Hinch 4's hosted Banbridge 3's this week with quite a few changes from the week before, last week saw 5 under 19 players drafted in at short notice after most of the usual 4's backline travelled to Enniskillen with the 3's. The 4's were heavily defeated by a healthy Ballymena side no doubt strengthened by the fact their 2nds game was cancelled at short notice.

But that was last week, this week Stuart McAllister, Michael Carson, Daniel Carson and Neil Davidson were all back in action for the 4's, Rodney Dowery came into centre, Jonny Viner returned to the wing and captain Stevie Dowery returned from injury for his first game for the 4's in almost 3 months to step into the outhalf slot.

The game was played across the road, Hinch losing the toss played into the Sun in the first half. Hinch conceded the first points after about 10 minutes with the Banbridge 2nd row brushing of 3 Hinch tackles to score beside the posts, the conversion was slotted. Hinch then repeatedly gave away some silly penalties, including captain.

Stevie Dowery being penalised for hands in the ruck somewhere he has very rarely been over the past few years and now knows why. This allowing Banbridge to slot 2 penalties from 4 chances. The initial 20 minutes of the game saw Hinch squander any ball they did have and mostly defend against a Banbridge side with their tails up, Rodney Dowery putting in some big hits in the centre helping keep the Banbridge men out, James Gibbons and Michael Evans doing some good work in the rucks. The second quarter saw Hinch up their game, the penalty count dropped and Hinch were putting some good patterns together, the line outs were functioning well with Eddie Flinn securing good ball, Flinn and Davidson pressurising the Banbridge throw making them resort to throwing to back every time. Hinch pushed their way up field, good work in the rucks from Michael Evans earning a penalty for Hinch in front of the posts which Robert Mcbriar easily slotted to get Hinch off the mark. Halftime score 13-3

Encouraged by the performance in the 2nd quarter, Hinch took the game to Banbridge with Neil Davidson, Alister Gordon, Ross Dickson and Trevor Brown all carrying well giving Michael Carson a solid platform to work from. Stuart McAllister broke into space and then offloaded to Ross Dickson to drive his way over for the first Hinch try, Robert McBriar again easily adding the extras. 13-10. Hinch tails were now up and the Banbridge pack were tiring. The second try came from James Gibbons who collected a dropped ball on the Banbridge lineout, brushing off a couple of Banbridge tackles to score on the right handside of the field. Robert McBriar having a good day with the boot slotting again. 17-13.

The Men in Green were now clicking and were putting some good phases of play together, some strong carries from Jonny Viner and Robert McBriar keeping the Banbridge backs on their toes, backs and forwards interlinking well, Davy Maguire finding himself at 10 in one of these phases made good ground before offloading out of the tackle. Dan Carson moved to 10 and Michael Carson to 15 with Stevie Dowery returning to his usual scrum half position after looking quite uncomfortable at 10.

The final score coming from Stuart McAllister who found himself in space and ran from the opposition 10 to score between the posts, Robert McBriar making 4 out of 4 kicks for the day. The game finished 24-13. Not exactly a polished performance from the 4's but a good win.