Ballynahinch 2XV 31 – 41 Instonians 2XV

Ballynahinch 2XV produced a spirited second-half comeback but ultimately fell short against Instonians 2XV in an entertaining league encounter at Ballymacarn Park on a beautiful afternoon.

With the low autumn sun shining across the pitch, both sides served up an open and competitive contest, with Hinch showing plenty of attacking flair and dominance in the scrum, but Instonians proving clinical when opportunities arose.

Hinch made an excellent start, with their powerful scrum and accurate kicking from Harry McKeown putting the visitors under pressure. After five minutes, some silky-smooth interplay involving Lewis Connolly created the opening for Harry Daniels to cross under the posts. McKeown added the conversion to give Hinch a 7–0 lead.

The hosts continued to dominate at scrum time, while both sides defended strongly. Daniels produced an important interception to deny Instonians a potential try, but the visitors eventually reduced the deficit with a well-worked score following a dangerous cross-field kick. The unconverted try made it 7–5.

Hinch responded with further pressure, winning a penalty from another strong scrum, but were unable to convert their advantage into points. Instonians then capitalised on an interception try to take a 12–7 lead.

The game continued to swing from end to end. A yellow card for Instonians gave Hinch an opportunity to regain the initiative, and McKeown delivered an excellent cross-field kick for Daniels, who beat the remaining defenders to score. McKeown’s conversion restored Hinch’s lead at 14–12.

However, a yellow card for Hinch shortly afterwards allowed Instonians to exploit their numerical advantage. A powerful attacking lineout led to a try in the corner, before further excellent interplay and missed tackles resulted in a converted score just before half-time. Hinch went into the break trailing 24–14, despite a promising attacking move involving Alex Topping in the closing moments.

Instonians extended their advantage shortly after the restart, capitalising on a penalty to launch a driving maul for an unconverted try. At 29–14, Hinch faced a significant challenge.

The home side continued to show their attacking intent, with some excellent interplay through the middle of the pitch, but handling errors and penalties repeatedly interrupted their momentum. Instonians added another driving-maul try to move 36–14 ahead, leaving Hinch with plenty to do.

Hinch refused to surrender, and their response was impressive. After sustained pressure, Paddy Wright powered over for a try following a penalty and scrum. Although the conversion struck the posts, the score gave the hosts renewed belief.

Instonians responded with a powerful scrum and a break from halfway to extend their lead to 41–19, but Hinch had the final say in an increasingly dramatic finish.

Alex Topping broke through to score under the posts and Harry McKeown added a drop-kick conversion, before an outstanding break from Thomas Martin created the opportunity for Harry Daniels to cross for his third try of the afternoon. The conversion was unsuccessful, but Hinch had reduced the deficit to 31–41 with time running out.

The final minutes saw Hinch push hard for a dramatic finish. A penalty and lineout on halfway offered one last opportunity, and the final play appeared to see Topping touch down in the corner, only for the touch judge to signal that he had gone into touch before the referee brought proceedings to a close.

Despite the defeat, Hinch will take considerable encouragement from their scrum dominance, attacking ambition and determination to fight back from a significant deficit. Against a strong Instonians side, the performance demonstrated plenty of character and attacking potential as the league campaign continues.

Ballynahinch 2XV Team: Scott Connolly, Chris Francis, James Jackson, Thomas Martin, Rhys Ewing, Daniel Williams, Jacob McKeown, Joe Charles, Matthew Sweetlove, Harry McKeown, Harry Daniels, Paddy Wright, Lewis Connolly, Alex Watson, Alex Topping.
Replacements: Andrew Clingan, Sam Galbraith, Ronan Patterson.