Energia AIL 2A 14th December 2019
Scorers: Magrath(3*Pen), Roberts(1*Try), (1*Pen Try)
Photos

A good crowd turned out at Hatrick Park to see Rainey Old Boys defeat Ballymena 21-0 to complete the first half of their AIL programme and remain in second place in the table.  With the fixtures now coming in reverse order, their next outing in this competition will be at Eaton Park next month.

Rainey had this game sewn up by the half hour stage and looked a safe bet to go on and take a bonus point, but, as the temperature dropped dramatically and the breeze they faced after the break became a wind, Ballymena had more of the ball, but got no change out of a very solid Rainey defence.  Rainey's backline never clicked in attack as they held on too often with numbers outside.  Nevertheless, six wins at this level is a very respectable effort.

Straight from the kick-off, Rainey found themselves in great field positions, but the forwards failed to control possession.  Out-half Magrath opened the scoring after five minutes with a lovely strike from near halfway and, when a long, high kick from full-back O'Neill put the visitors in trouble again, the pack rumbled towards the line from a lineout.  When the maul collapsed, referee Chris Lough had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try.  Magrath kept the scoreboard ticking over with another fine kick as Rainey's more mobile forwards continued to dictate and Ballymena made life difficult for themselves with some careless errors.

A lack of composure cost Rainey on a number of occasions before they made it 18-0 after 23 minutes.  Opting to go to the corner from a penalty, the pack did their bit for hooker Roberts to touch down in the corner.  Ballymena finally reached the Rainey 22' on the half hour when a line break and a kick ahead had Rainey scampering back.  Left-wing Moran dealt well with that situation and shortly afterwards put in a crushing tackle when Ballymena threatened in the corner.

Magrath added another penalty as Rainey camped in the Ballymena 22' straight from the restart, but the momentum was short-lived as they had to reshuffle their backline and give their replacements some game time.  When Michael McCusker did well to get on the end of a little kick through, they went on to force a penalty which they put in the corner, but nothing came of it.  Mickey Poskitt made a nice break through midfield, but again a sloppy piece of play followed.  Ballymena saw a lot of the ball in the last quarter and dominated territorially, but rarely created anything.

TEAM: M.O'Neill, M.Poskitt, D.McMurray, M.Connolly, C.Moran, A.Magrath, J.Bloomfield, C.Hume, B.Roberts, F.Quinn, J.McCusker, R.McCusker, J.McAuley, A.Bratton, C.Brockschmidt
REPLACEMENTS: K.Donaghy, N.Jeffers, M.McCusker, J.Bresland, A.McSwiggan.