Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 21st December 2013
Sullivan Upper played Down High School recently in a game the Sullivan Upper team won by 38-10.
Sullivan had built up a 19-0 lead at the interval with tries from Josh Davidson, Chris Jordan and Jonny Betts. In the absence of Mark Adair, Dave Cave kicked two first half conversions.
The second half saw Down High School exert some pressure on the Sullivan Upper defence. Playing with the gale force wind behind them, they got the score back to 19- 10 through unconverted tries from David Cheung and Ricky Gill. However, Sullivan got back into their stride with further tries from Josh Davidson, David McMaster and Michael Cartmill. Dave Cave kicked two further conversions to leave the final score reading 38-10 in favour of the Sullivan Upper team.
Portadown College recorded a welcome 10-0 win against Wellington College in a recent game played in very difficult weather conditions.
Dalriada School and Bangor Grammar School met in the 1st Round of the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2ndxv Cup with the Ballymoney team recording an impressive 48-0 victory.
Methodist College travelled with their 1st and 2nd xv’s to Portugal for a warm weather training camp.
Based at the Brown’s Sports Camp, near Vilamoura in the Algarve, the Methody party took full advantage of the facilities to get a lot of work done, both on and off the pitch. They then travelled to Lisbon where the teams played against the Portugal U19 and U18 teams. These games were played at the 40,000 seater Stadio Nacional, scene of the famous “Lisbon Lions” triumphant European Cup Soccer success in 1967!
The Methodist College 1st xv defeated the Portugal U19 team by 33-7. Connor McKee ran in for two tries with Steven Weir, Ali McIvor and Saul Herdman touching down for one try each. Josh Bingham was successful with four conversion kicks. The Methody pack, with Michael Lagan and Alex Thompson leading from the front, laid the foundations for the Methodist College success.
The Methody 2ndxv played the Portugal U18 team in a game which they lost by 24-7. The young Methody team was 8-7 down at the interval but playing very well. The second half saw the Portugal U18 team get on top and eventually go on to win the game by 24-7.
Wellington College hosted Foyle and Londonderry College in a midweek game which the Wellington College team won by 13-8.
The first half was evenly contested with both teams displaying resolute defensive qualities. Sam Bridge did score a try for his Wellington team when he took advantage of good work from his pack to get the touch down. Luke Smyth added the extras to give his team a 7-0 lead, a lead they held until the break.
The Foyle team controlled proceedings after the restart and got some reward when Alex McDonnell was successful with a penalty kick to reduce the deficit to 7-3. Luke Smyth then kicked two penalties for the Wellington College team to increase their lead to 13-3. The Foyle College team finished with a flurry when their full back ran in for an unconverted try, minutes from the end of the game, to leave the Wellington College team as 13-8 winners.
Omagh Academy played Portora Royal School, in a game played at Campsie playing fields in very difficult conditions.
The Omagh Academy team, missing quite a few regular players, turned in an excellent performance and, against all the odds, won the game by 11-0. The Omagh Academy had built up a 5-0 lead in the first half with an excellent try from Adam Stephenson. Adam hit the conversion kick against the upright!
The second half saw weather conditions deteriorate but this did not stop the home team seal a well-deserved win. Adam Stephenson capped a fine personal performance by converting two penalty opportunities to secure the 11-0 victory for the Omagh Academy team. Clive Hawkins, Jake Cunningham and Mitchell Anderson also played well for the Omagh Academy team throughout the game.
Campbell College hosted Belfast High School in an end of term game which the Campbell College team won by 17-15.
This was a very close game in which the Belfast High School team controlled both possession and territory for long periods. However, the Campbell College team was almost back to full strength and managed to hold out for their victory.
Carrickfergus Grammar School travelled to play Antrim Grammar School and came away with an impressive 32-7 win.
The game was played in very difficult conditions but the visitors managed to score five tries through Christian Robinson, David Carse, Jonathan McMaw, Michael Black and Marc Ellison. David Carse converted two of the tries as well as one penalty opportunity.
Despite it being the end of term, there were a few games played on Saturday 21st December.
Royal School, Armagh continued their recent run of good form with a 38-0 victory against Belfast Royal Academy.
The home team was 17-0 up by half time with tries from Jonny Morton and Kyle Faloon, who touched down twice. Kyle added one conversion.
In the second half the RS Armagh team scored tries through Michael Thompson, Josh Agnew and James Johnston. Kyle Faloon added three more conversions to secure the 38-0 win for the Royal School, Armagh team. It was the RS Armagh pack that laid the foundations for this success with a very dominant display in both the scrums and the linesout.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Wallace High School were both missing first choice players when the teams met in an exciting fixture at Osbourne Park.
The Belfast Inst team won the game by 33-14. The RBAI team had built up a 26-7 lead by half time with good performances from players such as Andrew McGrath, Josh Coyle, Rory Bell, back playing a dominant role in midfield, and Robert Little. Cameron Magee, Josh Coyle, Rory Bell and Robert Little all scored tries in the first half with Frazer Wright adding three conversions Andrew Cardosi scored a first half try for Wallace HS which was converted by Ryan Moore.
The start of the second half saw the Wallace HS scrum half, Jonny Stewart, take advantage of a gap in the Inst defence. He was tackled just short of the try line but off-loaded to the supporting Andrew Cardosi who ran in to score his second try of the game. Ryan Moore added the conversion to reduce the deficit to 26-14. Both teams had opportunities to score more points in the course of the second half but both defences held out. That was until the closing stages of the game when the Royal Belfast Academical Institution team scored a converted try through Robert Little, which Frtazer Wright converted, to seal their 33-14 victory.
Ballymena Academy played near their neighbours, and close rivals, from Dalriada at the Old Galgorm Road venue.
In a close encounter, the Ballymena Academy team won the game by 16-8.
Portadown College maintained their recent winning sequence of results when they defeated Friends’ School by 38-0.
