Booth Try Sees Ballynahinch Take Derby Spoils Against Armagh

Centre Matthew Booth’s 27th-minute try was the only score of a defence-dominated Ulster derby, as Ballynahinch opened their Energia All-Ireland League campaign on a winning note against City of Armagh.

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE MEN’S DIVISION 1A:

Saturday, September 21 –

BALLYNAHINCH 7 CITY OF ARMAGH 0, Ballymacarn Park
Scorers: Ballynahinch: Try: Matthew Booth; Con: Conor Rankin
City of Armagh: –
HT: Ballynahinch 7 City of Armagh 0

A tightly-contested first half ended 7-0 in Ballynahinch’s favour, with centre Matthew Booth claiming the only try in the 27th minute, much to the delight of the vocal home support.

The Ballymacarn Park faithful had to endure some nervy moments with City of Armagh putting themselves within range to draw level. However, ‘Hinch’s resolute defence held firm to put their opening four points on the board.

A number of Ulster players got game-time in this Division 1A duel, including Ben Moxham and Marcus Rea, who both started for ‘Hinch, and fellow senior squad member Callum Reid, a second half replacement for Armagh.

Armagh’s first maul opportunity did not go to plan with the ball going to ground, while another knock-on halted Ballynahinch at the halfway line where big Ulster winger Moxham was well tackled by Rocky Olsen and Shea O’Brien.

Back rower Rea pinched back possession for ‘Hinch in the ninth minute, before his opposite number John Glasgow did likewise a few phases later. Harry McKeown’s ball-dislodging tackle on Niall Carville soon earned a scrum for the hosts.

Conor Rankin slightly overcooked a kick to touch, allowing Armagh to maintain their early presence inside the ‘Hinch half. However, O’Brien was taken into touch by Rankin and Ethan Graham, following a long skip pass from new out-half Olsen.

‘Hinch captain Bradley Luney drew a high tackle from his Armagh counterpart, Nigel Simpson, as the home side reached the opposition 22 for the first time. Josh McKinley disrupted their lineout, though, and Jonny Morton came away with the ball.

Midway through a tense opening 40 minutes, Armagh advanced courtesy of a couple of penalties, and a kickable one was turned down in favour of going towards the right corner. ‘Hinch coughed up another penalty at the maul, but Luney stole a subsequent lineout.

Olsen’s high tackle on Claytan Milligan allowed Adam Craig’s men to move downfield again, this time building some attacking phases after prop Kyle McCall had retrieved a lineout at the rear.

Moxham was involved twice as ‘Hinch gained ground inside Armagh’s 22, only for Glasgow to lift the pressure with a timely turnover. Possession was soon back with ‘Hinch, via a crooked lineout throw, and this time they made it count.

Wingers Moxham and Graham were both involved in the build-up, with the latter somehow managing to avoid touch. The attack moved back infield where Paul Kerr and McKeown, who drifted inside both Olsen and Matthew Hooks, combined to send Booth over.

Rankin made it a full seven-pointer, and some crisp passing had the full-back hunting down a try in the right corner soon after. A strong tackle from Simpson denied him, but Ballynahinch were now having the bigger moments.

In the previous phases, Ulster Academy back Graham followed up on his penalty win at the breakdown with a nicely-judged 50:22 kick. Armagh defended well up the interval, though, and their forwards led the way.

McKinley got his hand to a ‘Hinch lineout, and then as the hosts exerted some late pressure, Carville and Neil Faloon won a key breakdown battle, and the Armagh scrum also earned a penalty to claw back some territory.

Chris Parker’s charges seized the initiative on the resumption, gaining a couple of penalties either side of a Rea turnover. Luney led by example for Ballynahinch, winning another important breakdown decision to bring play back towards halfway.

Both lineouts continued to come under pressure, and even when Armagh scrum half Lewis Finlay jinked through up into the ‘Hinch 22, the increasingly-influential Luney succeeded in dislodging the ball from his former team-mate’s grasp.

Two more loose lineouts saw a scrappy third quarter fizzle out, and the handling errors increased, past the hour mark, due to the unrelenting, teak-tough tackling from both sides.

A 67th-minute scrum penalty raised hopes of Armagh breaking the second half deadlock, and Faloon, minus his scrum cap, rumbled forward off the ensuing maul. Sprung from the bench, Ulster prop Reid also made a big carry.

The visitors let ‘Hinch off the hook, however, as a brilliant position in front of the posts was lost when flanker Glasgow conceded a penalty for going in off his feet following a Ronan McCusker carry.

That was the closest that Armagh would come, as it just was not their day. They were turned over at a maul, and even when replacement James Anderson stole a lineout and then another penalty went their way, the subsequent lineout slipped through Glasgow’s grasp.

Ballynahinch’s maul defence was first-rate late on, and their solid set-piece work, picking up penalties at scrum and maul time, helped to steer them home. Replacement Kelvin Hamilton kicked the ball dead in the final play, following a lost Armagh lineout on halfway.

BALLYNAHINCH: Conor Rankin; Ben Moxham, Matthew Booth, Paul Kerr, Ethan Graham; Harry McKeown, Chris Gibson; John Dickson, Claytan Milligan, Kyle McCall, Kyle Gill, Declan Horrox, Marcus Rea, Peter Heasley, Bradley Luney (capt).

Replacements: Kelvin Hamilton, Calum Smyth, Tom McAllister, Ronan McCusker, Zack McCall, Arthur Johnson.

CITY OF ARMAGH: Kyle Faloon; Shea O’Brien, Sam Berman, Matthew Hooks, Sam Cunningham; Rocky Olsen, Lewis Finlay; Niall Carville, Jonny Morton, Paul Mullen, James Crummie, Josh McKinley, John Glasgow, Nigel Simpson (capt), Neil Faloon.

Replacements: Jack Reaney, Callum Reid, James Anderson, Sam Glasgow, Andrew Willis, Evin Crummie.