After last year's appearance at the Kingspan in the final of the competition, Ballymoney's 2nd XV were delighted with a home draw to start this year's Crawford Cup campaign. Enniskillen 2s were the visitors, a tricky opponent last season in the league, who were motivated to make the trip north in search of their own cup run.

With an overcast but dry day, and firm conditions underfoot, both teams took the field looking to play a good brand of rugby. Ballymoney boasted a solid pack with captain Jason Clyde looking to dominate the tight exchanges from tight head, and Dave McKeeman in the back row keen to extend his try scoring form. In the backs Kyle McAuley stepped in to fullback to cover Gilkinson's injury, and Owen Boyd on the wing would look for opportunities to show his class.

The opening phases saw Ballymoney retaining possession well, in the face of a stubborn Enniskillen defence. Eventually the defence was penalised at the breakdown, and from the attacking lineout, a further maul penalty was called. McKeeman was fastest off the mark, tapping and driving low over the line to open the scoring. McCamphill converted for 7-0 after only a few minutes.

Ballymoney continued to retain possession well, but struggled to break the line - forward pods running off McCamphill and Linton were smothered by an eager defensive line. And the Toon defense was also standing firm - solid tackling from Stevenson and Lowry stopping momentum, and some eager jackling from Bustard and Linton would produce turnovers at key moments.

And from a spell of attacking Toon possession, Enniskillen struck back. A routine clearance was developing when the ball came free out the back of a midfield ruck. Their rangy fly-half quickly found his outside runners with an extra man in attack - his flat pass sent the outside centre through, who efficiently drew the last man and cover defence, sending the winger racing clear to score.

With the conversion good, the match was balanced at 7-7 after 25 minutes, with both sides' defences in control. From here Ballymoney would try to play their attacking patterns, but without front foot ball the backwards passes just lost ground, forcing them to kick away possession. And some ill discipline at the breakdown allowed Skins a couple of penalties, which were duly converted for a 13-7 lead for the away side at half time.

With some stern words said at half time, the Toon men set out to simplify the game and get moving forwards by running their big men hard at the fringe defenders. Clyde, Bustard, and Anderson in the front row started making dents around the edges, with the rest of the pack hunting around in support.

Andy Millar exemplified the new spirit, storming through a gap from a Clyde offload, hamstrings screaming for mercy all the while. Finally on the front foot, Linton kicked for space down the left where Boyd chased hard to pressure the fullback. A rampaging Clyde smashed the ruck back for quick turnover ball, which was duly scuttled out to McCluggage on the right wing to scamper over for a well taken try. McCamphill converted from out wide to take the lead 14-13, and the home side could feel the momentum just starting to shift their way.

The tactics continued to pay off - barnstorming runs from Millar and McKeeman were now making 5-10 yards each time, allowing space for Linton and Hodges to work the midfield defence. Any Skins clearance kicks were mostly handled by Kyle McAuley and Owen Boyd, who was beginning to enjoy his afternoon's showing in the counter attack as the chasing defence tired.

A further penalty for McCamphill opened the gap to four, before a period of sustained forward dominance sealed the match as a contest. From a series of scrums and lineouts in the left corner, first Clyde was deemed short of the line on one charge, before Alexander powered over shortly afterwards to score, with the try converted for 24-13.

The visitors, creaking under the weight of the tight forward play, were then greeted by the additional presence of Russell Blair, making a welcome return to the 2s. His size and know-how inflicted further pressure on the Skins pack, just as George McAuley came on in the back row to make his presence felt in defence. This all led to Jack Alexander scoring his second in a similar manner to the first, barging his way over the line after a spell of solid forward play. Marc Tweed, on for McCamphill at scrum-half, converted this time for 31-13.

With the match over as a contest, Enniskillen did rally for a consolation score at the end, but it was too little too late. A 31-18 win, and a ticket to the quarter final draw was the prize for a really excellent turnaround in the second half. But credit surely goes to Enniskillen who, despite being a league below the Toon men, dominated in defence for long spells, attacked well through their own patterns, and never gave up the fight right to the end.

The next match for the 2s is in two weeks, visiting Armagh 3s in the league on the 16th November, a fixture marked in the diary for some weeks now as one to savour.