Antrim Grammar School 1st and 2nd XVs travelled to Belfast to take part in a three – team round – robin tournament along with hosts Wellington College and Campbell College 3rd and 4th XVs on Saturday. The 1st XV came away with two wins and the 2nd XV had a victory and a defeat.
The 1st XV began with a game against Wellington. They started slowly and a series of handling errors and penalties conceded meant that they were camped inside their own half in the early stages of the game. Eventually the pressure tolled with the Wellington No.8 crashing over from close-range for a converted try to give the home side an early 7–0 lead.
This seemed to spark Antrim Grammar into life and it was Wellington’s turn to be under pressure inside their own half as the visitors put together some good phase play. This led to No.8 Sam McComb making a break and getting a good off–load away to blindside flanker Mark Strange who ran in under the posts from 30 metres for a try which he converted himself to level the scores at 7–7.
Strange then got his second try of the game after he was the quickest to react to a loose ball at the back of a lineout close to the Wellington line as he just managed to stretch and place the ball for another converted try to make the score 7-14.
Wellington ended the match as they began it by putting Antrim Grammar under pressure but the visitors’ defence held firm this time and eventually Wellington were penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground. The ball was kicked into touch and the game ended with a 7-14 victory for AGS.
Campbell
After this pleasing performance and result, the 1st XV looked to build on the Wellington game against Campbell College 3rd XV. They made a better start to this game but had to wait 15 minutes for the breakthrough as Campbell defended well in the early stages.
Eventually, inside centre Jamie Orr punched a hole in the CCB defence, brushing aside three defenders in his 30-metre break before passing to second row Matthew Dunne who dotted down for an unconverted try to give AGS a 5–0 lead.
Antrim Grammar dominated for most of the match with Campbell rarely putting any meaningful attacks together. AGS then got their second try of the match when quick hands out wide from Chris McGoldrick, Strange and Matthew McWhinney allowed full back Chris Donnelly to run in from 15 metres and touch down in the corner. Strange added the extras from near the touchline to extend AGS’ lead to 12 points.
The game was halted at one stage due to a hand injury to a Campbell player but after this there were no further incidents as Antrim Grammar maintained their lead for another good win.
Antrim Grammar School 1st XV: Chris Donnelly, Jack Lyons, Matthew McWhinney, Jamie Orr, Jason Lyle, Chris McGoldrick, Caleb McCollum, Declan Faloone, Adam Watt (C), Scott Trelford, Adam Patterson, Matthew Dunne, Mark Strange, Steven McMillan, Sam McComb, Matthew Simpson, James Henry
The 2nd XV recorded a very good 10–5 win against their Wellington counterparts with tries from second row James Henry and out half Cameron Waddell. Despite a defeat against a very strong Campbell College 4th XV, there were a lot of positives to be taken from the two games for a very young 2nd XV.
Antrim Grammar School 2nd XV: Gavin McMahon, James Henry, Jordan Maher, James Mawhinney, Matthew Simpson (C), Karsten Hall, Matthew Allen, Jacob McCollum, David Armstrong, Cain Moorman, Reuben Dunbar, Josh Morrison, Ross Steele, Joseph Howe, Cameron Waddell, Darren Glendenning
It has been a promising start to the season for the Antrim Grammar senior squad but coaches and players know that there is still a lot of work to be done for what is a long season ahead.
