Ballynahinch U-16 29 Malone U-16 8
Colin Donaldson reports
BALLYNAHINCH continued their run of good form with an excellent home victory over Malone.
They were slow to come out of the blocks and were punished when a great break in midfield from Malone forced the home side to concede a penalty under their own posts.
The kick was duly dispatched to ease the away side into the lead.
This seemed to spark the home side into life, and they played some sparkling rugby to put the game to bed before half time.
Ethan Donaldson set things off with a great steal and chip ahead for Jackson Buchanan to kick ahead and gather. When he was stopped just short a Thomas McPhillips carry allowed Jack Patterson to pick up and go for the score.
The Ballynahinch set piece was working well and allowing them to carry hard at the Malone defence, with Patterson making his presence felt.
This drew in the Malone defenders and fast hands sent Matthew Fitzsimons over. The home side scored again straight from the kick-off, when a superb McPhillips offload sent Maxwell Buchanan scampering over in the corner.
The electric Harvey Campbell then chipped in with a fine individual try to take his side into half-time with a big lead.
They were well worth it, with backs and forwards combining for some excellent rugby.
Despite some stern Malone resistance, the lead was extended early in the second half when the outstanding Patterson showed all his power and pace to touch down following a series of punishing forward drives.
The home side then took the opportunity to give game time to their bench and lost a little of their cohesion and Malone were eventually rewarded for their efforts with a late try.
The final score of 29-8 was a fair reflection of the game and the U-16 coaching team were delighted with both the performance and the opportunity to get the wider squad involved.
They are top of their league section, with four wins from four, with a tricky away fixture versus Instonians this weekend.