First XV Rugby - Match Report

Ballyclare High School 1st XV v Limivady 1st XV

10 October 2007

In the first half Ballyclare defended well from the start and were starting to scan the pitch to look where the opposition were lining up their attacking lines. Communication was good as well to tell players where they should line up. Attacking was not as good as it could have been as there were opportunities that were wasted by players carrying the ball the wrong direction off a ruck. These incidents didn’t happen frequently however and our decision making improved as the game progressed. Craig Andrews and Matthew Hopper ran excellent lines off Rob Smith and were strong runners and didn’t flop to ground easily. Other members of the team, in the first half, did flop to ground easily but once again as the game progressed runners got stronger and hit better lines. Our set piece was good in the first half with the exception of a few poorly called lineouts. We dominated in the scrum with the whole pack making an effort to drive them off the ball. Near the end of the first half Limivady made it into our 22 and on to the 5 meter line but once again solid defence and good counter-rucking drove them off the ball and a good clearance kick was made. Tempers frayed at the end of the first half within the team but the issue was quickly resolved.

At the start of the first half we were still fit and had plenty of energy which proved that all the conditioning work pays off. Limivady were not so energetic but still very physical. In the second half we upped our game and started to run better lines talk more and be stronger as runners. This paid off as we wore Limivady down and soon gaps started to appear. Runners with support hit the gaps and kept the ball alive by offloading. It was because of this we scored so many tries with support player hitting the right lines at the right times. The dominance in the scrum continued and we even won one against the head and our lineouts improved as well giving the backs a good platform to play off. Handling improved greatly in the second half as well and because of this a lot of the tries were scored. Our defence was just as good, if not better, than it was in the first half and we managed to prevent them from putting any points on the board. Discipline was good throughout the match and no penalties were given for offsides.

Final score 58-0 to Ballyclare.

It was a brilliant match to play in and the scoreline made it even better.

Adam Neill