Newry Basketball Club

Ballymena Grouse 61 - 53 Newry Oaks A depleted Newry Oaks squad travelled to St. Patrick?s Grammar, Ballymena to meet team grouse for the first time in a league encounter for over 5 years (senior level). Injuries to key personnel Paul Convery & Cathal Gallagher, and work commitments for Paul Crawley & Peter Clarke left a slightly imbalanced mix of youth & experience taking to the road.

A confident Grouse team fielded a 2nd string from the whistle but when Newry took the lead they quickly brought in reinforcements. With a 14 man squad V Newrys travelling band of 8, Ballymena were able to implement a very tough hustle defence whilst interchanging effectively to avoid getting tired. The pressure soon told on the Newry back line & Peter O?Neill & Paul Woods were forced into some costly turnovers. Nigel Murphy though did his best to keep Newry within striking distance with a huge haul of baskets & by the half there was only 4 points in it, 28-24 in the home sides favour.

Grouse though opened up to an 18 point lead in the early stages of the 3rd quarter with some tremendous outside shooting, raining in 3 points from all angles against a tiring Newry zone.

When coach Convery called a time out on this passage of play a renewed & revived Newry team hit the floor with real determination. Great pressure defence from Simon & John Ward and with Scott Rafferty causing havoc Newry ended a roller coaster quarter only 4 points down again.

The final quarter saw a tired Newry team fight bravely with some great scores from Colm McEvoy & Paul Woods playing an strong point position, but ultimately it was Ballymena who cruised to victory. A combination of ?last minute? 3 pointers from Scott Rafferty & Rory O?Keeffe & free throw line bonus scores from Nigel Murphy did give the scoreboard a respectable look at 62 - 54 but Ballymena were much the better team on the day.

Scorers
Nigel Murphy,31
Colm McEvoy,8
Scott Rafferty,8
Rory O'Keeffe,5
Pete O'Neil,1
Also Simon Ward,Paul Woods,John Ward