{module_contentholder name=”Gallery – History – Berlin – Trip”}On Saturday 7th November Coleraine 1stXV entertained a strong Ballymena Academy side on
a very wet and blustery morning beside the River Bann. The two sides met back in early October with Ballymena winning narrowly after a very entertaining
and fast paced game.
The weather conditions led to this game being an entirely different affair with the team making the least mistakes more than likely coming out on top.
The first half was very physical with both sides exchanging high impact collisions and working hard to ensure there was no let up for either side.
Ballymena showed dominance at the scrum with their large pack putting pressure on the Coleraine tight five. To their credit, Coleraine did well to
hold their nerve and played a lot of high intensity rugby throughout the half. The game never really got flowing with a lot of mistakes and errors
creeping into the game which was not a surprise considering the playing conditions. The only chance of the half was a penalty from Callum Smith who
dragged his effort wide of the posts. This left the match scoreless at Half-Time and all to play for in the second half. The game continued in the
same vain in the second half with both sides constantly battling for territory and an edge over their opponents.
Ballymena kicked smartly in the second half and this territorial advantage paid off as they scored two tries in the space of 5 minutes through their pack.
Coleraine will be disappointed not to deal with these threats but Ballymena showed how clinical they can be if you ease off for any period in a game.
Coleraine demonstrated their character and really stepped it up for the last quarter of the game. The determined efforts of the team got rewarded when
Niall Cameron scored a well-deserved try in the corner with 12 minutes left on the clock. Coleraine piled more pressure on the Ballymena side but could
not get over the try line. Ballymena to their credit defended well and did not allow Coleraine back into the game.
Overall this was a very tight and physical encounter between two good sides. Coleraine looked more than capable of beating their Ballymena Counterparts
but need to be more clinical and play their rugby in the right areas. To play two very physical games in four days was a big ask for the squad but
they showed great character and effort to be more than competitive. In other results against Ballymena the 2ndXV lost 29-7 in an entertaining game
and the 3rdXV lost 22-10 in another hard fought encounter. The school play a full block of fixtures against Royal School Protora next Saturday.