The only competitive action over the Christmas period at Neillsbrook involved the Randalstown 3rd XV as they took on Ballymoney 5s the Saturday before Christmas and Ballynahinch 7s the Saturday after. These were two fixtures not for the fainthearted and the 3rd XV acquitted themselves very well on both occasions.
\nWith the boxing day tradition of the Randalstown teams taking on their Antrim counterparts long gone it was an inspired idea to field a 2nd\/3rd XV combination against the Randalstown exiles organised by Neil Foster. The exiles fielded many familiar faces and not an insubstantial amount of talent in their ranks, so it was always going to be close contest.
\nFirst up were a strong Ballymoney 5s featuring a number of their usual seasoned campaigners, and they were edged out 6-3 by a new look Randalstown 3rd XV as it gave debuts to four under 19s.
\nThe town lads pressed for an early score with a couple of impressive runs by centre Simon Moon before Ballymoney conceded a few penalties. Young fullback David Mc Whirter was extremely unlucky with a long range kick before hitting the target in the 10th minute and adding another after 23mins.
\nThe lineout performed well with Joe Cross and Hugh Bishop as jumpers and Adam Watt performing well as hooker though the experienced Ballymoney pack as expected proved a handful all afternoon. The town lads moved the ball well through the backs but could add no further points leaving the halftime score 6-0.<\/p>\n
Ballymoney began the second half with some purpose and pressed for a score only to be continually thwarted by the stubborn town defence. Birthday boy Ryan McAuley was introduced at halftime and went on to forge a good partnership with the hard tackling Adie Johnston and strong running Jamie Orr.
\nMan of the match David Mc Whirter ran several cutting lines out of his 22, turning defence into attack to the delight of the Randalstown support. Ballymoney\u2019s persistence paid off when they converted a penalty to leave a nervous last 20 minutes.
\nThe visitors laid siege to the Randalstown line but the heroic defence held firm and a sortie into the opponents 22 again launched by Mc Whirter almost brought a score before the referee brought this tense yet highly entertaining game to a close with Randalstown emerging deserved 6-3 victors.
\nAll eighteen players played superbly and the new players slotted in perfectly and contributed to the great team spirit that has been evident in the 3rds this season. Adie Johnston had a great game at outside half with the afore mentioned David Mc Whirter and Scott Snow at scrum half. Simon Moon and David Frew also had solid games with second row Robin Adair always in the mix.<\/p>\n
Team: Mark Mc Cullough, Adam Watt, Gary Paine, Michael Reeves, Robin Adair, Hugh Bishop, John Allen, Joe Cross, Scott Snow,Adrian Johnston, David Frew, Simon Moon ,Jamie Orr, Willie Fleck, David Mc Whirter, Ryan McAuley, Graham Hume, Brian Gourley<\/p>\n