Ards 2nds travelled to The Glynn to face Larne 2nds after a long 6 week break from league action. Coach Simon Hamilton had a very much changed team from the norm, however, regular 2nds players of captain Jimmy Gray, Rick Hamilton, Jonah Mitchell, Keir Edgar, Matthew Patton, Ben Thompson and Lewis English were eager for a run out after a extended time waiting for a game. New recruit Matthew Peacock was on the bench, whilst the evergreen club player Ashley Peden started in the pack.

After the wintry conditions of last week, the pitch at the Glynn was in superb condition. Ards kicked off and playing into the wind in the first half. It was evident from Larne's early play that they wanted to spread play wide when possible, putting the Ards defence on notice early. Larne scored two quick converted tries after Ards were guilty of missing first up tackles. Ards slowly began to bring themselves into the game through forward drives from Patton, Edgar and Gray making dents into the Larne defence. There were multiple forays deep into the Larne 22, but indiscipline cost Ards after good phases play. This gave Larne some good field position upfield and the Larne 12 then cut a good running line into a tired Ards defence to score.

The restart saw a good contest by the Ards & Larne forwards, however the referee pulled both captains - reinforcing discipline after a couple of high tackles from both sides threatened to boil over. More solid attacking phases from Ards saw a Larne player sin binned for repeated infringements. Forward pick & goes from Matthew Patton, Lewis English & Jonah Mitchell drew Ards very close to a score but the final pass and execution not taken in the next play. This allowed Larne to clear and set up upfield, with Larne scoring another converted try out wide.

HT 28-0.

Ards received the kickoff, playing with the wind behind them this half. Ards immediately put Larne under pressure, a functioning Ards lineout and forward drives from Gray & English saw Ards deep in the Larne 22, Larne managed to turnover ball and cleared upfield.
A long kick return by Ards saw Larne struggle to deal with it, drawing a penalty to Ards, from the resulting lineout, superb support play from Ben Thompson saw Ards into the Larne 22, where carries from Edgar, Hamilton, Mitchell & Peden plus efficient clearing out at the ruck saw centre Matt Walker score a converted try after neat play from the Ards backline. 28-7.

Some indiscipline from the kick off saw Larne score two quick tries, going through repeated phases to score out wide on both occasions, crediting the hard work of the Ards defence, who continued to battle hard all game.

Ards, in a never say die spirit built phases in the Larne half, bringing repeated offsides and a official warning from the referee.

After some scrappy play from a ruck on the Larne 5mtr line, a loose ball was seized upon by Ards skipper Jimmy Gray in the Larne in-goal are, after some debate a try was awarded to Ards, this went unconverted. 40-12.

Larne had the final say, with a converted try following good phase play from Larne, which was rebuffed by a Ards defence which finally yielded.

This was a tough day for Ards after a long break without a game. However there were also lots of positives to take. The 2nds now have 4 games left to finish the season, starting with Ballyclare 3rds at Hamilton Park on Saturday at 2pm.