Ballymena won the Club Academy (U21) Cup for the first time on Saturday lunchtime after winning a thrilling encounter against City of Armagh.
After defeating Ballynahinch with a last-minute victory in the semi-final, the young Braidmen once again showed their mettle to come out on top after trailing their opponents for almost the entire game.
The match started with Armagh on top, and after a series of penalties against Ballymena, a lineout maul secured their first try, which was converted to go 7-0 up. Ballymena responded immediately with pressure on their opponents, resulting in Joe O’Rawe kicking a penalty to make the score 7-3. Armagh responded with a penalty of their own before Ballymena put together a series of strong attacking sets in their opponents’ 22, culminating in captain Timmy Carson crashing over from close range.
From this point, Armagh took control of the contest and put Ballymena under severe pressure. Heroic defence, particularly from Reuben Allen and Ryan McCartney, kept Armagh at bay, but two quick tries took the score to 22-8, with Armagh seemingly in control.
However, the young Ballymena side responded again—strong carries from Timmy Carson, Adam Thompson, and the ever-present McCartney took play onto the Armagh line. After a few phases, the unstoppable Josh Dobbin barged his way over, and O’Rawe converted to make the score 22-15. For the remainder of the half, Armagh camped on the Ballymena line. Wave after wave of attack was repelled by the Braidmen, with Henry Casson and Allen again coming up with try-saving tackles to keep the score 22-15 to Armagh at half-time.
After withstanding that barrage, Ballymena came out more composed in the second half. Joe O’Rawe kicked superbly out of hand to pin Armagh back in their territory, and relentless pressure allowed Michael McLean to dive over in the corner. O’Rawe made an incredible touchline conversion, and the match was tied 22-22.
For the next 15 minutes, the match turned into an arm wrestle. Both teams defended well and forced turnovers to relieve pressure, notably by Daniel Hull and Dobbin for Ballymena. Armagh returned to their maul, which secured them another try in the corner, and with a missed conversion, the score stood at 27-22.
With 15 minutes to go, the Ballymena side began to make inroads, with centre Jordan Millar making some strong carries. O’Rawe knocked over a straightforward penalty to make the score 27-25 before doing so again with six minutes left to play, putting Ballymena ahead by one point.
But Armagh still had one final attack left. Ballymena repelled their maul, and ferocious defence on their own line led to Paddy O’Brien making the key tackle, with Dobbin once again securing the turnover penalty to allow Ballymena to clear their lines.
Ballymena still had to see out the last two minutes and held onto the ball superbly to secure another penalty, which signalled full-time and wild celebrations from the large contingent of supporters who had travelled up.
This was another performance filled with guts, determination, and bravery from a side made up of local players who have developed through the rugby schools and the rugby club youth section in Ballymena. Over 40 players have represented the team over the course of this season, and they have defeated the two strongest clubs in Ulster on their way to this cup victory. The future is looking bright at Ballymena Rugby Club.
Full-time: City of Armagh 27 – 28 Ballymena
