On Saturday Ards 1sts played their last home league match of the season and produced a handsome win with 11 tries to delight the large support at Hamilton Park.
 
Saturday’s opponents were Cavan RFC, who were already relegated before this match. However, for the first quarter matters were fairly even. The visitors took the lead at 0-3 with a penalty after some early possession, but Ards soon struck back with a try from centre Matthew Warnock to make it 5-3.

Soon after the restart, Cavan earned another kickable penalty and retook the lead at 5-6.

Ards were starting to build play and a kick return saw full back Ethan Bell lead a charge deep into the visitors’ red zone, for a simple pass to lock Ross Torney to dot down under the posts. The conversion from fly half Angus Christie was good and the score now 12-6.

However, in the early ebb and flow, Cavan made good ground to score a maul try wide to the right and with the conversion, the lead switched again to 12-13 as the first quarter ended.
 
From the restart, Ards moved up a gear and dominated the remainder of the game with 59 unanswered points. A good period of continuity earned an overlap to the left and Ethan Bell ran in the score, converted by Christie. Further good work from the restart and dominant defensive sets created a gap for centre Robbie Johnston to step and run through for another 7 pointer, courtesy of Christie’s boot. The last 10 minutes then switched to the forwards, as Danny Patton and Matthew Kane both produced robust finishes from good patterns of phases and with the conversions from Christie, the score at half time was 40-13.
 
The break saw substitutes introduced, with Keir Edgar moving to second row and Joel DePledge to No8. Dynamic forward work combined with slick backline movement saw tries for DePledge and Patton as the lead pushed out to 52-13.
Possession was very much in Ards’ favour as they played well both sides of the ball, as hooker Trevor Devlin and flanker Matthew Walker led the steals at the breakdown. Combined with territory, flanker Robbie Grant added a brace of tries as the third quarter ended, the second coming from an audacious kick from Christie, who produced the conversions to move the score to 64-13.
 
With 10 minutes remaining, Ards were again on the attack and quick width in passing from a line out saw Ethan Bell run an inside line to outfox the defence for his second try. The conversion from DePledge brought the score to 71-13 and the final whistle was sounded.
 
Our best goes to Cavan for next season, who stayed after the match for a great social evening at the club. This week sees the final league game of the season with a visit to Limavady RFC, the winner of which will secure 3rd place in the league. Ards will look to build momentum from this and the Junior Shield Final the following week with a tough week in training.