Ballyclare got their season up and running with a hard fought win against Dromore at Barban Hill on Saturday afternoon.

Report and images by Cyril Boyd

After a cagey opening quarter Ballyclare opened the scoring through a Ryan Tweed try, converted, off the upright, by Mark Jackson. Jackson then doubled Ballyclare’s lead, the young fullback running in a clearance kick from Dromore to finish under the posts for a simple conversion.

Dromore pulled seven points back immediately, with Adam MacGregor finishing under the posts from the restart return. Adam McDonald added the conversion to take the game to 7- 14.

Ballyclare’s dominant scrum kept the visitors in the right areas and after a period of pressure in the Dromore half hooker Matthew Coulter went over for Ballyclare’s third, convert by Jackson to take the score to 7 – 21 minutes before the break. However, the scoring wasn’t completed with Dromore hitting back again through the restart return with Ben Russell scoring out wide. McDonald knocked over the difficult conversion to take the score to 14 – 21 at half time.

Dromore made the most of Ballyclare indiscipline and three third quarter penalties from McDonald saw the home side kick their way into a 23 -21 lead.

However, Ballyclare regained their composure with a Jackson penalty restoring their lead before a driving maul saw Jack Black over the line to give the visitors a hard earned 23 – 29 win.

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