Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 28th October 2017
With the onset of a well-deserved half term break in schools there were seven midweek games played in the lead up to a lot fewer than usual number of games on Saturday 28th October.
On Wednesday 25th October Belfast Royal Academy and Bangor Grammar school played out an exciting 29-29 draw at Roughfort. Both teams scored four tries with three successful conversions and one penalty.
The Belfast Royal Academy tries came through two from Tom Stewart and one each from Kurtis Scott and Aaron Lyons. Harry Warke was successful with three conversions as well as one penalty.
Zach Kerr put on a “Man of the Match” performance with a hat trick of tries for the Bangor Grammar School team. Daniel Young then scored one try and Rhys Larmour added three conversions as well as a penalty.
Grosvenor Grammar School hosted a rampant Ballyclare High School team in a game the Ballyclare High School team won by 53-3. Despite taking a 3-0 lead through a Josh McConkey penalty it was the Ballyclare team that turned around having built up a 24-3 by the interval. They scored first half tries through Ross Patterson, Jack Gamble, Josh Cowan and Stu Hull to which Adam Clarke added two conversions.
In the second half the Ballyclare High School team scored tries through Ewan Wasson, who touched down twice, Josh Cowan, who ran in his second of the game, Ross Herron and .Adam Campbell. Adam Clarke was successful with two second half conversions.
Rainey Endowed School hosted Limavady Grammar School in a midweek game the Rainey ES team won by 36-17. David Dripps scored an early try for the Rainey team, which Harry Evans converted, to give the home team a 7-0 lead. Jack Bresland then ran in for an unconverted try to increase the lead to 12-0. On the stroke of half time Harry Evans converted a penalty opportunity to give his team a 15-0 lead at the break.
Karl warner scored an early second half try, which was converted by Harry Evans, to increase the Rainey Endowed School lead to 22-0. Limavady Grammar School then mounted something of a comeback and scored two tries through Robbie Hunter, one of which was converted by James Howe, to reduce the Limavady deficit to 22-12. Jack Bresland then scored his second try of the game, which Harry Evans converted, to increase the Rainey lead to 29-12. Limavady Grammar School responded with an unconverted try from James Howe to leave the scoreboard reading 29-17 in favour of the Rainey team. With the final play of the game Ciaran Doyle touched down for a try, which Harry Evans converted, to secure the 36-17 victory for the Rainey Endowed School team.
Larne Grammar School played Ballymena Academy in a closely contested game the Larne Grammar School team won by 20-17. The Larne Grammar School team scored tries through Lee McKee, Jordan McIlhinney and Tre Britton. Euan Glenn added one conversion as well as a penalty.
The Ballymena Academy points came through three tries and one conversion.
The Royal School, Armagh team made the short journey across to the City of Armagh Rugby Club where they played a floodlit match against a very strong Armagh RFC U18 team.
The Royal School, Armagh team won the encounter by 34-12 scoring five tries in the course of the match through Jack Treanor, Archie McAlpine, Ben Lavery, Michael Campbell and Benji Boyd. Ryan O’Neill and Zac Thompson added one conversion each and Benji Boyd capped a fine personal performance with one conversion as well as a penalty.
On Thursday 26th October Lurgan College hosted Omagh Academy at Pollock Park, home of Lurgan RFC. The Omagh Academy team won the game by 28-15.
The Lurgan College team had built up a 10-0 lead in the early stages of the first half with a penalty from the trusty boot of Josh Best and a try from Mark McIlhinney which Josh converted. The Omagh Academy team responded with a try from Philip Rainey, to which he added the conversion, to leave the Lurgan College team with a 10-7 lead at half time.
