Ards 1st XV welcomed Lisburn on Saturday as the league schedule resumed. The coaching team again took the opportunity to rotate the squad, which included 1st XV debuts on the bench for Torin Ball and Ollie McCormac and a maiden starting league berth for Sam McClements.

Kicking off into a stiff breeze, Ards won the challenge for the ball. One quick carry then saw the ball moved wide to fullback Rory Christie, who broke the line and passed to centre Aaron May for a speedy finish inside the first minute and a 5-0 lead.

The restart saw the ball exchanged for a few minutes before Ards found their shape and released wing Ethan Bell on halfway to beat the last 3 defenders for a fine try out wide. The difficult conversion was just shy and Ards were now 10-0 ahead.

Lisburn kicked with the wind as the game resumed and Ards were playing the ball out from 30 metres when a loose pass was intercepted by a Lisburn forward to run in under the posts. Somewhat frustratingly, Ards were now only 10-7 to the good, despite their early dominance. The rest of the first quarter was a scrappy affair with inaccurate kicking from both sides centralising play.

Finally wrestling some control, Ards ran a first phase move from a line out on the Lisburn 10 metre line. Quick ball saw May take a great line and pace and great footwork saw him take a try out wide for a 15-7 lead.

Ards were now producing quicker ball and using their hugely dominant scrum to good effect. Forward carries featuring Curtis Ewing and Matthew Kane were similarly dominant, allowing quick phases and distribution to the backline. Managing to stick in the Lisburn half, the Ards forwards turned the screws as Matthew Bell and Danny Patton added to the workload, handing half chances to the backline as May continued to show good form. Eventually a 5 metre penalty saw the scrum option taken and the Ards pack produced a destructive drive, disintegrating the Lisburn eight to earn a penalty try and a 22-7 lead. The remaining 5 minutes of the half saw some frustrating errors for Ards that prevented them adding to their score before the break. Half time the scoreboard reflected Ards 22 - 7 Lisburn.

The first 10 minutes of the second half were another scrappy period, with a mixture of short kicks, handling errors and injuries taking the flow away from both sides. Lisburn did enjoy a period of territory and pressure at the end of the third quarter, but stiff defence from Ards, led by Tom-Arthur Donnan kept them at bay. Ards then took good territory and a period in the Lisburn 22 saw them held up over the line. Running back the drop out, the backline moved the ball quickly to Ethan Bell on the wing. He was hauled down close to the line, but offloaded to centre Ryan Upritchard on a tracking line to run in the fifth try. Ethan Bell added the conversion well to take the score to 29-7.

Lisburn were determined to still extract something from the game and having had a high try scoring record coming into this game, they remained a live threat. Good defensive effort from Donnan, Ball, Patton and Ewing was required to repel their efforts as they began to stick inside the Ards half. As Ards emerged and went on the attack, a great run on the right by Adam Finlay ended with Ethan Bell touching down out wide to the right, but for the move to be called back for a forward pass. A further attack shortly after saw the ball spilled over the line in the act of scoring. Ards continued to threaten, including a run from Kane, but the scoreline remained unchanged as Ards took the win. Final score - Ards 29 - 7 Lisburn.

Next week sees the 1st XV travel to Academy RFC in the first round of this season's Towns Cup and we'd love to see the continued support travel with us!