Ballymena Rugby Club youth sides eye trophies

BALLYMENA youth rugby had one of its best days in years on Saturday with the 17s and 13s joining the 19s on their march to claim silverware for the Club.

The 17s had already beaten Ulster champions Virginia away from home before they played much fancied Portadown on Saturday.

The 17s had lost a second row, winger and their eight who were all on holiday and were therefore up against it and it was only some excellent tackling from McLeister and man of the match Logan which kept the visitors at bay early on.

Ballymena took the lead through a McNeill penalty before some loose play saw the ball dropped in the Ballymena ‘22’ and Portadown’s winger scooped up the loose ball and crossed for a converted try.

Another McNeill penalty brought Ballymena back to within a point of their opponents before the Braidmen were awarded a penalty after a Portadown defender was adjudged as offside.

McNeill stepped up with only one minute left on the clock. Showing no nerves he calmly hit the ball between the posts to give the boys the lead. A frenetic last minute saw Ballymena make a series of great tackles before bundling the ball into touch. Final Score - Ballymena 9, Portadown 7.

UNDER-13

The 13s were also up against Portadown and were put onto the back foot from the start with the strong Portadown pack taking control of the early skirmishes.

This pressure saw the visitors running in two tries to give them the lead at the break.

However the second half saw the 13s led by Pattison fight their way back into the game. A neat backline move saw McKenzie release Wallahan, he passed to Haveron who crossed for a well deserved try.

The 13s were now pushing hard and McAuley drove deep into the visitors half before passing to the impressive McLoughlin who crossed for the first of his two tries. Ramsey converted and the 13s were now in the lead.

The boys were in determined mood and pushed Portadown back before Marks collected a pass which saw him touch down under the posts. Ramsey again converted and the 13s were in control of the game.

The visitors now realised they were beaten and as their heads dropped McLoughlin ran in another score. The great come back was rounded off by Morrison who scooped up a loose ball before crossing for his first try of the season.

Final score - Ballymena 29, Portadown 10.

UNDER-19

Ballymena Under 19s have been hit hard by injuries in the past two weeks despite this they travelled to Lurgan with high hopes of progressing to the Bowl Final.