Clinical performance in atrocious weather for Larne men

After a weeks rest Larne made several changes to their team. Sam McWhirter came in to the pack and Gary Mills made a welcome return to the back line.

Larne won the toss and captain McCluggage decided to play in to the strong wind in the first half. From the onset the Larne men kept the ball in hand and ran at the Lurgan defence. However, an infringement early on allowed Lurgan on the score sheet first, with a well slotted penalty by their outhalf.

This seemed to spur the Larne men on. The pack grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and stamped their control. The front row of Gibson, McAlister and McWhirter were dominating at scrum time and Larne won numerous against the head.

The pressure finally mounted when Ricky McIlheron broke through to run in for a great individual effort. Andrews converted. From the restart a superb catch and burst through by Mark McIlheron saw him pass to Ryan McAlister on the half way line who surprised everyone with a sudden burst of blistering pace to beat the oncoming defenders.

At this stage the flood gates opened when Larne showed slick handling skills in difficult conditions. There were two scores for Burns and Garrett in quick sucession. Both players used their pace and eye for a gap to go over for well taken scores.

As the first half came to the end Craig Gibson suffered an injury to his ankle and had to leave the field of play for the rest of the game.

With the wind on their backs in the second half the Larne men knew that it would still be difficult with only 14 men.

Credit were credit is due Lurgan came back at the Larne men. They gave the Larne lineout a difficult time and started to gain territory.

As they came back in to the game tempers began to flare and after a few handbags Mills received ten minutes in the bin. Down to 13 men Larne were under severe pressure and this finally told its tail when their winger snuck over in the corner for a score.

When Mills came back on to the pitch Larne composed themselves. Andrews and Garrett pinned the Lurgan back three deep in their half with a good kicking display. Larne were on the score sheet again when Burns broke through to score his third of the day. McAlister was next on the score sheet when a superb reverse pass by R McIlheron put him through for his second.

As the half wore on Agnew raced over for a score after slick handling and intricate play by the forwards.

As the final whistle blew Larne ran out winners 50-8. This was a very slick and clinical team performance by the men in red in what was difficult playing conditions. The team were impressive both in attack and defence and they look forward to their fixture next Saturday against Carrick in the Hall Cup.

Larne Team 1-15: C Gibson, R McAlister, S McWhirter, M Crampsey, C McKinty, J McCluggage(C), M McIlheron, E Hunter, R McIlheron, P Andrews, M Agnew, G Mills, J Burns, C Moore, R Garrett.