1st XV win at Eaton Park

Grosvenor start Junior Cup campaign with win at Ballymena

Grosvenor were quickest out of the starting blocks on a blustery day at Ballymena and after some neat handling in the backs McConkey crashed over for a try in the corner after 5mins.

The home side bounced back and on 15 mins were awarded a penalty try after Corbett attempted an intercept, for which he got a yellow card.

Some heavy showers made the conditions difficult and the game became a bit scrappy. However Grosvenor got back in front with a super try from Boyd in the corner after great handling and support play. 10-7. Soon after, Grosvenor failed to deal with a long kick downfield, a long pass was dropped and the Ballymena winger scooped the ball up to go in for a try.

14-10 HT

Grosvenor started the second half with a neat line out catch and drive, followed by a pop pass to McConkey on a crash ball to dive under the posts 14-17.

A poor restart by Grosvenor gifted Ballymena possession in the 22 and from a scrum their No8 drove over for a try on 50mins 19-17.

Grosvenor upped the pace in the final quarter and but for fumbled final passes would have had a few more tries. They eventually took the lead with a penalty 19-20.

After some super play off a lineout Grosvenor extended their lead with another try for Boyd in the corner. 19-25

This was quickly followed by super counter attack from inside the 22 finished by McNeight 19-32. With ten minutes to go Grosvenor rumbled over for a great forwards try finished off by Pollock. 19-39.

The last few minutes were disrupted by injuries to three Grosvenor players, hopefully none too serious. Ballymena got a try to end the contest 26-39

A fine start to the season for this young Grosvenor side brimming with pace and talent. The FinTrU Player of the Week award goes to McConkey.