After a series of fixtures postponed due to frozen pitches, Ballymena 1XV returned to action against an Armah side going well in division 1B of the AIL.
The home side opened the scoring with a Ross McKay penalty, however Armagh dominated proceedings for most of the half with 2 tries, one converted. McKay added two further penalties, including one from his own half to keep Ballymena in the game at 12-9 at half time to the visitors.
Ballymena got off to the worst possible start in the second half with a try for the impressive Armagh scrum half shortly after kick off. After a breakdown penalty was awarded by the referee, the Armagh 9 reacted quickest with a quickly tapped penalty. Few in the home defence reacted and he went in almost unopposed from 30m out.
Ballymena’s effort cannot be faulted throughout the game however they struggled to make many inroads into a well organised Armagh defence.
The visitors added their fourth and fifth tries to close out the game before a well executed crossfield kick from Ross McKay put Dean Millar in for Ballymena’s only try of the game. Final score 29-14 to Armagh.
2023 kicks off with a rescheduled AIL game this Saturday 7th January against local rivals Queen’s University. Spaces are still available at the pre match lunch. Please contact brfccommsteam@gmail.com if interested in taking a space.
