Larne continue Gordon West success

Both teams had won their previous two matches in the competition and a home draw for the quarter finals would be the spoils for the victors, along with a major confidence boost going into a tough run of league matches before Christmas.

The visitors kicked off and were keen to grab a foothold in the game early, knowing that this would be a physical encounter, McAlister led the way with a great early hit to force the home side on to the back foot. The Roe Valley men soon knew that Larne were not there to just make up numbers and they had a real game on their hands.

A great run from Burns seen him evade several would-be tacklers after he collected the ball in his own 22 and give the Glynn men great field position. As pressure mounted the penalties started to come and Andrews had no problem putting the ball through the posts. Within a matter of minutes Larne took a six point lead and seemed to be controlling the game. The hosts were getting ever more frustrated at the mid-way point of the first half until the odds swung to their favour. Andrews put in a late hit and picked up a yellow card to leave the visitors to struggle on for the next ten minutes with fourteen men. With a man down in the backs, Limavady started to move the ball wide but great defence from the centre pair of Thomas and McIlheron seen that nothing was coming through the middle or getting round the outside.

As pressure mounted, it was Larne’s turn to giveaway a penalty and give Limavady the chance to half the deficit. To the joy of the travelling support the kick dropped just short of the posts and Larne maintained their advantage.

With ten minutes to go in the first half Limavady began to dominate the scrum and take control of the game for this period. Having giving away a few penalties from the same scrum, Limavady turned the opportunity to go for posts and were looking for the referee to give another yellow card to one of the Larne front row. In what would have been the decisive scrum, the ball squirted out the side to Larne’s favour to meet the relief of the half time whistle.

Larne regrouped with coaches Marshall and Cameron who made a few tactical changes to try and relieve pressure in the scrum. McIlheron moved into hooker and as the game kicked off again it was evident this change was possibly the most crucial one of the game. Limavady soon realised that they no longer had full control of the scrum and were no longer getting clean ball.

The intensity of the match lifted and ferocious hits from both sides began to become more frequent. Hunter and Crampsey led by example in the pack as always which give some of the younger players the confidence boost that was needed in this tight time in the game. A further two penalties seen Larne open a twelve point gap with ten minutes to go but this was not long lived. Limavady worked their way well deep into the Larne half and their large rolling pack kept the ball and worked hard round the side of the ruck. After numerous pick and go phases the pressure took its toll and they managed to cross the whitewash. With the conversion added the game sat in the balance with a few minutes remaining and the score now 7 – 12. Limavady sensed that they had the run of the game and had the chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but the Larne men would not lie down. Larne one a penalty just inside their own half, with a long shot at posts they opted to kick for the corner and not let the home side out easy. The lineout set up a good base for the backs and a well worked move saw Hall glide through a gap, bounce off the full back and score under the posts.

The final score finished Limavady 7 – 19 Larne. A great all round performance from 1 to 15 saw the Larne men over the line and this sets a marker out for the rest of the season as the team looks to continue their 100% record this season.

Team (1-15): C Rea, R. McAlister, J Johnston, Crampsey, C McKinty, G. Jamison, Mark McIlheron, E. Hunter, R. Garrett(c), P. Andrews, J. Burns, R. Thomas, Ian McIlheron, M. Agnew, J. Hall.

Match photos by Desmond Loughery