Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 14th November 2015
There were quite a few Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 2nd XV Cup matches played on Wednesday 11th November.
Omagh Academy 5 Down High School 14 (Played Wednesday 4th November)
Ballyclare High School 50 Foyle and Londonderry College 0
Royal School, Armagh 6 Friends’ School, Lisburn 30
Ballymena Academy 5 Methodist College, Belfast 5
Coleraine Grammar School 34 Rainey Endowed School 5
Lurgan College 30 Portadown College 0
Belfast Royal Academy 7 Grosvenor Grammar School 10
Limavady Grammar School 0 Dalriada School 31
Royal School, Dungannon 57 Antrim Grammar School 5
Wellington College, Belfast 44 Cambridge House Grammar School 32
Strabane Grammar School 20 Banbridge Academy 19
Dromore High School 3 v Royal Belfast Academical Institution 22
Despite the difficult weather conditions prevalent on Saturday 14th November quite a few school matches were played.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution hosted a team from Blackrock College in Dublin in a game the Blackrock team won by 12-6. The Blackrock College team started the game on the front foot and controlled affairs for the opening twenty minutes. A resolute Belfast Inst defence kept their line intact in the opening exchanges but there was little they could do to prevent Conor Dean, son of former Ireland International, Paul, and Gavin Mullan, son of former Ireland International, Brendan, combining to send Gavin in for a try. Conor added the conversion to give the Blackrock visitors a 7-0 lead. This became 12-0, midway through the first half, when a well organised driven maul was finished off by Hugo Burke, when he touched down for an unconverted try. The Belfast Inst pack rallied and a supply of good possession was well used by Niall Armstrong and Michael Lowry, the Belfast Inst half back pairing. Their astute use of the ball pressurised the Blackrock College defence into giving away penalties in critical areas. James Hume was successful with two penalty kicks to reduce the deficit to 12-6 at the break.
Both teams displayed a willingness to play with the ball in hand despite the difficult conditions. The Blackrock College team enjoyed long periods of possession and territorial advantage in the course of the second half. However, they found the Belfast Inst defence was not prepared to give anything away. Chris Cloke, John Dickson, Joe Finnegan, Ben McGavock, the returning Conor Field, Michael Lowry and James Hume were among the Belfast Inst players who got through a lot of work to ensure the Blackrock College team could not add to their points total. This ensured there were no points scored in the second half which left the scoreboard reading Royal Belfast Academical Institution 6 Blackrock College 12 at the end of the game.
Methodist College, Belfast hosted top English School, Ivybridge College, at Pirrie Park in a game the Methodist College team won by 26-12. The Methody team had opened up a 10-5 lead by the break with a try from Zach Jordan, which was converted by Paul Kerr, and a penalty from Paul Kerr. The Iybridge College points came from an unconverted try.
The second half saw the Methodist College team take control of the game with another try, this time from Conor Fletcher, which was converted by Paul Kerr, and three Paul Kerr penalties. The visitors did score a second try, which was converted, but it was the Methodist College, Belfast team that celebrated their 26-12 win at the end of the game.
Carrickfergus Grammar School hosted a Friends’ School team that included players from both their 1st and 2ndxv squads. The committed Carrickfergus GS team made the Friends’ School team work hard for their 17-10 victory. Ten minutes into the game a loose ball, which had not been dealt with by the home team, was seized upon by Ross Gillespie, who touched down for an unconverted try to give the Friends’ School a 5-0 lead. Despite the difficult underfoot and overhead conditions both team were determined to play the game in a positive manner. However, final passes went astray on a number of occasions and there were no further scores in the first half.
Five minutes into the second half Fionn McCormack was successful with a penalty opportunity for the Carrickfergus team to reduce the deficit to 5-3. Midway through the second half a Friends’ School counter attack put George Pringle away for a try. Ross Gillespie added the extras to extend the Friends’ School lead to 12-3. Five minutes later a great break from Fionn McCormack, from a Carrickfergus GS scrum, finished when Fionn touched down for a try. Fionn converted the try to leave his team just two points adrift having reduced the Friends’ School lead to 12-10. With the last play of the game the Friends’ School, Lisburn team secured their 17-10m win when they secured turn over ball and David Newell touched down for an unconverted try.
