With schools on their well-deserved half term break there was only a couple of games played on Saturday 1st November.
Wallace High School had no game but got time to recover from their games played in the recent Clongowes Wood College Bi-Centenary Rugby Festival. The Lisburn squad thoroughly enjoyed their trip to the Clongowes Bi-Centenary Rugby Festival, a festival in which they played seven games.
Wallace played their opening group game against Ivy Bridge College (Exeter Chiefs Academy) on the Friday morning. Having led 8-3, Wallace made two errors in the final quarter which gifted Ivy Bridge two tries and left the final score reading 17-8 in favour of the English School. Wallace High School then responded on the 4G surface at Clongowes with a 15-0 win over Belvedere College thanks to two tries from Gary Dillon and one from Ikenna Nzewi. Christian Brother’s College, Cork were up next and this turned out to be a tense encounter which Wallace edged 8-7 thanks to a last minute penalty kick from Jonny Stewart. In the final group game Wallace HS defeated Terenure College by 10-0. This left Wallace in a three way tie at the top of the group with Ivy Bridge and Christian Brother’s College. However, Wallace finished in third place as the tie was decided on who scored the first try in the head to head matches.
On the Saturday morning Wallace played Royal Belfast Academical Institution and came through another tense encounter by 5-0 thanks to another Ikenna Nzewi try. Rockwell College proved the stiffest challenge of the tournament and they inflicted a 12-0 defeat as tiredness and injury started to play a significant part in performance levels. A young Wallace side then faced Campbell College in their last match of the tournament and came away with a tremendous 5-0 victory. Captain, Sam Moore got the only try towards the end of the game.
The Wallace High School management and players were delighted to have been asked to play in this prestigious tournament. Their thanks go to Clongowes Wood College for the invitation and for the excellent organisation of the tournament which provided a superb learning environment for all the players.
Foyle and Londonderry College hosted the Belfast Metropolitan College team on Saturday 1st November.
Despite taking a 7-0 lead, early in the game, the Belfast Met found difficulty in coping with the pace and power of the Foyle College team; a team that went on to win the game by 37-7. The Belfast Met team took a 7-0 lead but the Foyle College team responded, almost immediately, with a penalty from Alex Mc Donnell. Stephen Walker then scored a try, for the Foyle team, which Alex McDonnell converted, to put the home team into a 10-7 lead. Two unconverted tries from Harry Nicholl and Alex McDonnell gave the Foyle College team a 20-7 lead at the break.
The second half saw the Foyle College team take total control of the game. They ran in tries from Matthew Orr and a second from Alex McDonnell. Alex converted both tries, as well as a penalty kick, to secure the 37-7 win for the Foyle and Londonderry College team.
Regent House hosted Limavady Grammar School in a game the Regent House team won by 27-17. The Regent House team was 10-3 down at the interval after the Limavady team had scored two unconverted tries to a Taylor Nutt penalty.
A much improved performance in the second half saw the Regent House team run in tries from Jonny Harris, Arron May, Kyle van Geisen and Taylor Nutt. Taylor added two conversions as well. The Limavady Grammar School team scored a converted try close to the end of the game to leave the Regent House emerging from the game as 27-17 winners.
All schools are reminded the entries for the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup and the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion shield competitions should be returned not later than Friday 7th November.
