James Kirk reports

John Dickson photo credit

Nenagh Ormond made their first visit to Ballymacarn Park on Saturday and ran into a Ballynahinch side full of confidence and in no mood to show their winless opponents any mercy. Despite all the rain the pitch held up well and the locals put in a superb first half performance full of enterprising, attacking rugby to put the result beyond doubt.

Adam Craig made a few minor changes to rotate his squad with Kyle Gill starting at lock and Tom McCallister returning in the front row. The backline remained unchanged although here was a call up to the bench for veteran Aaron Cairns.

Chris Gibson led the side out to mark a century of AIL appearances and was soon marshalling his forwards as they tore into their opponents. Early dominance failed to translate into points but was certainly a factor in the match as Nenagh were forced into a huge amount of work. Gill eventually broke the deadlock from close range after fifteen minutes and from there the floodgates opened with four more tries before the interval.

Matthew Booth picked an excellent line off a set play following a 5m scrum to blast over and when Aaron Sexton pounced on a loose Nenagh pass to race in from the half way line to score the Hinch faithful sensed a rout. Nenagh were unable to exert any control and had no answer to the Ballynahinch backs. Sexton came off his wing to add pace to another set play from a lineout on half way, putting Pierce Crowe into space and he found Paul Kerr running the perfect line on the inside for the bonus point try on the half hour mark.

Ballynahinch followed that with the move of the match, pouncing on an overthrown Nenagh lineout five metres from the home try line to score a length of the field try. Sexton was involved twice, securing the loose ball initially before Bradley Luney blasted through the ruck and carried into the Nenagh half, offloading to the flying Sexton who ran a line to the corner flag, sucking in three defenders before giving a great inside pass to Crowe for the score.

The second half had fewer fireworks but Ballynahinch took care of business and refused to let Nenagh salvage any pride. They unleashed the bench soon after the break and took their opportunities to move further clear. They soaked up everything Nenagh had to offer and scored from their first two entries into the Nenagh 22. Lineouts from close range eventually led to scores for Ryan Connolly and the superb Reuben Crothers.

The game became a little scrappy in the final stages but most pleasing for Adam Craig and his coaching team was the commitment to keeping their opponents scoreless. Cairns played his part with some trademark hits while Crothers and replacement flanker Jon Rodgers were a real nuisance at the breakdown.

Ten points from two home games has put Ballynahinch back into the race for a playoff picture with just eight points between third and seventh places. There are five games to go and time for a few bodies to heal before a huge match at Terenure on 28th February. All support welcome.