City of Armagh RFC 17 Ballymena RFC 13 (Senior Cup Final)
City of Armagh claimed an historic Ulster Senior Cup triumph – the first in their 142-year history.
The Armagh side overcame the underdog tag to see off the fancied Ballymena side at the Kingspan Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Orchard county side enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges but it was Ballymena that opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter with Glenn Baillie landing a penalty after an earlier miss.
Armagh hit back midway through the second quarter with Cormac Fox landing a penalty to tie the game 3 – 3 at the break.
Despite Armagh again dominating proceedings at the start of the second half, Ballymena took the lead at the end of the third quarter, with Callum Patterson adding a try, conversion and penalty, all in the space of minutes, to give Ballymena a 10-pount lead.
Armagh hooker Andrew Smyth drove over for his side’s first try before Fox converted.
Harry Doyle gave Armagh the lead when he went over in the final ten minutes before Fox added the the conversion to give Armagh the 17 – 13 victory.
Photos by Graham Service and Bob Given @ Front Row Union
