Banbridge Academy Firsts travelled to Carrickfergus Grammar School on Saturday morning and returned home with a 17-12 victory. In a lack-lustre performance in which the locals were inclined to give possession away too easily, the side, nonetheless, showed admirable determination to claim victory.
The Academy took the lead with a well-worked Michael Runciman try. Good handling by the backs created the space for the full back to touch down in the corner. This was then followed by a second Bann try when a series of “pick and drives” led to open-side flanker Andrew McConnell going over. Out-half Chris Craig added the extra points to open a 12-0 lead for the locals.
Carrick fought back though and finished a period of pressure on the Bann line by taking a scrum against the head five metres out and touching down to leave the half-time score at 12-5 to Bann.
The second half began in a similarly scrappy fashion with Carrick enjoying the territorial advantage. This led to an equalising converted try midway through the half to tie things up at 12-12. Bann though were not to be denied the win and blind-side flanker Bradley Martin drove over by the right-hand corner flag with some seven minutes remaining.
The home side looked to have secured at least a draw with a try in injury time but the referee adjudged the hooker to have blocked a Bann tackler. Thus the final score remained at 17-12 giving the Academy a hard earned but ultimately deserved win.
The Seconds had a much clearer margin of victory on the adjoining pitch, beating their Carrick counterparts by 34-0.
Tries from Andrew Herron (2), Harry Russell and Gareth Liggett and a total of fourteen points from the boots of Marc Stevenson and Aaron Kennedy gave the Academy a win that was scrappy at times but convincing enough in the end.
The Medallion side beat Carrick 17-0 but the U-14s conceded 30 points without reply. The U-13s racked up the biggest tally of the day, beating their Carrick counterparts 58-0 thanks to ten tries and four conversions. Andrew Neill and Ben Russell had a hat-trick apiece, with the other touchdowns coming from Peter Heaney, Matthew McCarter, Ryan Pepper and Carter Forbes. Matthew Jameson was on target with the four conversions.
