AIL League, Division 1,

Venue, Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Saturday 31st October,

Final Score: Clontarf 39 Ballynahinch 21.

After fifty minutes of an excellent contest against League champions Clontarf, the travelling Ballynahinch support dared to dream of a first ever victory at Castle Avenue. Aaron Sexton had just scored their third try to put his side seven points ahead and the match appeared to be on a knife edge writes James Kirk.

The Clontarf pack had other ideas and produced 30 minutes of typical hardnosed rugby to score three unanswered tries as the battling locals tired.

Ballynahinch had Mark Best back in midfield and Josh young replaced Joe Hopes in the only other change from last weekend’s victory over Lansdowne. The first half was fiercely contested.

A try from Clontarf hooker Dylan Donnellan saw Ballynahinch fall behind early – a habit they have struggled with this season – but they battled back with a try from the outstanding Claytan Milligan and went toe to toe with the much bigger Clontarf forwards as the scores remained level for the rest of an absorbing first half.

The locals made a fast start to the second half with a multi-phase score finished by Pierce Crowe putting them ahead. Clontarf replied with a close range score from prop Paul Deeny before Aaron Sexton scored a trademark long range special.

He took a quick tap penalty from deep in his own half after Ballynahinch had forced a turnover, beat the first man and turned on the speed to cruise to the line and give his side the lead.

Clontarf responded by turning to their forwards, utilising a strong bench to turn the screw on the tiring Ballynahinch pack in the final quarter and scored tries through the prolific Donnellan with a brace to complete his hat trick and flanker Oisin McCormack.

Fly-half Conor Kelly added two late penalties as he completed a good day with the boot to add some gloss to the scoreboard and send his side up to third in the table. Ballynahinch remain in the relegation zone and have a huge home fixture next weekend versus fellow strugglers Cork Constitution. All support welcome.

Ballynahinch 2XV 31 – 41 Instonians 2XV.

2XV League Match Report

Ballynahinch 2XV produced a spirited second-half comeback but ultimately fell short against Instonians 2XV in an entertaining league encounter at Ballymacarn Park on a beautiful afternoon writes

With the low autumn sun shining across the pitch, both sides served up an open and competitive contest, with Hinch showing plenty of attacking flair and dominance in the scrum, but Instonians proving clinical when opportunities arose.

Hinch made an excellent start, with their powerful scrum and accurate kicking from Harry McKeown putting the visitors under pressure. After five minutes, some silky-smooth interplay involving Lewis Connolly on the wing created the opening for Harry Daniels to cross under the posts. McKeown added the conversion to give Hinch a 7–0 lead.

The hosts continued to dominate at scrum time, while both sides defended strongly. Daniels produced an important interception to deny Instonians a potential try, but the visitors eventually reduced the deficit with a well-worked score following a dangerous cross-field kick. The unconverted try made it 7–5.

Hinch responded with further pressure, winning a penalty from another strong scrum, but were unable to convert their advantage into points. Instonians then capitalised on an interception try to take a 12–7 lead.

The game continued to swing from end to end. A yellow card for Instonians gave Hinch an opportunity to regain the initiative, and McKeown delivered an excellent cross-field kick for Daniels, who beat the remaining defenders to score. McKeown’s conversion restored Hinch’s lead at 14–12.

However, a yellow card for Hinch shortly afterwards allowed Instonians to exploit their numerical advantage. A powerful attacking lineout led to a try in the corner, before further excellent interplay and missed tackles resulted in a converted score just before half-time. Hinch went into the break trailing 24–14, despite a promising attacking move involving Alex Topping in the closing moments.

Instonians extended their advantage shortly after the restart, capitalising on a penalty to launch a driving maul for an unconverted try. At 29–14, Hinch faced a significant challenge.

The home side continued to show their attacking intent, with some excellent interplay through the middle of the pitch, but handling errors and penalties repeatedly interrupted their momentum. Instonians added another driving-maul try to move 36–14 ahead, leaving Hinch with plenty to do.

