The Balllynahinch View of Saturdays Top of the Table Match.
19/02/2007
Wanderers 42pts - Ballynahinch 13pts
Report and Action images by John Dickson - www.dicksondigital.com
Wanderers comprehensively blitzed the league leaders Ballynahinch on the back pitch at Lansdowne Road in a powerful display of controlled rugby. Hinch had kept themselves in the contest for most of the game but two periods of poor concentration at then end of each half cost them very dear as they conceded four converted tries.
The home side opened the scoring in the 5th minute when fullback Damien Hunt finished off a sweeping backline move to cross in the right hand corner. The conversion attempt from former Old Crescent outhalf Billy Tracey drifted wide.
Hinch hit back from the restart when Dan Soper struck a penalty goal, but this strike was countered by a Tracey penalty, with the help of the crossbar, in the 15th minute. Five minutes later Soper added a second penalty to the Hinch tally in the to leave the visitors trailing by 2 points.
The game was played at a fast pace with end-to-end action entertaining the large crowd. In the 30th minute the Hinch side had one very promising attack which almost ended with in a score for fullback Jonny Cullen, the Hinch man losing his footing just short of the Wanderers line.
As the first half drew to a close the Dubliners struck again, this time their second row Victor Ball was on hand to charge over from a couple of metres out following a sustained build up by the Wanderers pack in the 38th minute. To make matters worse for the visitors, in injury time the Wanderers centre Jimmy Ferris raced in to score their third try after a slow drift defence from the County Down men left a massive gap for Ferris to sprint clear. Tracey converted both tries to leave the Hinch side trailing by 22-6 at halftime.
Four minutes into the second half Hinch fell further behind when Tracey added a further penalty goal. The action remained at a fast pace during the opening quarter of the second half with Wanderers starting to gain the upper hand in the loose exchanges. The Hinch side tried their best to gain some sort of control on the game and they finally succeeded with 10 minutes remaining when outhalf Dan Soper burst through two tackles to make the line just under the posts. He then added the extras to give the visitors some hope of gaining a bonus point at 25-13
In the 74th minute the Dubliners edged further ahead when outhalf Tracey landed his third penalty goal. Three minutes later the pressure on the Hinch defence finally paid off for the home side when they managed to cross for their bonus point fourth try, scored by flanker Kolo Kiripati, then to add insult to injury, centre Ronan Likely ran in a fifth try at the final whistle. Tracey converted both tries to complete the route, Wanderers worthy winners 42-13.
Wanderers : 15 Damien Hunt, 14 David Fitzgerald, 13 Ronan Likley, 12 Jim Ferris, 11 Mark Culhane, 10 Billy Tracey, 9 Brendan O’Brien, 8 Pom Simone, 7 Shane O’Farrelly, 6 Kolo Kiripati, 5 Victor Bell, 4 Paul Ryan, 3 Gerry Ryan, 2 Bevan Cantrell (Captain), 1 Gerry Fitzgerald.
Ballynahinch : 15 Jonny Cullen, 14 Kyle Corrigan, 13 Stewart Megaw, 12 Davey Harris, 11 Aaron Ferris, 10 Dan Soper, 9 Adam Bartholomew, 8 Johnny Graham, 7 Jon Paine, 6 Garvin Morton, 5 Chris Napier, 4 John Gunson (Captain), 3 Lewis Johnston, 2 Gareth Quinn, 1 Richard Orr.
Referee : Jude Quinn IRFU