The Omagh Academy team took their ascendancy into the opening stages of the second half. A quickly taken 22m drop out presented the Tyrone team with the opportunity to build an attack from deep. Taine Lagan presented Bailie Irvine with the opportunity to finish off a flowing move with a try. Stuart Ballantine added the conversion to put the Omagh team into a 14-10 lead. Glenn McKinley then powered his way over the Lurgan line to touch down for a try, which was converted by Stuart Ballentine, to increase the Omagh lead to 21-10. Lurgan College then took advantage of some indifferent Omagh Academy defence and scored an unconverted try through Peter Hutchinson which reduced the deficit to 21-15. The Omagh Academy team then asserted their forward domination and Ryan Armstrong touched down for a try following a driven maul from a lineout. Stuart Ballentine added the conversion to secure the hard earned 28-15 victory for the Omagh Academy team.
The players and coaches from both teams would like to thank Lurgan RFC for the provision of facilities and hosting the game.
On Friday 27th October Campbell College, Belfast hosted St Munchin’s College, Limerick. The St Munchin’s College team took an early 5-0 lead when they scored an unconverted try before the Campbell College team recovered and went on to record a 17-5 win. After the early set back the Campbell College pack took control of affairs and laid the foundations for try from Henry Wilson, which was converted by Conor Rankin, to see the Campbell team into a 7-5 lead. The remainder of the first half was evenly contested with no further scores.
Campbell started the second half strongly and increased their lead to 10-5 when Conor Rankin converted a penalty opportunity. Later in the second half a telling break from Jamie Macartney was finished off by the pace of Conor Rankin who touched down for a try. Conor converted the try which secured the 17-5 victory for the Campbell College, Belfast team.
On Saturday 28th October Ballymena Academy hosted Belvedere College, Dublin in an exciting game the Belvedere College team won by 31-24. A large crowd had gathered to watch the game including former King’s Scholars, Ballymena, Ulster and Ireland centre, Ian McIlrath, who is currently Senior Vice-President of the Irish Rugby Football Union. A number of players from both schools selected to attend the IRFU U19 Camp in Dublin over the half term break were on show. The two Ballymena Academy players, Stewart Moore and Bruce Houston, who will be in attendance, were responsible for scoring all the Ballymena Academy points. Stewart touched down for a hat trick of tries with Bruce adding three conversions as well as a drop goal.
Cambridge House and Rainey Endowed School played out a 15-15 draw when the teams met in Ballymena. Cambridge House started the game well and took a 7-0 lead when Sam Millar scored a try to which he added the conversion. Rainey ES then stepped up a gear and, following a well-organised driven maul from a lineout, Patrick McGowan touched down for an unconverted try to reduce the deficit to 7-5. With half time approaching an excellent team move from the Rainey team was finished off by Michael McIvor-New with an unconverted try in the corner to give his team a 10-7 lead at the interval.
Early in the second half a Sam Millar penalty brought the score to 10-10. The very competitive game then swung back in favour of the Rainey ES team when Michael McIvor-New scored his second unconverted try of the game to put his team into a 15-10 lead. The Cambridge House team then went on the attack and pressurised the Rainey defence. Rainey failed to clear their line on a number of occasions which presented Curtis Henry with the opportunity to score an unconverted try for the Cambridge House team and take the scoreboard to 15-15. In the closing stages of the game neither team really threatened to score which ensured the game finished Cambridge House 15 Rainey Endowed School 15.
Bangor Grammar School defeated Regent House School by 38-0 but no information was made available at the time of writing.
Friends’ School, Lisburn defeated Down High School by 21-7 in an entertaining game played at the Magheralave Road venue. The Down High School team took a 7-0 lead when Ronan Patterson ran in for a try which was converted by Greg Hutley. Friends’ School responded with a Ben McCaughey penalty to leave the half time score reading 7-3 in favour of the Down High School team.
The second half saw the Friends’ School team control most of the territory and possession. Ben McCaughey took advantage of some excellent work from George Pringle and touched down for a try, which he converted, to put the Friends’ School team into a 10-7 lead. This increased to 15-7 when Jack Harte scored an unconverted try for the Friends’ School team. Two Ben McCaughey penalties then secured the 21-7 win for the Friends’ School, Lisburn team.
