Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Bann's set piece was strong in scrum and lineout and this provided a good platform for Kacper Kruzycki to go on several devastating runs deep into the ‘Hinch half. The first try of the game came after a driving maul by Bann released an impressive Kruzycki who shrugged off two attempted tackles and crossed the line from 20m out.

The home side kept up the pressure and forced several penalties from the visitors which they used to good effect, running the ball and going through the phases. After several such phases Knox, playing out of position on the wing, showed his versatility by beating his opposite number and racing in from 25m to score Bann's second.

Bann continued to attack with the back row dominating the breakdown and Ryan Dennison tackling and turning over ball for fun. This led to the third score, when Neal Cochrane reacted quickly to take a tap penalty and send Thomas Carlisle over in the corner with two clinging defenders unable to stop the prop's strong run. Macauley Little kicked a good conversion.

Ballynahinch kicked off and immediately camped themselves in the Bann "22", eventually winning a penalty which hit the post. Bann knocked the rebounding ball on to give ‘Hinch a five metre scrum which led to another penalty. The visitor's out-half took a quick tap and dived over to score with Bann failing to react in time.

At half time with the score at 17-7 Bann cleared their bench to give all the squad members a game. And such is the strength of the squad that this in no way weakened the team. With the wind at his back out-half Little pinned the visitors deep in their own half and from a lineout Kyle McConnell caught excellently, securing the ball to set up a maul. Peter Cromie broke 15 metres out from the back of the well-controlled driving maul and dived over for a fine try.

For 15 minutes Bann continued to play well with Dennison and Ruddock to the fore carrying the ball to the opposition and again Cromie showed his eye for a score. He broke from a ruck on the halfway line and raced past the first line of defence. Five metres from the try line he could probably have gone around the full-back but chose the more direct route over the top of him to touch down.

The score was 27-7 but ‘Hinch responded well and fought hard to get back into the game. At this point Bann lost Little and Carlisle to injury and the final 15 minutes of the game became scrappy as Bann lost their composure and slipped off too many tackles. Eventually ‘Hinch got a deserved try but it was the final play of the game and the match finished 27 to 12 in Bann's favour.

It was a good performance in parts by the U17s but they know they can play better after losing their way towards the end of the game. On the plus side captain Jonny McCreery made a welcome return from injury and had a good game while the back row of Cromie, Kruzycki and Dennison look formidable. Two people share the man of the match accolade this week, in the forwards Ryan Dennison and in the backs Steven Ruddock.