Ards 2nds welcomed Larne 2nds to Hamilton Park for their first home game of the season. The weather was overcast, with the first team pitch in great condition for this Provincial East encounter.

After an away win in their first game of the season last week, Coach Simon Hamilton was expecting another solid performance this week against a Larne side who have always given Ards teams a good, physical contest. To combat this, Coach Hamilton had a strong side selected. Colin McClure, Matthew Patton & Hayden Hamilton earning starts up front with Nathan Bell starting in the back row. In the back line, Ethan Barrett started at out half with an experienced centre pairing of Oren Kisby & Aaron May which were hoping to unleash a dangerous back three of Adam Cooke, Matt McFarland & Ethan Bell. James Ward, Reuben O’Rourke & Luke Rogers providing impact from the bench this week.

Ards received the kick off, playing towards Scrabo in the first half. The opening exchanges showed a little rustiness from both sides, unable to hold the ball for consecutive phases. Ards grew into the game, making more dominant carries through skipper Gareth McBurney, Patton & Kisby. When the opportunity arose, the Ards backline clicked into gear with good hands making ground and only a knock on preventing more ground being made. Larne began to grow into the game, putting their forward pack into gear testing the Ards defensive line which held strong through the efforts of Hamilton, McClure, Gray, Bell & McBurney. Repeated penalties from Larne found Ards inside the Larne half. The lineout, with Gray & Edgar controlling operations saw the maul cause Larne problems which found Ards in the Larne red zone. Good carries in the red zone from the Ards forwards the allowed Barrett, May & Bell to put Adam Cooke in for well taken try in the corner. Unconverted. 5-0.

From the kick off, repeated penalties in Ards half saw Larne spend time with ball in hand. Ards clearing their lines with Larne pinning them back in their half with a good kick from the Larne 15. Good defence from Ards saw the ball back in their hands and making inroads through the elusive running of Ethan Bell & May. A messy Larne lineout somehow saw the ball land in the Larne scrum half’s hand who raced in to score from the 22. Converted. Ards 2nds v Larne 2nds 7

Ards failed to clean up the restart and Larne camped in the Ards half for a period, trying to get their big forward pack on the front foot. However, Ards protected their defensive line well. A succession of penalties saw Larne have a shot at goal, with Larne failing to capitalise. As the half neared its conclusion, repeated penalties from Larne saw Ards camped in the opposition half. Big forward carries from Patton, McBurney and a rampaging Hamilton set the tone. From a 5m tap and go penalty, Hayden Hamilton burrowed over to score skittling Larne big forwards out of the way. Converted by Ethan Bell. 12-7 HT.

The second half started with Ards settling well with good ball carrying from Ward, Hamilton, McFarland & Kisby setting Ards up well, with a lack of finesse in the final pass letting Larne off the hook. After Ards put multiple phases together, quick hands found Matt McFarland in an outside channel who went off on a weaving then direct run to score under the posts from distance, converted by Bell. Ards 2nds 19 v Larne 2nds 7

More robust defence from Ards saw Larne looking to exploit the wider channels in search of a reply, Larne worked a 3v2 attack well on the blindside and were rewarded with an unconverted score out wide. Ards 2nds 19 v Larne 2nds 12

Ards knew they needed to get an immediate response and were gifted a scrum after more defensive efforts from the Ards forwards. A knock on from Ards off a lineout saw a Larne scrum. A Larne blindside play was picked off by Adam Cooke who ran in untouched from the 22, converted by Bell. Ards 2nds 26 v Larne 2nds 12.

As the game reached the last 15 mins Larne began to build pressure in the Ards half, with multiple penalties conceded by Ards, a blindside play from a scrum saw the Larne no8 go over for and unconverted try. Ards 2nds 26 v Larne 2nds 17

Larne would have the final say and make it a nerve wracking final few mins with more robust Ards defence forcing Larne to play in the wider channels which saw another unconverted score.

Full time - Ards 2nds 26 v Larne 22.

Many thanks to Larne for another physical and honest contest which nearly went their way. Ards, although winning the game, did leave try scoring chances on another day would have been scored.

A good week at training this week will set them up for another contest, this time against Academy 2s at Hamilton Park, alongside the 1st XV who play Academy 1st XV in a double header not wanting to be missed. Both games 2:30pm kick off.