Hinch refused to surrender, and their response was impressive. After sustained pressure, Paddy Wright powered over for a try following a penalty and scrum. Although the conversion struck the posts, the score gave the hosts renewed belief.

Instonians responded with a powerful scrum and a break from halfway to extend their lead to 41–19, but Hinch had the final say in an increasingly dramatic finish.

Alex Topping broke through to score under the posts and Harry McKeown added a drop-kick conversion, before an outstanding break from Thomas Martin created the opportunity for Harry Daniels to cross for his third try of the afternoon. The conversion was unsuccessful, but Hinch had reduced the deficit to 31–41 with time running out.

The final minutes saw Hinch push hard for a dramatic finish. A penalty and lineout on halfway offered one last opportunity, and the final play appeared to see Topping touch down in the corner, only for the touch judge to signal that he had gone into touch before the referee brought proceedings to a close.

Despite the defeat, Hinch will take considerable encouragement from their scrum dominance, attacking ambition and determination to fight back from a significant deficit. Against a strong Instonians side, the performance demonstrated plenty of character and attacking potential as the league campaign continues.

Ballynahinch 2XV Team: Scott Connolly, Chris Francis, James Jackson, Thomas Martin, Rhys Ewing, Daniel Williams, Jacob McKeown, Joe Charles, Matthew Sweetlove, Harry McKeown, Harry Daniels, Paddy Wright, Lewis Connolly, Alex Watson, Alex Topping.

Replacements: Andrew Clingan, Sam Galbraith, Ronan Patterson.

Instonians U18 5 Ballynahinch U18 35

Ballynahinch U18 continued their unbeaten start to the season with an excellent win over Instonians at Shaw’s Bridge. They blasted out of the blocks with two early tries and never looked back writes Colin Donaldson.

Jackson Buchanan opened their account with a set play, running on to a superb pass from Sam Hoey. Buchanan was involved in the second score as he latched on to a superbly judged kick from Joshua Woods to give his team field position.

The forwards did the rest with hooker Ryan McMullan carrying towards the line and the ever-alert Callum McCargo driving over the line from close range. Despite several opportunities to increase their lead the rest of the half was scoreless.

Instonians got themselves on the scoreboard with a close-range score from a tap penalty early in the second half and this galvanised the Ballynahinch boys into action.

Jack Patterson powered his way over to extend their lead before McCargo added his second to put the result beyond doubt. A great lineout steal then lead to McMullan adding a fifth try.

Woods was faultless from the tee throughout and Hoey pulled the strings with a player of the match display as Ballynahinch pout in a fine all-round performance to cement their position at the top of their league section. Next up is a home fixture vs Carrick before the long trip to Strabane.

Ballynahinch RFC Round-up 31st October 2026

Club Notes

The 2^nd XV lost to Instonians 2nds in a hugely entertaining top of the table contest but will take heart from the performance of an extremely young side.

There was defeat for the U14 boys but they remain top of their section while the U16 and U18 boys remain unbeaten.

It was a mixed weekend for the youth girls with defeat for the U16s and victory for the U14s

For all results and fixtures check out our social media pages or go to hinchrfc.co.uk

Pre-match lunches on 7th November and 5^th December are SOLD OUT Book your place for 2027 pre-match lunches by contacting James Kirk on 07966143184.

Springbok World Cup winning lock Victor Matfield will be in town to speak at a business lunch on November 20^th. Contact Chris Stevenson on 07872838411 for more details.

Youth Training continues on Mondays at 7pm for boys and Wednesdays at 7pm for girls. All players U12/U14/U16/U18 welcome and no experience necessary. Contact Johnny Cullen for details on 07595651901.

Mini rugby continues on Saturday mornings from 9.30-11am. Boys and girls from P1 – Yr8 are all welcome, with training run for each age group in their school year. Mini rugby news is posted weekly on the club Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ballynahinchrfcofficial.