In a game played in damp and greasy underfoot conditions Down High School hosted Belfast Royal Academy. The Down High School team seemed to adapt more readily to the conditions and won the game by 23-0. Ten minutes into the game the Down team took a 3-0 lead when Jonny McCoubrey was successful with a penalty opportunity. Five minutes later Ronan Patterson took advantage of multiple phases of play to finish off with an unconverted try and put his Down HS team into an 8-0 lead. With the final play of the first half the Down HS prop, Harry McCormick, took advantage of defensive confusion in the Belfast Royal Academy ranks to storm in for an unconverted try and give the Down High School team a 13-0 lead at the break.
Midway through the second half Jonny McCoubrey made a telling midfield break through the Belfast Royal Academy defence. He found Harry Hitchens running a great line of support and a clever off-load sent Harry in for a try under the BRA posts. Jonny McCoubrey added the conversion to increase the Down High School lead to 20-0. A short time later the 23-0 Down High School victory was secured when Jonny McCoubrey was successful with a penalty kick following a Belfast Royal Academy infringement at the breakdown.
Royal School, Dungannon played Lurgan College in a re-enactment of last season’s Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy Final. The Lurgan College team started well and pressurised the RS Dungannon team into giving away four early penalties. Two of these were converted successfully by Robbie Norton to give the Lurgan College team a 6-0 lead. The RS Dungannon team recovered sufficiently well from the early setbacks to take the game to Lurgan College. A successful penalty from Adam Evans, towards the end of the first half, ensured the teams tuned around at the break with the Lurgan College team 6-3 ahead.
The RS Dungannon pack started to gain the upper hand early in the second half. They provided the platform for Adam Perry to touch down for a try, which Adam Evans converted from the touchline, to take a 10-6 lead. The Lurgan College team now had to defend and they did so successfully with players such as Lewis Lawson, Reuben McCreery, Scott Wilson, Robbie Norton and Harry Simpson to the fore. Unfortunately for the Lurgan College team there was little they could do to prevent Peter Doran and Philip Wilson combining to put Joseph Cashel in for a try. Adam Evans, once again, was successful with the conversion to secure a hard earned 17-6 win for the Royal School, Dungannon team.
Cambridge House secured a 13-0 win against Wellington College in a game which was impacted upon by the weather conditions. An Aaron Stirling try, plus two James Bovill, penalties, were the sources of the Cambridge House points.
Further down the Galgorm Road the Ballymena Academy team was adding to its reputation with a 35-10 victory against Sullivan Upper. The wet conditions seemed to contribute to an enjoyable but error-ridden game. The away team started strongly and, with Ballymena Academy conceding several penalties in the first few minutes, Sullivan worked their way over from a five metre lineout to score an unconverted try in the corner and take a 5-0 lead. Ballymena replied immediately and, following good runs from Jonathan McKeown and Jordan Foster, Alexander Clarke muscled over from close range. Michael Stronge added the conversion to give the Ballymena Academy team a 7-5 lead. Midway through the half Alexander Clarke got his name on the scoresheet again when he beat several defenders to run in for a well-taken try below the posts. Michael Stronge made no mistake with the conversion to increase the Ballymena lead to 14-5. Just before the interval Chris McLeister won ball at the tail of the lineout. Angus Kernohan ran aggressively and took out a number of defenders before touching down for a try. Michael Stronge again added the extras to give the Ballymena Academy team a 21-5 half-time lead.
The second half was a stop-start affair with both teams making mistakes in the increasingly difficult conditions. Neither team was able to dominate possession or territory for an extended period of time. Nevertheless, Ballymena added their fourth try of the morning when Josh Bill showed his pace for a well-taken try in the corner. Michael Stronge maintained his 100% record for the morning, indeed for the season, with a confident touchline conversion to increase the Ballymena Academy lead to 28-5. To their credit Sullivan continued to push hard for a score and, five minutes from the end, some slick handling resulted in Chris Jordan going over in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful but the score now read 28-10. Ballymena Academy had the final say in the game when their captain, Marcus Rea, shook off several defenders before running in for a well-taken score. Michael Stronge made no mistake and the whistle sounded with a final score of 35-10 to Ballymena Academy.
