Welcome to Ballymena RFC @ Eaton Park – Est 1887

Match Report: Ballymena 2XV 60-7 Omagh

Date: 30th October 2021

Report by: Simon Bennett

Ballymena RFC’s 2XV recorded a colossal 53-point victory over Omagh RFC on a cold, sunny Saturday afternoon at Eaton Park, taking them up to 6th place in Division 2 of the Conference League. A minute silence was held before kick-off, to mark the tragic passing of politician and former Ballymena RFC player David Tweed.

Omagh kicked the game off, kicking away from the car park end of the pitch. Straight after the kick-off, possession was turned over to Ballymena, leading to a try within the first minute from Matthew Norris, setting the pace for the game. The subsequent conversion was scored to bring the score to 7-0 in the opening two minutes.

A scrum from Omagh was won by Ballymena, leading to a Ballymena line-out and another Ballymena scrum. Possession was mostly Omagh’s for the next few minutes, however the cold weather caused the ball to drop out of their hands. The match was stopped soon after with a potential injury to one of the Omagh players. Ballymena won the scrum, however the subsequent line-out was won by Omagh.

Ballymena made a long kick to move possession up the pitch, with the line-out leading to a good, speedy run by Andrew Wilson, but it didn’t result in a try. A spilled ball led to a scrum however, it didn’t result in a try. Ballymena’s next scrum nearly resulted in a try, but possession ended up in a turnover. Omagh’s next line-out was their best possession of the first half, although it did not result in a try.

Omagh held their line firm over the next few minutes, with Ballymena showing some threatening breaks. On the twentieth minute, a try from Curtis Henry took Ballymena into a 12-0 lead, but the conversion was missed. Very soon afterwards, another great run by Curtis Henry nearly led to another try. Captain Jack Lewis made a good run a few minutes later, but it led to nothing.

Ballymena took themselves into a 17-point lead over the visitors after Curtis Henry recorded his second try of the game. The subsequent conversion was once again missed. On the half-hour mark, Ballymena went 24-0 up after Jack Lewis scored a try and the conversion was scored. An excellent run by Curtis Henry led to a try from Darrell Montgomery. The conversion was missed and it was very far wide of the posts. Ballymena were flying into a 29-0 lead.

Omagh showed some good possession over the next few minutes, but Ballymena scored a try on the half-time mark from Donovan Waulahan and a conversion took Ballymena into a 36-0 lead at the interval.

Ballymena kicked off the second half and nearly scored a try within the first two minutes. For the opening few minutes of the second half, Ballymena had the larger share of possession. On the forty-fifth minute, Ballymena scored another try from Matthew Norris. The conversion was missed and hit the post, keeping the score at 41-0. Omagh got close to Ballymena’s try-line, which was their first real chance of the game so far, however the ball was spilled at the last second.  

On the fiftieth minute, an Omagh scrum took possession dangerously close to Ballymena’s try-line as they began to get back into the game. Ballymena held their line firm and cleared the ball. A quick series of passing moves and rucks gave Ballymena the chance to capitalise with a try and came close, but they didn’t score. They did score on the fifty-fifth minute with Curtis Henry’s third try of the game and a conversion, taking them into a 48-0 lead over the visitors.

Omagh’s kick-off led to a good bit of possession from the visiting side, but on the sixty-first minute, a good run by Matthew Norris resulted in a try, with the additional conversion being scored. The score was 55-0 with less than twenty minutes remaining. A try and a conversion from Omagh took the score to 55-7.

Ballymena’s kick-off led to a try immediately after, taking their lead to 60-7 on the sixty-seventh minute. The conversion was once again missed to leave the final score at 60-7. The match ended early before the seventieth minute.

Ballymena gained a vital 5 points from their win, with the 2nd XV’s next match being at Eaton Park against Lisburn on Saturday November 6th.

Share: