Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

But it was a very mixed performance against a Rainey side struggling for early-season form. Despite a discouraging list of injuries, it was the patched-up visitors who made the early running, registering tries through Rodney Paul and Pete Stewart, both converted by Mark O'Connor. In between Robin Thompson slotted home the easiest of penalties, but that still left Bann facing a 3-14 deficit with a quarter of the game gone.

Three minutes later the Bann threequarters kicked into life as Ashley Finlay scorched through a gap in the Rainey midfield to find Jonny Pollock well placed to take the scoring pass. By the half-hour Bann were in front, Jonny Little having taken advantage of a half break by Neville Farr to touch down. Thompson's two conversions gave Bann a 17-14 interval lead.
Bann continued to rule the roost at the start of the second half. Stephen Cowan made the most of a half-chance to scamper in for a try in the left corner with just six minutes played. Thompson struck the impressive conversion and five minutes later sliced open the Rainey defence to put Ryan Patterson in for the fourth try. The conversion was added and almost immediately the Bann out-half again ripped the Rainey defence apart as he took play into the away "22", only to lose possession as support arrived.
Neville Farr raced from the base of a 5-metre scrum to touch down wide on the right and even with Thompson's failure to land the testing conversion, Bann were still 36-14 ahead with 66 minutes played. As both teams made increasing use of their posse of replacements, Rainey began to find their feet again. O'Connor finished off a flowing move in the 70th minute, converting his own try and again adding the extra points after Richard Hall had put his side within striking distance when he forced his way over from close range.

The visiting supporters began to think that an unlikely victory could be theirs, but two minutes later Bann captain Simon McKinstry came storming onto a pass on the Rainey "22" and drew the last defender to give Little an easy run under the posts. Thompson's conversion was the last act of the game.
Bann had managed just two touchdowns in their previous three starts this season, so coach Daniel Soper will have been well pleased with the six tries registered in this game. There will be concern, though, that against a Rainey side looking for their first success, the Bann defence was breached on four occasions.

Ards away are next up on Saturday, and with only the home game against Ballymena the following weekend before the start of the All-Ireland League campaign, there is still much to work on if the team is to make a winning start at Barnhall.
Bann team against Rainey:- Ashley Finlay, Jonny Little. Geoff Thompson, Jonny Pollock, Clark McAllister, Robin Thompson, Neville Farr, Nelson Shanks, Paul Ross, James McCrum, Simon McKinstry, Chris Allen, Ryan Patterson, Mark Wilson, Dale Carson. Replacements:- Lee Allen, Brian Hanna, Jonny Martin, Claude Crawford, Stephen Cowan.