Methodist College will play Campbell College in the second of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup Semi-Finals at Ravenhill on Wednesday 7th March.
This game brings together two of the most successful teams in Ulster Schools’ Cup history. They have met each other on countless occasions in the Schools’ Cup with last season’s Quarter-Final games, including two replays, showing just how close games between these two teams can be. The Methodist College team met a very committed Banbridge Academy team in their Quarter-Final game and came away as convincing winners. It was the Methody pack, once again, that laid the foundation for that victory.
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James Harrison displayed the form that saw him achieve Ulster U19 honours earlier in the season while Markm Lagan has risen to hit good form and display why the injury to the talented Ross Kane has not really impacted on the Methodist College pack. Mark Campbell is a very talented second row forward but it is in the backrow where the Methody pack is very strong. Rory Winters, Chris Gracey and James Gallagher make up a very talented backrow trio which displays great awareness at the breakdown. The Methodist College backs are no slouches either. David McElhinney is a very astute scrum half who has the ability to manage the game well. He has outside backs such as Connor McKee, Elliott Mooney, Mark Gribben and Peter Colhoun who love to get the ball in their hands. Rudolph Benade has displayed good attacking skills through the season and is a first class place kicker.
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The Methodist College team has, possibly, a slight psychological advantage against their Campbell College rivals having defeated them at Pirrie Park earlier in the season. However, the Campbell College team will tell you they have a major psychological advantage over the Methody team as they are the current holders of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup. The Campbell College team had to overcome a very talented Ballymena Academy team in their Quarter-Final tie in Ballymena. It was a game that was closely fought but a game the Campbell College team always felt they could win. Jack Cooke and Seb McBrien were impressive players in the Campbell College pack against the Ballymena Academy team.
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However, the stars of the show were in the Campbell College backline in this game. They were criticised for a degree of slackness and lack of precision in their performance earlier in the Schools’ Cup against Grosvenor Grammar School. However, against Ballymena Academy they were much more clinically efficient. Any backline with talented players such as Josh Fullerton, Moss Rogers, Harry Howard, former Methody player and Ireland Schools’ centre, Mark Best, and Ben Sloane in it deserves respect. In Rob Haldane, the Campbell College team has a young player playing at outhalf who is a winner by nature. His late winning drop goal against Ballymena Academy shows that. This game has all the makings of being a Schools’ Cup classic and is scheduled to kick off at 2-30pm on Wednesday 7th.
