Rainey ES 1st XV make it 6 wins on the trot
On Saturday 7th November the ’P Keenan Road Surfacing’ sponsored Rainey ES 1st XV played RS Dungannon. The conditions were challenging which would make open rugby difficult. Rainey started brightly enjoying a lot of possession. Cameron Stewart and Andrew Nevin made dents in the Dungannon defence, but the visitors managed to keep their line intact. David Atkinson and Lorcan Quinn put Rainey in some encouraging positions but their attacking play wasn’t as clinical as normal. Matthew Mulholland showed great footwork when counter attacking but again the home side couldn’t find a way through.
Dungannon were offering very little in attack, but were extremely committed in defence. Eventually Rainey got points on the board. When Dungannon were penalised Lorcan Quinn kicked a penalty to give Rainey a 3-0 lead. The home side continued to attack, with Matthew Gordon and Adam Hunter making good ground but frequently the attacks broke down. Dungannon continued to frustrate the Magherafelt boys. Some good endeavour from Adam Currie and Mark Mulholland failed to reap any reward. The half time whistle sounded with Rainey leading 3-0.
Rainey started the 2nd half in a positive mood. They tried hard to increase their lead but resolute Dungannon defence keep them out. Adam Thornton and Todd Smyth both went close to scoring but both were stopped short. However, all their efforts did not go unrewarded as another Dungannon infringement gave Lorcan Quinn the opportunity to make the score 6-0.
Rainey should really have kicked on from this score but instead Dungannon decided to open up. They put the Rainey defence under pressure and only some fine tackling by Andrew Hawe and Matthew Smyth prevented possible tries. With time running out the game began to open up. Neal Hastings did some excellent work at the breakdown by turning over important Dungannon ball. Rainey, however, had some attacking plays with Michael Lynn making a super run down the right wing.
The final whistle sounded with Rainey running out 6-0 winners. The Rainey squad had mixed emotions at the end of the game, happy to have won but disappointed by their performance. They realised that the intensity that they played at wasn’t what is required at this level. However, to have now gone 6 games unbeaten is a promising achievement.
The ‘Quinns Coach Hire’ sponsored 2nd XV put in a below par performance when they lost to RS Dungannon by 10-7. A try from Connor Stringer and a Michael McIvor-New conversion was all they had to show for their efforts. Their performance will need to improve on Wednesday when they travel to play Coleraine GS in the 1st round of the Danske Bank 2nd XV Cup.
The ‘Noonan’ sponsored Medallion got the better of Dungannon in another tight affair. They won the game by 7-5 with Ben Aspell scoring the try and Karl Warner kicking the conversion.
The U14s suffered only their second defeat of the season going down 15-0 to RS Dungannon. However, the U13s continued with their excellent season winning their 7th game out of 8 starts. They beat RS Dungannon 36-0 with tries from Leon Martin (2), Matthew Cowan (2), Matthew Dripps and Eoin McGarvey. Eoin McGarvey also kicked 3 conversions.
This week the 2nd XV travel to play Coleraine GS in Round 1 of the Danske Bank 2nd XV Cup. The game kicks off at 2.45pm and all support is welcome. All at Rainey Rugby wish them well.
