Excitement Building For ‘Hinch’s Shot At Energia Bateman Cup Glory

If Ballynahinch play their cards right, they could see out 2025 with two major cups in their trophy cabinet. They contest their first ever Energia Bateman Cup final this weekend, before trying to retain the Bank of Ireland Ulster Senior Cup just after Christmas.

The Bateman Cup decider doubles up with an Energia All-Ireland League fixture on Saturday (kick-off 4pm – live on irishrugby+), as Clontarf, having gained home advantage through a coin toss, host Division 1A rivals Ballynahinch at Castle Avenue.

Neither Clontarf or Ballynahinch have lifted the Bateman Cup before, and winning at the Bullring would give ‘Hinch a double boost with some vital league points needed following defeats to Lansdowne and St. Mary’s College.

The County Down side defended very well when playing into a first-half wind at home to Mary’s, but could not get off the mark after the break, with a series of penalties leading to Stephen Campbell being sin-binned late on for collapsing a maul.

The 14-0 result leaves them sixth in the standings, six points outside of the top four, and with some key areas to work on heading into this crunch clash with Clontarf which could have a huge impact on their overall season.

Reflecting on the loss to Mary’s at Ballymacarn Park, Ballynahinch forwards coach John Gunson told Hinch TV: “Yeah, (the defence was) really impressive. I think the first 10 minutes, we were under the cosh a little bit.

“But we showed a lot of character, stuck in and made some really good shots. Managed to get turnovers, get the ball back, and get out of our 22.

“I was very hopeful (at half-time). I think we put a great shift in, first half. To go in seven-nil down, into the wind, was pretty good. Unfortunately it didn’t work out for us in the second half.

“We made a lot of errors and gave away a lot of penalties, our discipline cost us. Unfortunately you can’t play rugby from your own 22.”

Ballynahinch have a strong cup pedigree, winning two Ulster Senior Cups in the last three seasons – they face Instonians in this year’s final at Affidea Stadium on Saturday, December 27 – and famously won the All-Ireland Cup in 2009 when Gunson was part of the squad.

The former second row came off the bench to score the try which sealed a memorable 17-6 final victory over Cork Constitution. The competition was changed to the original Bateman Cup structure in 2010/11, with just the Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster Senior Cup winners taking part.

Ballynahinch are following in the footsteps of Instonians who reached this stage of the four-team format last season, with Dungannon (2011), Ballymena (2012), and City of Armagh (2019) having fallen at the final hurdle before them.

Indeed, the last Ulster winners of the Bateman Cup were Queen’s University back in 1937. If Ballynahinch were to overturn Clontarf, who are currenty sitting second in Division 1A, and claim All-Ireland silverware, it would rank right up there for Gunson.

“It’s very exciting. The boys were training last Thursday, and Bradley (Luney) was saying how exciting it is to be involved in these things. We’re a top club, we want to be at the top table.

“We believe we’re good enough to be there, so what better way than to go down to Clontarf and play in the final of the Bateman Cup, which is a great competition.

“We want to go down there and win it, like. We’re not going there to make up numbers, so fingers crossed.”

He added: “It’s a very tough venue. They’ll put us on the grass (at Castle Avenue), or maybe they’ll put us on the 4G (pitch) there.

“They’re a hell of a side, Clontarf. A big, big pack. We know what we’re going to have to go and do when we go down there. We’re going to have to front up.”

Ballynahinch were without their former captain Luney the last day due to a significant knee injury, and he was badly missed. He has unfortunately joined their top try scorer, Ulster’s Ethan Graham, on the sidelines, and could be out well into the New Year.

For current ‘Hinch skipper Claytan Milligan, he knows they need to improve their discipline and be more clinical with their opportunities in attack. They conceded 13 penalties against St. Mary’s and had replacement Campbell yellow-carded.

It was the first time that Adam Craig’s side have been held scoreless in an All-Ireland League match since losing 21-0 away to Young Munster in February 2023.

Hooker Milligan was on the pitch that day, as he was for their 32-12 defeat at home to Clontarf twelve months ago. He has been a prolific scorer for ‘Hinch in the last couple of seasons, notching 22 tries in 30 league appearances.

Echoing Gunson’s thoughts on the Mary’s game, he said: “We back our defence all day, so we do. As you can see, it gave us good go-forward ball in the first half. But second half, multiple penalties given away just caused them to get the upper hand.

“We just gave away too many penalties. That allowed Mary’s to keep the pressure on us. It was hard just to get momentum in the second half because of the amount of penalties we were giving away.”

The statistics bear that out, with Ballynahinch leaking 11 penalties in defence, and a total of seven at scrum time. They came up against a brick wall-like defence from Mary’s, who missed just three tackles over the 80 minutes.

On the positive side, ‘Hinch got former Ulster back rower Reuben Crothers back on the field last Saturday – making 19 hits as their top tackler – and no one in the top flight has made more line breaks than Aaron Sexton (13).

“The boys will get back in here on Tuesday, get the heads up, and then we’ll definitely look forward to the double header,” insisted Milligan, the former Ireland Under-19 international.

“Work-ons, we just have to stop the scrappy penalties. Allow ourselves to build momentum and go forward.

“A team like Clontarf are very similar to Mary’s. They won’t give you many opportunities, and if you aren’t using them, you’re not going to win the game obviously.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news in our dedicated website hub at www.irishrugby.ie/energiaail, and follow #EnergiaAIL on social media channels.