Ballymena cruised to a comfortable victory in the end against Clontarf at Eaton Park on Saturday but will surely have absorbed the lesson that it does not pay to drop your guard. The home team were the dominant force for most of the game, but Clontarf were permitted to stage a late rally.

A combination of fluent running behind the scrum and some inept defensive work by the visitors ensured that Ballymena enjoyed a lucrative first half. They set out their stall from as early as the third minute when James Topping swept in for a try and within the opening 10 minutes Rhys Botha had added another with Neill Doak converting both scores to give the home side a 14-0 advantage.

When Doak added a penalty, Ballymena looked set to move into overdrive, but David Sheehan's try which Dave O'Brien converted kept Clontarf in the hunt. However Topping galloped through for his second try. Clontarf, nevertheless, refused to wilt and O'Brien landed a penalty before darting in for a try which he himself converted.

Shane Stewart, Russell Nelson and the ever-dangerous Botha sprinted in for Ballymena trys early in the second half, with Doak providing two conversions, to give Ballymena a 41-17 lead. The resilient Clontarf side responded with Donovan Rossi and substitute Rod Nolan grabbing opportunist scores which O'Brien converted.

BALLYMENA: S Young; G Topping, S Stewart, R Botha, (2 trys), A Maxwell; A Derwin, L Doak; N McKiernan, P Shields, G Cully, C Bourkes, G Longwell (capt), D O'Kane, J Taggart, R Nelson.

CLONTARF: K Nowlan; G Winchester, D Rossi, J Downey, R Reddan; D O'Brien, R O'Reilly; W O'Reilly, T Kearns, P McQuillan, B Gissing, B Sheehan, B Baggot, A Cullen, D Moore. Replacement: R Nowlan

Referee: D Courtney (Leinster).