Ballymena travelled to Galway knowing their fate was firmly in their own hands. Fresh off a morale-boosting win over league champions Instonians, John Nicholl’s side needed just one more victory to guarantee safety in AIL Division 2A.
The visitors began nervously, struggling to adapt to a strong headwind and committing several uncharacteristic handling errors early on. An early chance went begging with the try line in sight, as Ballymena knocked on close to the line.
Corinthians made them pay shortly after, capitalising on a lineout deep in Ballymena territory. A driving maul rumbled over the line for the game’s opening try, giving the hosts a 5-0 lead.
Discipline became a concern for Ballymena, with Joe Mawhinney shown a yellow card for a series of high tackles, reducing them to 14 men temporarily.
Despite their struggles, Ballymena struck back just before the interval. A 5-metre lineout saw outhalf Callum Patterson join a driving maul at the back and touch down, levelling the contest at 5-5 as the sides going into the break.
With the wind at their backs, Ballymena might have hoped to kick on in the second half, but it was the home side who came out sharper. Corinthians launched a sweeping counter-attack from a Ballymena clearance kick to finish in the corner and regain the lead at 12-5.
Another break from deep in their own 22 saw Corinthians extend the advantage to 19-5, leaving Ballymena chasing the game.
The visitors showed heart and resilience, and again it was Patterson who provided a lifeline, crashing over from another maul for his second of the day. He added the conversion from a difficult angle to bring the score to 19-12.
Ballymena tried desperately to get the try to level up the scores to get a draw which would have secured their safety however the impressive Corinthians defence held out.
Full time:
Corinthians 19 – 12 Ballymena
In the other game of significance to Ballymena, Navan were beating Greystones 13-8 in the closing minutes with Ballymena needing a Greystones win to stay above Navan in the table.
There was dejection amongst the squad and sizeable travelling support, believing after full time that Ballymena were resigned to the dreaded relegation playoff with the top teams in Division 2B.
The supporters were eagerly refreshing their phones for updates on the Navan scoreline and when news filtered through of a last minute Greystones try, utter dejection turned to jubilation, sparking celebrations amongst the Ballymena coaches, players and travelling support.
Despite losing on the day, results elsewhere mean that Ballymena will play their rugby in Division 2A again next season.
A special mention also goes to Josh Mark who passed 50 AIL caps for the club on Saturday. Josh has been a consistent presence in our 1XV for the last 4 years and has been a top performer during that time.
After the game, head coach John Nicholl reflected, “It wasn’t the most enjoyable game to try and coach as word came through early on Navan were in front.
Our focus was of course on ourselves and I thought the boys did really well going into the break at 5-5 having played against such a strong wind.
The yellow card really hurt us at the start of the second half as Corinthians kept the ball really well and made it count scoring with the extra man in the corner.
I think we dominated the second half with territory and possession but fair play to Corinthians they kept us out time and time again.
Irrespective of our result, I am just so proud of our guys and how they’ve handled this season. We’ve so many young guys in the 1XV just out of school and who now have experience at playing All Ireland rugby going into next season.
I’m really excited about where this team can get to with a few additions next season”
Team:
Mark, Mustoe, Mawhinney, J. Browne, Milford, P. Browne, McClean, Lamont, Weerarathne, Patterson, D. Millar, Ritson, Vercoe Rogers, Neely, McBurney
Subs:
M. Lamont, Taggart, Dobbin, Glass, Robson
