Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 1st October 2016
There were two midweek games, as well as one Friday evening game, played in the lead up to a full list of friendly schoolboy fixtures on Saturday 1st October.
Royal School, Armagh hosted their counterparts from the Royal School, Dungannon in a game the RS Armagh team won by 19-10. The Armagh team had control of most aspects of the game in the first half and had built up a 14-0 lead by the break. Peter Wilson scored a first half try, which was converted by Glen Faloon, to give the RS Armagh team a 7-0 lead. Nicholas Jennings who, along with his brother Chris, caused problems for the RS Dungannon defence throughout the game, then ran in for a try. Glen Faloon added the conversion to increase the RS Armagh lead to 14-0 close to the interval.
Glen Faloon converted a penalty opportunity early in the second half to increase the RS Armagh lead to 17-0. The RS Dungannon team, with players such as Josh Patton and Aaron McCammon to the fore, then mounted something of a comeback. They had a series of attacks close to the RS Armagh line which the RS Armagh defence dealt with. That was until space was created on the short side of a series of rucks and Josh Patton finished off with a try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the RS Dungannon team had reduced the deficit to 17-5. However, this did not last for long. Peter Wilson, aided by Zac Thompson, touched down for an unconverted try to put his team into a 22-5 lead going into the final quarter of the game. Zac Thompson completed an impressive second half showing when he ran in for a score under the posts. Glen Faloon added the extras to see the RS Armagh team into a 29-5 lead. The RS Dungannon team found time to finish the game with a flourish. Aaron McCammon, who impressed during the game with his defensive qualities, displayed great attacking skills when he outfoxed the home defence to finish with a try. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful and the Royal School, Armagh team finished the game as worthy 29-10 winners.
Rainey Endowed School hosted Foyle and Londonderry College in a game the Rainey Endowed School team won by 52-0. The Rainey ES team played with the wind in the first half and had built up a 28-0 lead by half time. They dominated territory and possession and scored four tries through team captain, Adam Currie, Matthew Gordon, Richard Winder and Karl Warner. Adam Hunter was successful with all four conversion kicks.
The Foyle College team was spirited and committed throughout the game but the Rainey ES team just had too much in terms of power and pace for the Foyle team to handle. Karl Warner scored his second try of the game early in the second half with Connor Stringer, Mark Mulholland and Bryn Davies all touching down for one try apiece. Adam Hunter added two further conversions to secure the 52-0 victory for the Rainey Endowed School team.
Larne Grammar School hosted Friends’ School, Lisburn on Friday 30th September in a game the Friends’ School team won by 45-10. The game was played over three sessions with both teams using the occasion as an opportunity to use an extended squad of players.
Friends’ started strongly with the exciting pace of their backs asking questions of the opposition. This soon created a gap for Alex O’Brien to sprint through and place the ball under the Larne GS posts for the opening score of the game. The try was converted by Ben McCaughey to give the Friends’ School team a 7-0 lead. Adam McElwee then ran in for a try, which was converted by Ben McCaughey, to increase the Friends’ School lead to 14-0. Morgan Wharry then took advantage of good work from the Larne GS pack and he finished off with an unconverted try to reduce the arrears to 14-5. Friends’ School responded with a fine try from Bradley Mulholland following a move from set piece play. The try was not converted but the Friends’ School team had increased their lead to 19-5. Back came the spirited Larne Grammar School team with another unconverted try from Morgan Wharry to leave the score reading 19-10 in favour of the visitors at the break.
Owen Beckett powered over for an unconverted try shortly after the restart to put the Friends’ School team into a 24-10 lead. Ben McCaughey then took advantage of some slack defence at the side of a ruck and he ran in for a try. Ben added the extras to see his team into a 31-10 lead. The Friends’ School outhalf, David Stewart, then paved the way for a second Bradley Mulholland try, which Ben McCaughey converted, to put the Lisburn team into a healthy 38-10 lead. The final score of the game saw Daniel Patterson chase down a chip through to dive on the ball and score a try in the corner. Ben McCaughey was successful with the conversion kick to leave the final score reading 45-10 in favour of the Friends’ School, Lisburn team.
There were quite a few schoolboy friendly fixtures played on Saturday 1st October.
Bangor Grammar School recorded a 31-10 victory when they hosted Belfast High School. Daniel Young scored two tries for the Bangor GS team with Lewis Brett, Ben McCrossan and Aaron Sexton all scoring one. Daniel Young was successful with three conversion kicks.
The Belfast High School points came through tries from TJ McFarland and Brandon McMinn.
