Jesus plays a part in Blaze cup exit

BALLYMONEY Blaze Volleyball Club were in action again last Wednesday night at Dalriada School sports hall in what proved to be a thrilling encounter against Premier League side Queens from Belfast.

Although the two teams are in different leagues they were drawn against each other in the semi final of the Northern Ireland Volleyball Association (NIVA) Senior Men’s Cup which is open to all registered teams across the Province.

Blaze had a slow start in the first set and struggled to keep up with the Queens attack, which came mainly from their Spanish outside hitter, Jesus.

Jonathan Workman, the blaze libero, had a lot to do early on and pulled out some exceptional passes to help set up Blaze attacks executed with pinpoint precision from middle and outside hitters Matthew Scott and Adam Hunter.

Queens however, were relentless and quickly won the first set 15-25 leaving the Blaze coach Jonny McClenaghan with plenty to talk about during the interval.

The second set saw Blaze get a dream start going 8-3 points up and demonstrated some well rehearsed hitting routines made possible by the accuracy of setter Alan McKnight.

Queens had no answer to the rejuvenated Ballymoney attack and slipped even further behind eventually losing the set convincingly 25-16.

Now on form, Blaze punished every mistake Queens made in the third set and local star player Ian Walker (called in to replace the absent Geoff Scott) proved his worth with some good attacking play from the outside hitting position. Blaze won the third set 25-19. The fourth set saw Blaze lead by a single point up to 23 points, needing only two more points to win the match, when Queens called a timeout.

Following the timeout Blaze didn’t win another point and Queens stole the set 23-25 to level the match at 2-2, forcing the match to a fifth set decider to be played to 15 points.

The local lads, stunned after losing the fourth set so fickly, didn’t recover in time for the start of the fifth set and immediately found themselves five points adrift. Queens could hardly believe their luck and won the set convincingly 6-15, also winning the match 3-2.

Blaze captain David Park said: “It is very frustrating to have been within two points of winning the match and to then lose by such a large margin in the final set.

“As a team, we have got to take the positive things from this match and try not to make the same mistakes in the future.”

Blaze coach Jonny McClenaghan said: “It was a great match. The guys showed great character to come back from a set down to go 2-1 up but it just wasnt to be this time. We have a young squad and they are all very keen to play competitively at a higher level next year.”

This defeat brings an end to the Ballymoney club’s indoor season but they can now be seen practising on beaches around the north coast area in preparation for the summer beach tournaments.