Malone claim back to back wins against GalwayCorinthians

Malone made it 9 wins from 10 to retain their position at the top of Div 2A going into the Xmas break after another hard earned win over Galway Corinthians. Corinthians Park in Galway was a venue Malone had yet to win at in four visits having suffered a 49 – 3 defeat last season. The challenging first half to the season had taken its toll with several injuries adding to the selection decisions to be made by Head coach Paddy Armstrong. He need not have worried as the work done by seconds manager Davy Heron has added strength in depth to an expanding Malone 1st xv squad this season.

Players unavailable this week included Peter Cooper, Matthew Dalton, Joe Dunleavy, Jack Owens, Captain Ross Todd, Stuart Doddington, Ryan Clarke, James McAllister, Phil Lucas, Phil Eadie, and Dave Cave. Replacement hooker Scott Finlay was forced to drop out on Sat morning due to illness.

Players called up to start included Lee Barlow, Tom Dullage, Max Porter, Neil Alcorn and Andy Bryans with Connor Kelly, Ricky Greenwood, Tiarnan Dillon and Mark O’Connor taking their place on the bench.

In compiling this report with Raymond Thomas it was clear for spectators that it was a case of Malone taking their three opportunities in the first half to build a 21 – 10 lead with the visitors defence once again containing a dominant Corinthians team during the opening 40 minutes. Those present at the first meeting at Gibson Park will recollect the parallels with this match. Corinthians showed four changes with Hooker Tom O’Toole, No 8 Sean Masterson, Out half/centre Kieran Joyce and back row Dylan Tierney all called up to the Connacht A team for their British & Irish Cup match at Richmond.

Corinthians made their intentions clear in the opening five minutes as their pressure led to a score by their Connacht Academy full back Colm deBuitlear converted by out half Mark McDermott to give the home side an early 7 – 0 lead. The Galway side continued to play in the Malone half with 15 minutes elapsing before Malone made their first foray into the Corinthians half. From a quick penalty scrum half Shane Kelly used his centre pairing of Nathan Brown and Josh Pentland to create the space for the scrum half to touch down for a try with Rory Campbell converting to level the scores. It had been a case of the Malone team having to soak up the Corinthians pressure with Malone second row Josh Davidson being yellow carded. From the resultant penalty Mark McDermott converted to restore the Corinthians lead to 10 – 7 after 21 mins. The second Malone try came after 27 mins from a scrum with the experienced number 8 Neil Alcorn driving over with Campbell again adding the points to restore the Malone lead to 14 – 10. The second quarter continued to be dominated by Malone with the forwards forcing several penalties at the scrum on the Corinthians line. Eventually the referee Helen O’Reilly lost patience and awarded Malone a penalty try to leave the halftime score 21 – 10 in favour of the Belfast team.

During the halftime interval Malone back row Michael Shiels had to be replaced by Tiarnan Dillon after picking up a shoulder injury. Again the third quarter was dominated by the home side as they laid siege to the Malone line. As they have done so often this season when the Malone team gain possession they have the confidence to look after the rugby ball and use this advantage to put points on the board. A passage of play involving backs and forwards resulted in Ricky Greenwood who had replaced Lee Barlow touching down for the all important bonus point try 15 minutes into the second half with Campbell adding the points to increase the Malone lead to 28 – 10. Corinthians were not giving up and their exciting out half Mark McDermott touched down and added the points to reduce the Malone lead to 28 – 17 after 65 minutes. The Connacht side maintained the pressure as they went in search of a losing bonus point. Once again the well organised visitors defence led by Callum Smith, Nathan Brown and Josh Pentland were up to the task. Mark O’Connor who had replaced Rory Campbell calmed the nerves for the visitors as he converted a penalty to put the Gibson Park side three scores ahead of Corinthians. With nine minutes remaining Malone centre Nathan Brown was yellow carded to leave his side defending for the final minutes as they held on for their well deserved 31 – 17 win. This was a team effort. Well done to all the coaches and players.

