Braidmen overcome Bruff and tumble for important win

It was an important win for John Andrews’ side, who remain just a point behind leaders Belfast Harlequins, in a division dominated by Ulster teams, who occupy four of the top five places.

“It was a tough battle,” admitted Andrews.

“The conditions were very tricky, more so underfoot than overhead, after some of the freezing weather and then rain we had towards the end of the week.

“It meant we didn’t get to play as much free-flowing rugby as usual and that probably played into Bruff’s hands to an extent.

“Fortunately we had 10 minutes of good rugby at the start of the second half during which we managed to score two good tries which was ultimately the difference between the sides.”

Ballymena’s opening try, early in the second period, saw them maul their opponents up the park before a good break enabled Luke Marshall to score in the corner.

Just three minutes later, Ballymena moved the ball through five or six phases of play before Conor Carey put Andrew Kerr over between the posts.

Marshall converted both tries and also kicked a penalty, to complete Ballymena’s scoring.

With seven wins from 11 games, Ballymena remain well positioned but their promotion credentials face another stern examination this Saturday when they travel to Galwegians.

We also have games against UCD and UL Bohemians, who are below us in the table but those are tricky games and if we took two wins from those three games, I don’t think we would be too unhappy, although three would be great!” added Andrews.