Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 22nd October 2016
There were two midweek friendly fixtures played in the lead up to a good spread of schoolboy fixtures on Saturday 22nd October.
Ballyclare High School played their recently postponed fixture against Limavady Grammar School and emerged from the game as 48-7 winners. Ben Catherwood scored one first half try for the Ballyclare High School team with Owen Kirk touching down for two. Adam Clarke added two conversions. The Limavady Grammar School team scored one converted intercept try to leave the halftime score reading 19-7 in favour of the home team.
The second half saw the Ballyclare HS team continue to control the game and they scored five more tries. Jack Black, Ross Patterson, Adam Clarke, James Nelson and Andrew Robson each scored a try, with Adam Clarke adding two conversions, to secure the 48-7 victory at the end of the game.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution travelled to play Down High School in a game the Belfast Inst team won by 36-12. The game was played in superb conditions with both teams intent on displaying their attacking capabilities. The Down High School team opened the scoring when Aaron Haslett touched down for a try, which Marcus Graham converted, to take a 7-0 lead. Belfast Inst responded when lovely skill and awareness from their Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ scrum half, Niall Armstrong, created the opportunity for David McCann to run in for a try from 20 metres. Michael Lowry added the conversion to see the scoreboard read 7-7 at the break.
The second half saw the Belfast Inst team take control of the game for long periods of time. Ulster U19 players, James Hume and Rhys O’Donnell, each scored two tries and “Man of the Match” Yasser Omar capped a fine personal performance with one try. Michael Lowry added two conversions. Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ and Ulster U19 hooker, Claytan Milligan, scored a consolation unconverted try for the Down High School team in the second half which ensured the game finished with the Royal Belfast Academical Institution recording a 36-12 victory.
On Friday 21st October Methodist College, Belfast travelled to Cork where they played the Christian Brother’s College team in a game the Christian Brother’s team won by 36-5. The CBC team had built up a 24-0 lead by halftime before going on to win the game. The Methodist College consolation try came from Thomas Gallagher in the second half.
The Belfast Royal Academy team was missing a number of key players, including Conor McCauley and Matthew Dalton, when they hosted a very hard working Royal School, Dungannon team at Roughfort on Saturday 22nd October. The Belfast Royal Royal Academy team had built up a 12-3 lead by the interval before losing the match, with the last play of the game, by 17-12.
The Belfast Royal Academy team had taken a 7-0 lead when their industrious Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ flanker, Tom Gilpin, ran in for a try. Sam Osbourne was successful with his conversion kick. The RS Dungannon team pegged back three points when Luke McMullan, playing at scrum half, converted a penalty opportunity. Jack Burton then finished off a fine BRA attack when he ran in for an unconverted try to see his team into a 12-3 lead at the break.
The RS Dungannon team turned round after the break and went on to dominate territory and possession for large parts of the second half. They got rewarded for their endeavours with a try from Ben Nicholl, which Luke McMullan converted, to reduce the deficit to 12-10. Their hard work and dogged persistence paid off when Joseph Cashel grounded the ball over the whitewash with the last play of the game. Luke McMullan added the conversion to secure the 17-12 victory for the Royal School, Dungannon team.
Banbridge Academy hosted Coleraine Grammar School with a team missing some eleven players missing from action. The Coleraine GS team took full advantage of the situation going on to win the game by 53-0. The visitors had built up a 26-0 lead by the interval with tries from James Milsopp, Peter Wisener, Andrew McKee and Andrew White. Ally Telfer was successful with three conversion kicks.
The second half saw the Coleraine team continue to dominate most of the game. They scored tries from Hugo Mawhinney, Max Bailey, Marc McClelland, who touched down twice, and Matthew Mooney. Ally Telfer added one conversion to secure the 53-0 victory for the Coleraine Grammar School team.
Despite losing the game Robbie Little and James Moore both impressed for the Banbridge Academy team.
Rainey Endowed School hosted Limavady Grammar School in a game the Rainey ES team won by 42-0. The Rainey team scored three tries in the first half through Aaron Hamilton, Karl Warner and Adam Currie. Adam Hunter was successful with the three conversions to see his team into a 21-0 lead at the interval.
Three more tries came in the second half with Adam Currie and Adam Hunter getting the touches down. Adam Hunter converted both these tries, as well as a penalty try, to secure the 42-0 win for the Rainey Endowed School team.
Antrim Grammar and Larne Grammar School played out a 15-15 draw when the teams met at the Steeple Road venue. Antrim GS took a 7-0 lead when Callum McComb finished a flowing move off with a try which Callum Hull converted. Adam Maguire then touched down for an unconverted try for the Larne GS team to reduce the arrears to 7-5. Callum Hull then converted a penalty kick to give the Antrim Grammar School team a 10-5 lead at halftime.
The second half saw the Larne team take a 15-10 lead when Jason ward scored a try, which was converted by Sam Wood, and Jonny Farquhar kicked a penalty. The Antrim GS team responded with a try from Ben McKnight. The conversion kick was charged down which ensured the game finished as a 15-15 draw.
Omagh Academy added to their growing reputation when the defeated their Royal School, Armagh counterparts by 26-18 when the teams met at the Campsie playing fields. The RS Armagh team took a 3-0 lead when Glen Faloon was successful with a penalty kick. Omagh responded when Glen McKinley was the end of a “catch and drive” move from a lineout and finished with a try. Kyle Beattie added the extras to give the Omagh team a 7-3 lead. The RS Armagh team took advantage of some slack Omagh defence which enabled Peter Wilson to score an unconverted try in the corner and give his team an 8-7 lead. Two Omagh Academy penalties from Kyle Beattie saw the home team go into the break with a 13-8 lead under their belts.
