Solid Team Effort From Larne 3rds

Match Report: Gareth Gaw.

Larne 3rd XV were back in league action on Saturday hoping for a much improved performance after last weekend’s chastening defeat to an extremely strong Malone side. The team welcomed back their Captain Stephen Johnston, along with returning ‘old hands’, James McCluggage, Stephen Marshall and Davy Wilson for the game against Antrim.

Larne started on the front foot, with Marshall controlling the game at out half and it wasn't long before James McCluggage introduced himself to the game, crashing over for the first of his four tries from close range, after taking a great line from a ruck. A couple of minutes later, Larne were on the scoreboard again, with quick hands from Johnston giving Gaw space, leaving him just to step inside his opposite number and canter over in the corner. Direct from the kick off Larne were in again, with new boy Cameron Ruys rising highest to claim the restart before barrelling his way through the visitors pack and into their 22, eventually off-loading to John McGeachy who provided great support to score under the posts. With Larne leading 19-0 they switched off for a few moments and allowed Antrim to take a quick tap penalty and work their way over to score near the posts.

This try seemed to re-galvanise the home side, as they again took the game by the scruff of the neck to score 4 more unanswered tries before half time, with McCluggage completing a first half hat trick, bulldozing his way to the line twice in quick succession. Bobby Warrick, who was having a great game in the tight also got his name on the score sheet, picking and going from a close range ruck after a great break from Ben Meikle, who rolled back the years to run nearly 50 metres before being dragged down close to the line. Larne’s final score of the half came from Alan Murray, who had now switched to the wing to replace the injured Gaw, with more good continuity between the forwards and the backs creating space to allow the pacey winger to coast in at the corner.

At the end of the half, Larne made a few changes with Wilson coming in at out half, allowing Marshall to switch to scrum half. Andrew Ferguson came on at prop and to give more front foot ball and Corey Burleigh entered at full back, strengthening an already solid back line.

The changes did nothing to effect the flow of the game, with Larne again controlling the pace and tempo of the match, with Wilson enjoying plenty of space and entertaining the partisan crowd to one or two moments of brilliance with some high quality show and goes. Marshall and Wilson proved that age is just a number, with numerous line breaks in the half and showed the benefit of having an experienced pairing at half back. McCluggage was the next man on the score sheet, with his fourth and final try of the day coming the same way as the first three, with the number 8 showing great strength to smash his way to the line. With around 20 minutes left to go, the game really opened up, with both teams seeming to score at will, enjoying the unseasonal, tropical sunshine. There was one particularly fine effort from the Antrim full back seeing him run in for a try from fully 70 metres. James NcNee was the next man to score for the home team, showing a great turn of speed for a second row, outpacing the opposing winger and full back to score under the posts. Alan Murray completed the scoring for Larne with 2 more tries, with one coming from a well worked team move which created space out wide to allow him to run in virtually unchallenged. If his previous effort was greatly assisted by his team mates his hat trick try was one made totally by himself, when he pounced on a loose ball to step through a couple of tackles before bursting away from the cover defence for a fine individual try, after the conversion was taken the referee blew the full time, with Larne running out deserved winners by 66 points to 27.

All in all, this was a vastly improved game from Larne with Jack Gingles (Larne M.O.T.M.) in particular putting in a stand out performance in the back row, providing numerous turnovers at the breakdown and great defence all afternoon. Cameron Ruys was also in the running for the man of the match award after a fantastic début for the club. Conor Smyth again tackled himself to a standstill and was extremely unfortunate to score after a blistering break into the Antrim 22. The returning duo of McGeachy and Weir added a lot in both attack and defence and are a great partnership in the centre together, while Aaron McNeill showed great promise at scrum half and it was fantastic to see him back on the pitch in a Larne shirt, while Josh Reynolds had an excellent game on the wing, being extremely unlucky not to score, after some great defence from the Antrim full back stopped him just short.

The team travel to play Rainey Old Boys this Saturday and if the performance levels match that of Saturdays they could prove extremely hard to stop.

D.O.T.D Award – The award was given to none other than Captain Stephen Johnston. Who although having a great game himself, provided two or three moments of comedy genius, with one botched attempt at a box kick, along with grabbing nothing but air on two separate attempts at taking the restart kick. To his credit, the skipper took it in great fun and wore his high vis vest with great pride in the bar afterwards.

Larne: B. Warrick, B. Meikle, S. Johnston (c), J. McNee, C. Ruys, C. Smyth, J. Gingles, J. McCluggage, A. McNeill, S. Marshall, J. Reynolds, J. McGeachy, D. Weir, G. Gaw, A. Murray, A. Ferguson, D. Wilson, C. Burleigh.