Inishowen kicked off their season campaign with an away game in Eaton park against Ballymena on Saturday. On a blustery day Inishowen lost the toss and played into the wind in the first half. With several first team players absent through injury and man flu, Inishowen had to make use of their full squad to field the team.
Tony Diver First Try For Inishowen
After a shaky start, inishowen went 5-0 down after the Ballymena scrum half reacted quickest from a scrum in the inishowen 22. He kicked through and collected to register the first score of the game. The conversion was missed. This early conceded score was the wake up call that inishowen needed and their pack began to take control of the game. Against the wind inishowen managed to gain good possession in their oppositions half thanks to the hard work of the pack and the ever reliable boot of Finn McCormick. Their breakthrough came midway through the half when after several phases of play the pack made good inroads into the oppositions 22. The ball was spread wide and Conor Mulkerns went through a gap in the midfield to score for inishowen. McCormick converted.
Inishowen came out in the 2nd half with the wind at their back and again dominated their opposition. It wasn’t long before inishowen scored their 2nd try of the match. With the pack gaining a good position 5 metres from the try line, the ball was passed to Brian McNally who nimbly ducked and weaved his way to the line from a difficult angle to touch down under the posts. McCormick again converted.
The inishowen defence was caught napping after the re start. From the kick off the Ballymena inside centre broke through the inishowen defence and he travelled deep into Inishowen territory. With a mixture of good hands and poor tackling Ballymena struck back with a well taken try in the corner.
This score prompted the inishowen pack to take a choke hold of the game and they dominated in every aspect until the finish. Inishowen came close to increasing their lead when a stray Ballymena pass was intercepted in mid field. The ball was passed to Dermot Kenny. With the line at his mercy and metres to go, his aged legs slowed up and he was caught by the chasing defence. The pack set up camp deep into the Ballymena half where the home team defended desperately to keep the inishowen eight out. This pressure paid off with the inishowen backs showing good hands which resulted in the team scoring two excellent tries in the corner, both finished well by winger Tony Diver on his debut to finish the game off. The final score Ballymena 10- Inishowen 24.
Inishowen
K Mallon, A Boyle, J Kelly, M McCrossan, P McMcarroll, N Noone, B McNally, N Gillespie, M McLaughlin, F McCormick, D Kenny, C Mulkerns, G Byron, T Diver, O McConologue
