City of Armagh travelled to Ballynahinch for the opening round of AIL 1A on a beautiful September Saturday, perfect for entertaining rugby. Unfortunately, despite plenty of enterprise from both sides, the close fought contest that followed was not a classic.
Ballynahinch kicked off into a gentle breeze City of Armagh fielded the kick but quickly knocked on. Both sides got some possession but mistakes ended all the attacks. City of Armagh were clearly looking to move the ball wide and keep their dangerous back three of Faloon, O’Brien and Cunningham in the game. O’Brien and Cunningham both got early touches and broke tackles but stray passes and diligent Hinch defence meant they came to nothing.
Ballynahinch, playing a slightly tighter game, relying more on their front five to carry, were finding progress just as difficult giving away a number of penalties. City of Armagh kicked these for three attacking lineout opportunities deep in the Hinch half but lineouts were proving a difficult area for City of Armagh with Hinch ending up with possession or the ref’s decision on three occasions inside the first 25 minutes.
Hinch eventually got their game running around the 20-minute mark with a couple of multi-phase attacks. After working an old-fashioned scissors move in the centre, they moved it wide to a stretched City of Armagh defence and centre Matthew Booth went over for a try converted by 10, Paul Kerr.
City of Armagh came right back with a fine restart kick tapped back by O’Brien and good carries from John Glasgow pinning Hinch in their 22. Hinch kicked their way out of trouble with their excellent No 15 landing a 50:22 kick giving Hinch the resulting lineout. This one went to plan and Hinch built a good attack on multiple phases. A well organised defensive set from City of Armagh held them out but Hinch’s lineout was starting to look the steadier as the first half ended.
With the breeze behind them, City of Armagh exerted real pressure on the Hinch line from the start of the second half. Josh McKinley secured possession at one of the resulting lineouts and City of Armagh pressed the Hinch line but Armagh were pinged for holding on with Hinch over the ball. A scrum penalty for Hinch resulted in lots of whooping from the Hinch pack but joy was short lived as they missed touch with the resulting kick. Hinch No15 relieved pressure again with a clever screw kick to touch. Evin Crummie joined the City of Armagh attack for Matthew Hooks and helped City of Armagh keep the pressure up with some direct running. City of Armagh scrum half Finlay was starting to come more into the game with a couple of breaks and this was City of Armagh’s most promising part of the game. Sadly, the lineout refused to follow the trend and Hinch came up with a crucial turnover.
Both teams looked fit but City of Armagh must be pleased with the resilience in the last quarter of this game. Crummie continued to punch holes and both Glasgow brothers made good caries to keep Hinch pressed to their line. City of Armagh were inches out but conceded a penalty and Hinch got to clear their lines. Back City of Armagh came with a good lineout take by Glasgow but the resulting maul was smothered by Hinch and they got the resulting scrum put in. More whooping as Hinch won a scrum penalty.
City of Armagh did get into the Hinch 22 again but misfiring lineouts meant they came away with no points. Much debate from fans on decision not to take any points from kickable opportunities, who can tell if getting something on the board would have made a difference to this tight contest. Hinch held out for a 7-0 victory and City of Armagh come away with a losing bonus point.
Player of the match, sponsored by The Craic’d Pot Coffee House, was awarded to Sam Berman.
