Randalstown 1st XV 19 Grosvenor 1st XV
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Despite another win on Saturday afternoon Randalstown 1sts remain in 5th position in Qualifying 2 still snapping at the heels of Coleraine who pulled off a surprise victory against league leaders Omagh on Saturday.
There had been some doubt earlier in the week as to whether the game would be played because of the wintry conditions, however the pitch was in perfect condition and a large crowd turned out in support. They saw Grosvenor take the better of the earlier exchanges with the referee awarding 9 penalties in the first 15 minutes, all but one to Grosvenor.
The Grosvenor out-half slotted over the one of the penalties to give them a 3-0 lead. As Randalstown settled down their forwards began to control the scrums and the backs began to put pressure on the Grosvenor line. With twenty five minutes gone the ball was moved quickly to young out half Bailey who stormed over under the posts for a well taken score. The successful conversion was the last score of the half and gave Randalstown a deserved 7-3 lead.
The second half saw a number of scoring changes missed through handling errors on a day that made open rugby impossible. Finally Bailey who was having a great game scythed trough the Grosvenor defence to score a second try. With a comfortable 14-3 lead Randalstown began to look for a third try and with a few minutes left a mistake in the Grosvenor defence allowed Ryan Bailey in for his hat-trick.
Coaches Gary Longwell and Alistair Strange were pleased with the effort the side put in and once again the forwards were on top in the scrum and the defensive work of the team was also outstanding. Next week the side take on Holywood and this game will require a similar effort to get the desired result.
Carrickfergus 3rd XV 15 Randalstown 2nd XV 15
The big question on Saturday morning for the Randalstown 2nd string was could they maintain their unbeaten record on a visit to a very stormy Carrick? The wind blew fair up the pitch suggesting that the team who adjusted best to the conditions would come away with the spoils.
The first half hour saw the home side notch up a 10 point lead and in contrast the randalstown response for almost that entire period the Randalstown response consisted of knock ons, conceded penalties and general lacklustre – it was difficult to see how they could come back.
Eventually almost on the stroke of half time Randalstown got the ball to go to hand effectively and Ben Winter touched down to narrow the deficit. Murray only narrowly missed the difficult conversion from out wide.
A serious talking to at half time from manager Sloane geed his team up and they started the second half well only for a move to break down within shouting distance of the line. Carrick’s out half pounced and made serious ground before their number 7 grounded the ball beside the posts. Somehow they contrived to miss the conversion as the ball rebounded off the left upright but ‘Town were now staring down the barrel of their first defeat of the season.
It was tricky underfoot and difficult to get any pace on the pass as more often than not it held up in the very strong wind so that the pacey ‘Town backs struggled for any continuity even when they had possession. Thankfully they were starting to make inroads into the home defence and Ian Hume struck back with a try under the posts, but as Murray stepped up for the bread and butter conversion the ball blew over. He did immediately take the drop kick but the referee was unsighted so the extras went unaccounted for.
Town’s superior fitness was telling in the closing exchanges and they pounded the Carrick line winning successive penalties until Matty Mawhinney raced over to level the scores, much to the relief of the Randalstown faithful.
Manager Sloane attributed the performance to a combination of the conditions and a bit of ring rustiness with the team only having played once this year to date. As always there were some bright points – hooker Conceiao took one against the head and the scrum performed relatively well despite the weight advantage Carrick had. Pleasingly the 2nd XV’s unbeaten run continues, if only by a thread this afternoon and the team stuck to their task to the bitter end.
