Seconds grab last-gasp comeback victory

Gareth Shaw's men snatched a 26-23 victory from the jaws of defeat, having trailed by 20 points to three at the interval.

Ballymena paid an early price for trying to over-play in the wrong areas as the home side hit them with an early penalty, followed by a converted try to lead 10-0.

Gareth Fisher opened Ballymena's account with a penalty but the visitors' play was always a pass or an error short and Banbridge restored the 10-point deficit with another penalty.

Worse was to follow as Banbridge charged down a kick to add another try to make the score 20-3, while Ballymena were dealt another blow when they were reduced to 14 men following an injury to James Carmichael, which resulted in uncontested scrums.

The comeback began when Matthew Banks broke through the Banbridge defence before off-loading to Conor Smyth to score.

Then, following a lineout, Banks broke the Banbridge line to run 35 metres and score beneath the posts, bringing the scoreline back to 20-15.

Another Banbridge penalty was cancelled out by two quick Fisher penalties as Ballymena brought the scoreline back to 23-21.

The game had moved into injury time when Ballymena struck the killer blow. It started with John Nicholl making 50-60 metres and, following a quick ruck, the ball was thrown out to Robbie McGreer who touched down for the winning try.

Coach Shaw said afterwards: “Our backs looked so dangerous when they had the ball.

“The very nature of Second XV rugby means there will be chopping and changing on a weekly basis but we will now be looking to work on getting a good scrum platform and lineout platform ahead of the start of our Junior Cup campaign in two weeks' time.”