Davie Hayes Photography caught up with Ballyclare who took on Dalriada in a Schools Friendly on a very chilly Saturday morning. The freezing temperatures didn’t put off the spectators or the running rugby.
Ballyclare who started with the wind behind them opened the scoring with an early try when Owen Warren opened his account with a push over try following a very dominant lineout on the 4th minute.
Dalriada struggled against the wind and a much bigger Ballyclare side kept the pressure on by forcing the place deep in the Dalriada half. The game opened up quickly when winger Darragh Flynn showed a great turn of pace down the wing to open up his account for the morning.
The kick was a tight one but smoothly slotted over, 10mins in, Ballyclare 12 – Dalriada 0. Dalriada’s morning went from bad to worse when they conceded a penalty try from a line out maul, collapsing it just in front of the whitewash to take Ballyclare out to the commanding 19 – 0 lead.
Dalriada showed determination and refused to lie down and hit back before the break through Peter Donaldson to end the half with the score at 19 – 5 to Ballyclare.
The home side turned round to face the wind, but it didn’t seem to matter as they applied pressure from the off and a weary Dalriada had very little answer to the relentless pressure. Ballyclare crossed minutes into the second half and then again moments later when full back Peter Gillespie nipped under the posts to take Ballyclare out to a a 33 – 5 lead.
The outstanding performance from Ballyclare showed no signs of stopping when they made a break from the half way line and extended the lead to 40 – 5. Dalriada fought hard to the end but Ballyclare kept attacking, crossing the white wash again and again to finish the game at 59 – 5.
Scorers.
