A few changes saw Nathan Bell start at hooker, Matthew Bell & Aaron Bittles in the second-row, Matthew Walker & Ben Goldthorpe in the back-row. Joel Clarke moved from the wing to scrum-half, a first game of the season for Paul Cox, Adam Barnes in at centre, Chris McClure at fullback and a bench consisting of Colin McClure, Ross Torney and Ethan Barratt.

The Ardsmen put pressure on Ballyclare from the start with good carries and managed to contain Ballyclare within their own half. The breakthrough came through a good carry from Bittles with the ball going to the supporting Barnes as he put the visitors 0-5 up. Cox narrowly missed the conversion attempt.

During the first half there were plenty of opportunities for more points as the Ardsmen were held up over the line 3 times. The most notable aspects of the first half was the complete domination of set-pieces both when attacking and defensively. This was spearheaded through the scrummaging of the tight five who had the edge on Ballyclare all afternoon. In the line-out the stand out performer was Goldthorpe who stole almost every ball that was thrown from a defensive aspect and won his own ball along with Walker. Nathan Bell’s delivery into the line-out was also top class. The backs were marshalled by Cox and Curtis Stewart imposed himself on the game with some great carries with plenty of yards gained. At half-time the score read Ballyclare 0 - Ards 5 and it was said by a few that points had been left out there and that we should be in front by more.

The second half was a war of attrition with Ballyclare defending brilliantly in the most part. The game was played between both 22’s and Ballyclare didn’t enter the Ards 22 once during the entire game. They did however cause a scare when awarded a penalty they opted for a shot at goal to make the score Ballyclare 3-5 Ards.

It was clear they were going to try to play territory and hope for another penalty within kicking distance of the Ards posts. Ards stayed disciplined and were rewarded with another score from a patient forward drive towards the line. The ball was then released wide to Barratt who finished well in the corner, the tricky conversion from Cox was narrowly missed. The final whistle went a few minutes later giving Ards 2nd XV a great win on the road. Full time score Ballyclare 3 - 10 Ards.

The next game for the 2nd XV is in three weeks time as we host local rivals Donaghadee 2nd XV for a derby game at Hamilton Park.