Coleraine Grammar School hosted Ballymena Academy in a game the Ballymena team won by 40-21. The visitors had built up a 21-7 lead by the break with tries from Angus Kernohan, Scott Agnew and Mark Thompson. Mark’s try was started by James McClean who broke from his 22m area to begin a series of passing exchanges with most of the Ballymena Academy team involved before the final touch down. Bruce Houston converted all three tries. The Coleraine GS try was scored in the closing stages of the first half by Marc McClelland and converted by Ally Telfer.
The Ballymena Academy team, with Angus Kernohan in outstanding form, scored three more tries through Tiarnan Martin, Bruce Houston and Angus Kernohan in the course of the second half. Bruce Houston was successful with two of the conversion kicks. The Coleraine Grammar School team ran in two late tries through Hugo Mawhinney and Andrew McKee, one of which was converted by Ally Telfer and the other by Andrew White, to leave the Ballymena Academy team as relatively comfortable 40-21 winners.
Banbridge Academy hosted the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School team in a game the Fermanagh team won by 13-0. Reece Smyton kicked two early penalties to give his team a 6-0 lead. The Banbridge Academy team was well-organised defensively and gave little away which ensured there were no more points scored in the course of the first half.
The game remained closely contested until Jack Rutledge scored a late try, which Reece Smyton converted, to secure the 13-0 win for the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School team. Despite losing the game Jonny McIntosh and Troy Pinion had stand out performances for the Banbridge Academy team.
Methodist College, Belfast hosted Omagh Academy in a closely contested game the Methody team won by 5-3. Methody started strongly and put Omagh under pressure from the kick off, They were awarded a penalty which they kicked into the corner. From the ensuing lineout the ball was won and, following a well-organised catch and drive, Cameron Kelly planted the ball down over the whitewash. The conversion kick was unsuccessful but the Methody team had a 5-0 lead. Omagh regrouped and several line breaks by Deane Kane and James Longwell gave Omagh good field position. The constant pressure resulted in Methody conceding a penalty which Kyle Beattie converted to leave the scoreboard reading 5-3. Omagh Academy continued to pressurise the Methody line but there were no further scores in the first half.
The second half began with Omagh still on the front foot but good defence from Methody meant the score remained 5-3. Methody broke out of their 22m area and began to pressurise the Omagh line but Omagh’s defence held firm with Glenn McKinley, Troy Booth and Matthew Hill to the fore. Once again Omagh began to put pressure the Methody line and, with five minutes to go, Oscar Nelson crossed the Methody line. However, the try was ruled out as a foot had been placed in touch. This decision ensured the match finished with the Methodist College team recording a 5-3 victory.
Dalriada School travelled to play Belfast Metropolitan College in a game the dominant Dalriada team won by 52-7. The Dalriada scores in the first half came from Stewart Moore, Ross Fallows, who scored twice, and Thomas Hunter. Thomas converted three of these tries.
In the second half Ross Fallows completed his hat trick with Luke Pollock, Jack Elliott band Thomas Hunter each scoring one try. Thomas Hunter converted one second half try with Jack Elliott and William Allen adding one conversion each.
The Belfast Met team scored one consolation converted try in the course of the game.
The Regent House 1stxv team played against Dromore High School in a close encounter the Dromore High School team won by 15-12. Oliver Beattie scored an early unconverted try to give the Dromore High School team a 5-0 lead. Richard Dickson added a second try, this time converted by Ben Martin, to give the Dromore HS team a 12-0 lead with just fifteen minutes on the clock. In the final few minutes of the first half Regent House scored two tries through Jack Smith and Aaron Migan, one of which was converted by Robbie Johnston, to leave the scoreboard reading 12-12 at the break.
Dromore converted an early second half penalty through Ben Martin to give them a 15-12 lead. The Regent House team then went on to control territory and possession for long periods in the second half but could find no way through a resolute Dromore High School defence. This ensured it was the Dromore High School team that celebrated their 15-12 victory at the end of the game.
Portadown College hosted Rainey Endowed School in their annual Vinny Doyle Memorial Cup match. The Rainey Endowed School team won the entertaining game by 31-19. In an evenly contested first half the Rainey team took a 5-0 lead when Adam Thornton went over for an unconverted try. The Portadown College team responded and took a 7-5 lead when Brett Fleck touched down for a try which was converted by Matthew Neill. Rainey ES regained the lead when Adam Currie scored a try, which Jac Lloyd Evans converted, to put his team 12-7 ahead. Just before the break Portadown College secured lineout possession close to the Rainey ES line. A well-organised driven maul was finished off by Jordan Taylor who touched down for an unconverted try to see the teams into the break with the score at 12-12.
The second half saw the Portadown College team take a 19-12 lead when the Rainey team failed to deal with a kick and Matthew Neill touched down for a try which he converted. The young Rainey team then took the game to the Portadown College team. They went on to dominate territory and possession for most of the rest of the second half. Bryn Davies scored two tries with Andrew Hawe touching down for one. Jac Lloyd Evans converted two of these tries to secure the 31-19 victory for the Rainey Endowed School team and with it the Vinny Doyle Memorial Cup.
