Ballynahinch hold Terenure to draw

Ballynahinch hold Terenure to draw

15 January 2025

The icy start to 2025 that gripped Ballymacarn Park forced Ballynahinch to move their home fixture to the artificial surface at Newforge where they played out a pulsating draw with Dublin giants and perennial challengers Terenure College.

Adam Craig was forced into a back line reshuffle in the absence of George Pringle with Ronan Patterson partnering Mark Best in the centre and Conor Rankin moving to the wing to allow James Humphreys to start at full back.

Jake Flannery came in at out half as he continues to recover from a series of injuries. Up front Bryn Ward started at No 8 with Zack McCall back in the open side flanker jersey and skipper Bradley Luney moving into the engine room.

After an early exchange of penalties Terenure were the first to settle and scored a try from a line-out drive to take the lead.

A dominant set-piece earned them another penalty which stretched the lead to eight points before the home side hit back with a line-out drive of their own, working Claytan Milligan over for a converted try to narrow the gap to a point.

Terenure kicked another penalty on the stroke of half time, but in injury time Ballynahinch played some excellent rugby to drive upfield.

Ward showed his quality by fielding a crossfield kick, blasting through one tackler and producing an excellent offload as he was finally brought down to put Conor McKee in close to the posts. Rankin’s conversion gave Ballynahinch a three-point lead at half time.

The second half was extremely attritional with huge physicality on both sides as fresh legs were brought on from the bench.

Terenure were the first to break the deadlock when a prolonged period of pressure in the Ballynahinch 22 eventually allowed them to work their backs in for a converted try.

Despite a raft of injuries and disruptions, Ballynahinch drove upfield and Tom McCallister burrowed his way over from short range to take his side back into the lead.

The home side looked the more likely to go on and win the match at this stage but a few game management areas and a lack of accuracy at the set-piece allowed Terenure to regroup and kick another penalty to level the scores with ten minutes to go.

The scene was set for a grandstand finish but neither side got themselves into a position to score and as the clock counted down the physical toll on the players was in evidence as the game ended rather tamely in a draw. 

Ballynahinch can be proud of how they fronted up after a mauling at the hands of the same opponent before Christmas, but they will probably see this as points ped rather gained as they move down a place to fifth in the table.

The challenge for Craig and his coaching team will be to put together a patched up side capable of getting a result at Clontarf this weekend.

Claytan Milligan, Mark Best and Callum Smyth all picked up injuries and Ballynahinch will be hopeful for some good news before selection this week.

Ballynahinch (1-21): John Dickson Jnr, Claytan Milligan, Tom McCallister, Bradley Luney (capt), Will Hopes, Reuben Crothers, Zack McCall, Bryn Ward, Conor McKee, Jake Flannery, Ethan Graham, Mark Best, Ronan Patterson, Conor Rankin, James Humphreys, Kelvin Hamilton, Callum Smyth, Ronan McCusker, Peter Heasley, Declan Horrox, Rhuairi Meharg.