Ballyclare High School hosted Bangor Grammar School in a game the Ballyclare High School team won by 32-6. The Bangor GS team took an early 3-0 lead but after this it was the Ballyclare HS team that controlled most of the rest of the game. Ryan McIlwaine levelled the score at 3-3 when he converted a Ballyclare HS penalty. The home team then took a 10-3 lead when Ali Burke ran in for a try which Ryan McIlwaine converted. That lead increased to 15-3 when Owen Kirk touched down for an unconverted try. Just before the interval a second Bangor Grammar School penalty pegged the score back to 15-6 in favour of the home.
Andrew Burke scored a try, early in the second half, for the Ballyclare High School team. Ryan McIlwaine was successful with the conversion which increased the Ballyclare HS lead to 22-6. Then Ali Burke and Owen Kirk both scored their second tries of the game. Neither conversion was successful but the Ballyclare High School team had secured their 32-6 victory.
Campbell College fielded a 2ndxv against Grosvenor Grammar School in a game the Grosvenor GS eventually won by 11-0. In a physical encounter it took some time for the Grosvenor GS team to settle into the game. Both teams had their defences on top and a lot of time was spent in the middle third of the pitch. That was until just before the break when James Cartilage drove over the Campbell College line to touch down for an unconverted try and give his team a 5-0 lead at the interval.
The second half was played in a similar fashion to the first. The only aspects of the game that separated the teams were two Adam Skelton penalties which ensured the 11-0 win for the Grosvenor Grammar School team.
Banbridge Academy hosted Belfast High School in a game the Belfast High School team won by 7-0. The Belfast High School team took a 7-0 lead from the kick off when they gathered the ball, which had been fumbled by a Banbridge Academy player, and touched down for a converted try with just forty five seconds on the clock! The rest of the half was evenly contested but neither team was able to break down the opposition defence.
The Banbridge Academy team, with Tommy Russell, Ben Thompson and Jonny McIntosh to the fore, controlled affairs for long periods of time in the second half. However, they were unable to find any way through a resolute Belfast High School defence thereby ensuring a hard earned 7-0 victory for the Belfast High School team.
Omagh Academy maintained their unbeaten run of victories against schools from Ulster when they recorded a 10-0 win against Limavady Grammar School. The wet and cold conditions prevalent at the Campsie playing fields ensured there was never any real flow to the game. Early in the game good management skills from the Omagh scrum half, Danny Ritchie, ensured his team was within striking range of the Limavady GS line. The Omagh Academy pack worked hard to secure quality possession and, after a series of carries, team captain, Matthew Clyde, stormed his way over the Limavady line to touch down for a try. Kyle Beattie added the conversion to give the home team a 7-0 lead. This lead was built upon when Kyle Beattie was successful with a penalty kick to give the Omagh Academy team a 10-0 lead at halftime.
As the weather conditions worsened the game became more and more scrappy in the course of the second half. There were no further scores which ensured a 10-0 victory for the Omagh Academy team at the end of the game.
Portadown College defeated Antrim Grammar School by 47-14.Unfortunately neither team was able to provide a report on this high scoring game.
Wallace High School defeated Royal School, Armagh by 24-0 in a game played in Lisburn. Unfortunately, and despite requests, there was no information regarding this game forthcoming from either school.
The draws for the Preliminary and 1st Rounds of the 2015/16 Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup will take place on Monday 16th November in the H3 Lounge at the Kingspan Stadium.
Strabane Academy and Carrickfergus Grammar School will contest the Preliminary Round with that game taking place on a suitable date in December. The winners will progress to the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ 1st Round which is scheduled to take place on Saturday 9th January 2016.
This round will be contested by the winner of the Preliminary Round plus:-
Antrim Grammar School, Banbridge Academy, Belfast High School, Cambridge Hoiuse School, Foyle and Londonderry College, Friends’ School, Lisburn, Larne Grammar School, Limavady Grammar School, Lurgan College, Portadown College, Royal School, Armagh, Royal School, Dungannon and Wellington College.
The seven losers of the Round 1 games will be joined by the loser in the Preliminary Round to contest the quarter-final games in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy. These games are scheduled for Saturday 23rd January 2016.
The seven winners of Round 1 will be joined by Ballyclare High School, Bangor Grammar School, Belfast Royal Academy, Dalriada School, Grosvenor Grammar School, Omagh Academy, Portora Royal School, Rainey Endowed School and Regent House in the draw for the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Round 2 games which are scheduled to take place on 23rd January 2016.
