Ballynahinch where crowned Ulster Champions last Saturday when they over came a strong Lisburn side beating them 7-0 The Match was played at Cooke RFC.

With Ballynahinch coming out of an undefeated run as winners of the premier division, they were the favourites to take on their County Down neighbours in this eagerly anticipated match. As expected the match was extremely tight from the start with hard tacking and physical encounters from both teams. This led to penalties and infringements early on.

After the first ten minutes Ballynahinch lost their loose head prop Ian McGowan who suffered strained ligaments in only the third scrum of the game, he was replaced by the able Ross Robertson who done a fine job of stabilising the scrum.

Ballynahinch had most of the possession in the opening quarter and retained and recycled the ball well with the pack doing a strong job on the ground, this hard graft led to Lisburn conceding penalty and Ballynahinch where presented with a scoring opportunity. From the penalty fly half Robert Irvine put the ball deep into the opponents 22 and thus followed a great shortened lineout where James Simpson towered above everyone to win the ball and then he fed it to link up man Daryl Carson who managed to slip the ball to second row Lewis Jones. He carried the ball well and made hard yards through the centre of the Lisburn defence taking two defenders to take him down. Unfortunately good stealing form the Lisburn back row fluffed this opportunity for Ballynahinch and frustration could be seen in the whole Hinch team.

With Ballynahinch dominating in the scrums led by solid hits by the front row of Chambers, Carson and Robertson they forced several turnover scrums deep in the Lisburn half , Ballynahinch took full advantage of these opportunities and made many runs with Simpson picking up and then being supported by back row mates Murdock and Donaldson, On one such occasion, scrumhalf Carson followed up to feed quick ball to Lewis Jones once again who took it straight up to the 5 before offloading to fly half Robbie Irvine who’s quick feet allowed him to sneak into the corner for a crucial try. This was successfully converted by Irvine himself.

With the match becoming very heated both teams were warned by the referee to keep things controlled and calm. With Lisburn Centres running straight lines to try and make it over the gain line, Morrison and Nicholson did a fine defensive job, tacking like demons and stopping the Lisburn backline in their tracks. With 5 minutes remaining to play, Hinch received a set back when inside centre Nicholson mistimed one of his tackles and was sent to the sin bin to cool off.

With Hinch down to 14 men they played the corners and tried to smother the Lisburn Team starving them of possession so they couldn’t take advantage of having the extra man, this worked well as Lisburn didn’t change the score, Both teams had a few chances each at adding to the points through kicking penalties but both out halves were unlucky with two kicks each missing narrowly.

With the game being very physical, open side flanker Gareth Murdock was taken of with a nick to the head, this was a bad loss for Hinch since in recent games Murdock has covered the pitch brilliantly and his speed to the breakdown would be missed for the remainder of this game. He was replaced by Mourne Man Ernie McMath and the versatile player impressed with some great defensive work in the lineout and at the breakdown so as not to let the side down.

In the Final stages of the match both teams were very strong in defence, with brilliant ball retention Hinch had most of the possession in the opponents 22 but final inaccurate passes prevented them from going over the try line. The game stayed at 7-0 with Lisburn applying pressure in the final stages of the match. You could see the determination in how much Lisburn wanted to tie the game, But the Hinch's outstanding man on man defence held firm and with some great counter – rucking in the last play from the Ballynahinch pack they turned over Lisburn’s possession and with the final kick of the game Irvine kicked the ball dead for the victory.

Ballynahinch Under 18’s received the tile number one club in Ulster. They deserved this after their hard work in the league but credit is also due to Lisburn who fought hard and made Hinch work until the final whistle. Ballynahinch will now face the Champions of Leinster in the All – Ireland semi-Final. The boys from Ballymacarn know that if they are to overcome their Leinster opponents, they will need to be at their best and raise their game a lot higher than they did on Saturday. Players and Coaching staff agreed that Saturday’s match was not the best display that Ballynahinch have given this season.

The All Ireland Semi Final will take place on the 5th April 2008 venue TBC.

Ballynahinch U18 Team

(1-8) Ian McGowan, Daryl Carson, David Chambers(c), Matthew Adams, Lewis Jones, Gareth Murdock, Joshua Donaldson, James Simpson
(9-15) Michael Carson, Robbie Irvine, Warren Nugent, David Nicholson, Gareth Morrison, Chris Roe, Christopher Mc’Kibben

Replacements
Mark Priestly, Ross Robertson, Kristiaan Owen, Ernie McMath, Connor Patterson, Nicky Jones, Scott Hughes