Match report: Ards 1sts v Virginia

Ards RFC 1st XV welcomed Virginia RFC 1st XV for the opening match in this season’s Ulster Kukri Championship.

The County Cavan team were newly promoted this season, finally having done so after being denied for 2 seasons due to Covid enforced changes to the promotion and relegation rules.

A good crowd were joined by a full house from the pre-match lunch as a firm pitch and a very warm day awaited the teams.

Whilst the Ards squad was broadly familiar from last season, it was good to welcome new signing Matthew Hamilton at centre and Matthew Gibson returning from long term injury at full back.
 
The match kicked off with Ards playing towards Scrabo and they were quickly into territorial advantage. Moving into the visitors’ 22, they started to work their patterns against a fresh and committed defence. Despite pressing a number of times, they were eventually repelled having conceded a penalty at the breakdown.

Unfortunately, this was to become a regular pattern for the first half, as they struggled to interpret what the referee wanted from them at almost every contact point.

With an armchair ride of possession and restarts, Virginia had every opportunity to move forward and build momentum, as Ards could barely string 3 phases together before the blast of the referee’s whistle was heard. With 25 minutes gone, the visitors decided to kick their latest penalty and regroup, taking a 0-3 lead.
 
With continuing penalty awards, Virginia kicked down the line and had a driving maul opportunity. Easily managed by the Ards pack, the ball was tied up and taken over the line, allowing a drop out to clear.

With 5 minutes remaining in a very frustrating half, the visitors were again advancing in small measures with the penalty count and again chose to kick for the posts and a 0-6 lead. With over 20 penalties awarded, the referee showed a team yellow to Ards’ Trevor Devlin.
 
Possibly spurred by this, Ards pressed forward well and took good position in the Virginia 22. However, the half closed as it began, with Ards lacklustre in their finishing and Virginia clearing their lines from a penalty.
 
Half time: Ards 0 v Virginia 6

Some frank words were spoken in the interval and both teams re-entered the fray. After 10 minutes of equal exchanges, Ards finally hit their form to deliver virtual dominance for the final 30 minutes of play with 4 tries, 3 conversions and 2 penalties.
 
Opting to go for the line with a kickable penalty, skipper Danny Patton’s gambit worked, as Devlin’s well timed run secured an offload from No8 Matthew Bell as he scored close to the posts. The conversion from fly half Jack Smith was good and the lead taken at 7-6.
 
After 5 minutes of working through phases from the kick off, a chip through from scrum half Matthew Peak saw Smith beat the cover to score. Converting his own try, the lead moved out to 14-6.
 
Virginia found some possession, with Ards’ penalty concessions still raising their head, but a stolen line out by Pete Croan saw Ards move upfield quickly with width. A penalty to their benefit saw a kickable chance for Smith and he nudged the lead out to 17-6.
 
Into the final quarter, another penalty conceded by Ards on halfway in broken play saw a great opportunity for Virginia. Seeing a clear gap, they took a quick tap and raced through for their try. Well converted, Ards were pinned back to 17-13.
 
Steeling themselves for the final 15 minutes, Ards’ fitness advantage was clear. Moving forward easily with clear 1st phase dominance, a kickable penalty was earned and Smith converted, taking the score to 20-13.
 
Setting a strong platform from the restart, an Ards scrum wide out on the visitors’ 22 saw a sweeping strike move, with Gibson on hand to step inside the last defenders for a fine score on his return. The difficult conversion was missed, but the score moved on to 25-13.
 
Bouyed by this, Ards now pressed for an unlikely bonus point try and worked accurately with ball in hand, patiently looking for the opportunity to strike. Getting in behind the visitors’ defence, the Ards backline produced what was required as Hamilton sealed his senior Ards debut with a fine finish. The conversion was clean from Smith in the final act of the match as Ards took a 32-13 victory.
 
Next week sees a visit to Academy RFC, one of the most difficult venues to visit and always a very physical encounter. Ards will hope to iron out the last of their wrinkles on the training pitch this week and keep the momentum of this opening win on track.