Malone Head coach Paddy Armstrong and his players have shown tremendous resolve to come through these three UBL games with Greystones and Corinthians home and away to hold on to their 1st place in this Division. Their nearest challengers both Highfield and Nenagh Ormond completed back wins over Galwegians and Blackrock College to maintain the pressure on leaders Malone. Queens Uni who are the only team to defeat Malone suffered back to back losses against 10th place Greystones to slip out of the top four with City of Armagh replacing them after defeating Cashel 39 – 12 at the Palace Grounds. Malone have a 1 x point lead over 2nd place Highfield – 6 x point lead over 3rd place Nenagh Ormond and a 15 point lead over 4th place City of Armagh.

Malone team 1. Lee Barlow, 2. Dan Kerr, 3. Ben Halliday, 4. Tom Dullage, 5. Josh Davidson, 6. Michael Shiels, 7. Max Porter, 8. Neil Alcorn, 9. Shane Kelly, 10. Callum Smith, 11. David Mcmaster, 12. Nathan Brown, 13. Josh Pentland (captain), 14. Rory Campbell, 15. Andy Bryans, 16. Connor Kelly, 17. Ricky Greenwood, 18. Tiarnan Dillon, Conor Spence. Mark O’Connor.

When we look back over the season this win in Galway could prove pivotal as the team look to return to Div 1B in the clubs 125th Anniversary season. Well done to the coaching team of Paddy Armstrong, Josh Pentland and Mark Taylor assisted by Chris Henry and the players to get to this position. Every team needs managers and the 1st xv are very fortunate to have two dedicated Malone men in Roy Sherman and George Martin who make sure that all the backroom issues are in place for the coaches and players. Yes as we say it is a team effort that has got the team into this position in 2017. What will 2018 bring us. Eight games in the UBL to go with everyone a Cup Final. The players will have a well deserved rest for the next three weeks before they resume their playing programme with an Ulster Premiership Div 1 match at home to Ballynahinch on the 30th December followed by a Belfast derby away to Queens Uni in the UBL on the 6th January . They have a week off on the 13th January followed by a Ulster Premiership game away to Ballymena on the 20th January with a return game at home against Greystones in the UBL on the 27th January.

Matthew Dalton is a player who has attracted a lot of interest both at Malone and Ulster with his performances this season. Matthew played a key role for the Ulster A team in their 29 – 24 win away to Hartpury RFC in the British & Irish Cup on Saturday. He scored the first of the teams five tries with the others coming from Callum Patterson, Rob Lyttle, Adam McBurney and David Busby with Jonny McPhillips converting two. Well done to Matthew. The return game with Hartpury takes place at Eaton Park, Ballymena RFC on Saturday 16th December with a 2.30PM kick off.

We can’t close this week without acknowledging the contribution of the second xv team at Malone this season. Their efforts that have got them to the Junior Cup semi final where these lost out narrowly to holders Ballynahinch 15 – 14. . They remain 4 points behind leaders Grosvenor in Conference league 2 with four games to play. Both Malone and Grosvenor had their games against Randalstown and Ballymena seconds postponed due to the weather this weekend. Malone have games coming up against Lisburn home on 16th Dec followed by Limavady away on 23rd and Ballymoney away on the 30th Dec. It is difficult to see when these postponed fixtures will be played with the conference league programme to be completed by the 30th December. Grosvenor and Randalstown meet in a crucial league game at Nelisbrook on the 16th December. The priority for both these teams is the Kukri Ulster Rugby Championship league 2 title. Malone seconds start of their second xv league campaign with a home game against Ballynahinch seconds on the 13th January. The action is endless for the coaches and players.

Well done to everybody involved at Malone from President Patrick Baird down. You have all contributed to a most enjoyable first half to the season at Gibson Park. As I said what will 2018 bring. More of the same.