Provincial League Section 1 22nd October 2016
Scorers: Corrigan(1*Try), McClelland(2*Try), Martin(1*Conv), Quinn(1*Conv)
The name McCusker has dominated local rugby news in recent weeks as three of the clan are starring for the 1st XV. A fourth, Philip, has secided to try the oval ball game which he has not played since his schoolboy days and he announced his arrival on the stage at Hatrick Park on Saturday by helping Rainey II to a 19-10 victory over second placed Ballyclare II. Chico Jr, as he is known to his mates, showed some deft touches and did his shift of ball carrying in the second half to mark him down as one for the future. That could be as a big winger, a la Jonah Lomu, or in the second row.
It has been an unfortunate season so far for the 2nd XV, but this excellent win should get them going and, if they can get a more settled side on the field, they can move up Section 1 of the Provincial League.
In perfect conditions, these two young sides sought to throw the ball about. Ballyclare opened the scoring with an early penalty and looked good as Rainey lost second-row Stewart to a yellow card. But on 17 minutes, McCusker wandered infield to initiate an attack with a little burst and an offload which culminated in back-row replacement Corrigan going over from a scrum. Martin converted.
Ballyclare were just short with a penalty and on several occasions looked like scoring, but Rainey managed to hang on through their gutsy tackling. Despite losing a player to a yellow card, the visitors continued to enjoy territorial advantage.
Rainey started the second half in style by creating a three-man overlap on the left, but a long pass was deemed to be forward by the referee. But a minute later, centre McClelland powered over to put some daylight between the sides. A forward pass came to Rainey's rescue when the Ballyclare No8 broke the gain line with a storming run and they increased their lead when McClelland went through from 40 yards. Quinn's conversion left them in a very strong position with ten minutes remaining. They looked home and dry, but gave away a bad score when full-back and captain Andrew Donaghy, who otherwise had a very good game, was dispossessed in the Ballyclare half with no cover behind him. They finished well and McClelland almost made it a hat-trick to crown a solid display.