The second half saw Jordan Brolly, making his 1stxv debut, James Longwell and the impressive Nathan Sides, cause problems for the Armagh defence with their strong ball carrying skills. Taine Lagan took advantage of this when he was on hand to finish off some great work from his forwards with an unconverted try to put his team into an 18-8 lead. He then scored a second unconverted try when he outpaced a number of RS Armagh defenders to give his team a 23-8 lead. This became 26-8 when Kyle Beattie was successful with a penalty kick. The Royal School, Armagh team took advantage of a tiring Omagh Academy team in the last minutes of the game. They scored two unconverted tries through Matthew Reaney and Peter Wilson to leave the final score reading 26-18 in favour of the Omagh Academy team.
Following their 3-0 win against Wallace High School in their last outing the Sullivan Upper team hosted Ballymena Academy in a game the Ballymena team won by 17-0. The game was played in difficult conditions with the Ballymena team missing five Ulster Age Grade representative players due to glandular fever and non-availability. They did, however, welcome back their Ulster U 19 hooker, Alexander Clarke, to their ranks for his first school outing of the season. An early try from Conor Cosgrove, following a break from a scrum, was converted by Bruce Houston to give the visitors a 7-0 lead. There might have more points on the board for the Ballymena team in the first half only for the strong and well-organised Sullivan Upper defence to deny them on a number of occasions.
Early in the second half Bruce Houston did increase the Ballymena Academy lead to 10-0 when he was successful with a penalty kick. Good work from Alexander Clarke, Stewart Moore, James McClean and the impressive Angus Kernohan, then paved the way for an Oisin Jordan try. Bruce Houston added the extras to secure the 17-0 victory for the Ballymena Academy team.
Dalriada School defeated the Ballymena RFC U18 team by 40-0. The Dalriada team had built up a 19-0 lead by halftime with tries from Thomas Hunter, Luke Pollock and Matthew Kennedy. Thomas Hunter was successful with two conversion kicks.
The second half saw Luke Pollock and Thomas Hunter score their second tries of the game with Lewis Henry running in for his first. Thomas Hunter added two conversions, with William Allen adding a third, to see the Dalriada School team take a 40-0 win back to Ballymoney.
Portadown College, Dromore High School and Lurgan College played out a triangular tournament in which the Portadown College team defeated the Dromore High School team by 10-7 and the Lurgan College team by 7-0. Dromore High School finished in fine fashion with a 3-0 win against the Lurgan College team.
Against Dromore High School the Portadown College points came from a Dylan Nelson try and a conversion and penalty from Matthew Neill. Dromore High School replied with a try from Ben nHeath which was converted aby Ben Martin.
Jordan Taylor scored the Portadown College try against Lurgan with Mathew Neill adding the conversion.
Dromore High School had Ben Martin to thank when his successful penalty kick was sufficient to inflict a 3-0 defeat on Lurgan College.
Friends’ School, Lisburn travelled to play Belfast High School in a game the Friends’ School team won by 27-0. Bradley Mulholland scored an unconverted try nto give his Friends’ School team a 5-0 lead. Ben McCaughey then converted a penalty kick to increase the lead to 8-0. Ben then added to his growing reputation with a fine try, which he converted, to see his team into a 15-0 lead at the break.
Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ player, George Pringle, increase the Friends’ School lead to 20-0 when he ran in for an unconverted try midway through the second half. The Friends’ School 27-0 victory was sealed when David Newell scored a try, which was converted by Ben McCaughey, close to the end of the game.
Foyle and Londonderry College hosted Enniskillen Royal Grammar School in a game the Enniskillen team won by 22-10. The Foyle team had taken a 10-8 lead into the interval with a penalty from Killene Thornton, a try from Jake Quinnell and a conversion from Killene Thornton. The Enniskillen RDS points in the first half came from a Jack Coulter try and a Reece Smyton penalty.
The second half saw the Enniskillen team scored two tries through Andrew Crawford and Matthew Dane. Both tries were converted by Reece Smyton to secure the 22-10 win for the Enniskillen Royal Grammar School team.
Carrickfergus Grammar School travelled to and played a Grosvenor Gramma School 2ndxv in a closely contested game the Carrickfergus Grammar School team won by 7-5. Jackson Smyth scored a try for the Carrickfergus team, with Daniel Curley adding the conversion. Nathan Chan scored an unconverted try for the Grosvenor Grammar School team.
The Wallace High School game scheduled to have been played away to Ballyclare High School was postponed and has been rescheduled for Wednesday 26th October in Ballyclare.
Wallace 2ndxv travelled to and played an extended squad game v Grosvenor Grammar School with the Grosvenor GS team emerging as 31-10 winners. Matthew Logan, Nathan Chan, Jack Mahon and Ryan Ashfield all scored tries for the Grosvenor GS team with Daniel Martin adding four conversions as well as a penalty.
Campbell College hosted Bangor Grammar School in a game the Campbell College team won by 20-10. Campbell had taken a first half lead of 10-3 into the break with unconverted tries from Tom O’Toole and Sam Robinson. The Bangor Grammar School points came from a Daniel Young penalty.
Campbell scored two more unconverted tries in the second half through Tom O’Toole and David McKinley. The Bangor Grammar School points in the second half came from an Aaron Sexton try, which was converted by Daniel Young, to see the game end as a 20-10 victory for the Campbell College team.
Wellington College travelled for a five day training camp in Brown’s Sports Resort on the Algarve in Portugal. They played a game against a local Loule U20 team which they won by 20-14 and then defeated the Huelva U20 team by 61-0. Twenty four Wellington College rugby players enjoyed the experience which was shared with the Wellington College Girl’s Hockey team.