There was an identical scoreline at Campbell College where the Campbell team hosted their rivals from Blackrock College in Dublin. The Campbell College team took an early 5-0 lead with an unconverted try from John McKee before losing out by 31-19. Tom Roche and Cian Reilly scored first half tries for the Blackrock College team, both of which were converted by Peter O’Reilly, to give the visitors a 14-5 lead at the break.
Cian Reilly added a second try, which was not converted, to increase the Blackrock lead to 19-5. The Campbell College team was then awarded a penalty try, which Will Davies converted, to peg the score back to 19-12. Carl Delany then scored an unconverted try for the visitors to increase their lead to 24-12. Campbell College then scored a try through Ben Webb, which Will Davies converted, to reduce the deficit to 24-19. Just when it looked as if Campbell College might have got out of defence, when a loose Blackrock College pass could have been intercepted, the Blackrock team sealed the game when Guiseppe Coyne stretched over the line for a try. Peter O’Reilly added the extras to secure the 31-19 victory for the Blackrock College team.
Wellington College hosted a rampant Lurgan College team in a game the Lurgan College team won by 35-0. The game was played in excellent conditions on a great surface which encouraged the attacking instincts of both teams to shine through. The Lurgan team started strongly and an early midfield break from Reuben McCreery was finished off when he ran in for a try under the posts. Scott Wilson added the conversion to give the Lurgan College team a 7-0 lead. This became 10-0 when Scott Wilson added a penalty a few minutes later. Midway through the first half Scott added another penalty to increase the Lurgan College lead to 13-0. On the stroke of half time Reuben McCreery touched down for an unconverted try to leave his team with an 18-0 lead at the interval.
Wellington College started the second half very strongly and pressurised the Lurgan College defence throughout the third quarter of the game. However, the Lurgan College defence was not prepared to give anything away. The visitors went on to take control in the final quarter of the game. Reuben McCreery capped a fine personal performance with two more tries. Neither try was converted but the Lurgan College team now had a 28-0 lead. The last try of the game came when Ben McAllister finished off a fine exchange of passes, involving most of the Lurgan College team, by touching down for the points. Scott Wilson added the conversion to secure the 35-0 win for the Lurgan College team.
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution team was almost back to full strength for the first time this season when they hosted Ballyclare High School at Osborne Park. The Belfast Inst team was 3-0 down early in the game to an Adam Clarke penalty but recovered to go on to record an emphatic 46-3 victory. James Hume, Joe Finnegan and Zac Davidson each scored two tries with Ethan Field and Callum Reid touching down for one try each. James Hume added three conversions to ensure the 46-3 victory for the Royal Belfast Academical Institution team.
Wallace High School recorded an emphatic 58-5 victory when they hosted Limavady Grammar School. The Wallace High School team scored tries ten tries through Gary Dillon, who scored twice, Jonny Hunter, Jamie Peters, Jack Brown, Andrew Reid, Sam Cordosi, Matthew Millar, Jonny Warke and Matthew Pentland. Matthew was also successful with four conversion kicks.
Jim McCartney scored the consolation try for the Limavady Grammar School who had nothing but praise for the Wallace High School team and the power of their mauls and the pace of their attacks throughout the game.
Royal School, Armagh kept their recent winning run of good form on the move when they hosted Down High School in a game the RS Armagh team won by 21-5. The Royal School, Armagh team, despite missing two penalties in the opening quarter of the game, had built up a 14-0 lead by half time. Nicholas Jennings and Chris Jennings touched down for one try each with Glen Faloon adding the conversions.
Ten minutes into the second half Ronan Patterson rounded off a tremendous passage of play for the Down High School team when he touched down for an unconverted try to reduce the deficit to 14-5. The Royal School, Armagh team sealed their 21-5 victory when Zac Thompson scored a try, which Glen Faloon converted, with five minutes remaining on the clock.
Royal School, Dungannon hosted Foyle and Londonderry College in a game the RS Dungannon team won by 34-3. The RS Dungannon team scored four first half tries from Nicholas Graham, Aaron McCammon, Aaron Perry and James Wilson. The Foyle College points came from a Killene Thornton penalty.
The second half saw the RS Dungannon team score two more tries through Josh Fegan and Dylan Burton. Adam Evans converted both tries to secure the 34-3 victory for the Royal School, Dungannon team.
Cambridge House played a Grosvenor Grammar School “Select” xv in a game the Cambridge House team won by 19-7. Josh Malcolm scored the Grosvenor Grammar School try which was converted by Jack Kennedy
