Rainey ES Medallion exit Shield with a fight
On Saturday 30th January the ‘Noonan’s’ sponsored Medallion travelled to Ballyclare HS in Round 4 of the Danske Bank Medallion Shield. This promised to be a very closely contested game as no more than 2 points have separated the teams in the past couple of seasons.
In very cold and windy conditions Rainey played into the wind and were forced to defend immediately. The local boys however, were probably to adventurous trying to play out of defence and pressure from Ballyclare forced an early score which gave them a 7 0 lead. This did not affect the Rainey players and they began to build their own attacks. Among the forwards Gavin Currie, Daniel Clarke and Adam McCrum were causing havoc in the Ballyclare defence. The Rainey backs were also looking dangerous when given possession but the conditions prevented a number of opportunities. Ciaron Doyle, David Dripps and Aidan MacDonald all looked threatening.
Some excellent defending prevented the home side from gaining good field position. Tom Hughes and Calllum Donnelly made some important tackles. With half time approaching Ballyclare kicked a penalty to extend their lead to 10 0.
After a strong first half Rainey knew that they had a great chance of going on to win the game. With the elements at their back Rainey went on the offensive. Intelligent kicking from half backs Tim Campbell and Harry Evans put them in good attacking positions. From one of these positions Bryan Hall ran strongly at the Ballyclare defence and when he was stopped Rainey captain Bryn Davies showed his power by driving over the line. Karl Warner converted to make the score 10 7. From the kick off Rainey lost concentration and let Ballyclare score a soft try. This made the score 15 7. From the restart Rainey went in search of a second try. After a series of attacks close to the Ballyclare line were awarded a scrum. A well-rehearsed move started by Jack Bresland found Jonathan Drennan in support. Jonathan timed his pass perfectly to Callum Bolton who scored in the corner. The score was now 15 12.
Ballyclare, however, came back strongly and scored a third try which gave a 20 12 lead. The Rainey players showed great character and attacked time after time. A well timed tackle from Rory Bradley gave them excellent field position. Ben Aspell made great ground and when stopped Bryn Davies was on hand to dive over the line, only for the referee to disallow the try. With time running out Rainey threw everything at their opponents. Karl Warner made some incisive breaks but just couldn’t break free. The final whistle sounded with Ballyclare winning 20 12.
Although defeated this was a performance that the Rainey players can be proud of. They gave everything they had and gave a performance that was full of effort and commitment. They showed a maturity away beyond their years. With a little more good fortune this was a game that they could have won. All the Rainey supporters who travelled from Magherafelt and beyond were honoured to witness such a ‘gutsy’ performance.
