saturday, this years Match Secetary, Desmond Morrision, has been looking back over his statisics. Below is a list of the most capped players in Ballymoney’s history. These figures are as off the end of the 2010-11 season and before the weekend Desmond will have the information on matches played up to date as off the 4th February.
1. Toss Skelton – 700!!
2. John Waide – 671!
3. David Dunlop – 627!
4. Alan Agnew – 571!
5. Kenny Dunlop – 554!
6. Barney Kelly – 503!
7. J Campbell – 483
8. Brendan McGaughey – 471
9. Ricky Millar – 431
10. Neal Browne – 423
11. Nick Armstrong – 411
12. Alan Campbell – 397
13. Campbell Ferris – 396
14. David Laughlin – 395
15. J Liggett – 388
However with some of these people no longer playing, although never rule out retirement at Ballymoney RFC, below is a list of current players who may have an eye on equalling Toss Skelton’s record!
1. Toss Skelton – 700 – 3rd XV
2. John Waide – 671 – 4th XV
3. David Dunlop – 627 – 3rd – 5th XV
4. Brendan McGaughey – 471 – 5th XV
5. Ricky Millar – 431 – 4th XV
6. Nick Armstrong – 411 – 4th – 5th XV
7. Aidy White – 385 – 4th XV
8. Chris McIlmoyle – 381 – 4th XV
9. Tom Pollock – 371 – 5th XV
10. Jimmy Reid – 360 – 5th XV
11. Jonny Hanna – 333 – 1st XV
12. Wesley Pearson – 315 – 3rd XV
13. Richard Pollock – 296 – 5th XV
14. Ally Christie – 282 – 5th XV
15. Jason Taggart – 282 – 1st XV (played 8 seasons at Ballymena RFC as well)
If you have played for Ballymoney and are wondering how many games you notched up them check out the full list of player apprearances in the administration section of the website.
