On a gloriously sunny March afternoon this keenly contested game was played out at The Dub.
Queen’s had the perfect start after 3 minutes when Harrison scored in the corner following a ruck wide on the right from which fast ball was moved to the left winger. Ards came back strongly and through sheer physical intimidation and a great demonstration of upper body strength starved the students of possession and scored two fine tries after 11 and 21 minutes.
This stung QUB into a response from which Harrison bagged his second try of the afternoon, after 24 minutes, and Howard scored under the posts, just before the break, following some deft footwork and handling from prop Hanrahan. Kelleher successfully converted both to send the home side in 19-10 up at the break.
An early surge after 3 minutes of the second half saw Scobi score for Queen’s with Kelleher adding the 2 points. Ards responded with a try of their own two minutes later and despite being behind the game was still very much in the balance until Queen’s captain Wilson touched down on the 50 minute mark.
Both sides from then on started to feel the effects of the fast moving open game and neither side was able to exert any real dominance. The final play of the game was completed by Kelleher, with the students sixth try, to deliver a 36-15 final score line.
