There was one midweek fixture played when Uprichard Park, home of Bangor Rugby Club, hosted a game featuring Sullivan Upper and Wallace High School on Wednesday evening.
The opportunity to play under lights was enjoyed by all the players and both teams are grateful to the Bangor Club for use of their excellent facilities. Both teams were missing frontline players but still served up an entertaining game which was enjoyed by the supporters who came along top support the teams. Wallace High School scored three tries with Jordan Grattan touching down once and Zack McCall scoring twice. James McCallan added a penalty to see the Wallace High School team emerge as 18-0 winners.
The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup got underway on Saturday 10th December when Antrim Grammar School hosted Wellington College at the Steeple Road venue.
Because of weather conditions the game might not have been played but the Antrim Grammar School staff worked hard to ensure the game went ahead. Both teams set their intentions out clearly from the beginning of the game with a determined approach to attack at every opportunity. Antrim opened their account with an Aiden Howe penalty to give his team a 3-0 lead early in the game. However, it was the Wellington team that saw their attacking approach pay off with two first half tries, one of which was converted. Highlights Of Play
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Coach Brian Baguley Comments:
[youtube Y5aZuZMq1po]The Wellington College left winger, Kier Patterson, made a 50 metre break but was held up just short of the Antrim Grammar School try line. From the ensuing scrum, David Marshall secured possession and drove over for an unconverted try to give his team a 5-3 lead. Wellington attacked through the middle of the Antrim Grammar School defence with David Montgomery taking advantage of twelve phases of Wellington play to crash over for the second try of the game. David Marshall added the conversion to see the half time score read 12-3 in favour of the Wellington College team. The second half saw the Wellington team start strongly with their pack dominating proceedings in the exchanges close to the Antrim line. Dogged Antrim defence ensured their line remained intact with Ian Moxon, Tony Boyd and Tommy Brownlee all getting through a lot of defensive work. On rare incursions into the Wellington half, Ian Moxon, carried a lot of ball and was well assisted by his fellow forwards, Sam McComb and Adam Watt. As a result of one of his big carries the home side was awarded a penalty opportunity which was converted by Aiden Howe to reduce the arrears to 12-6. It was at this stage of the game, had the Antrim Grammar School team been a little more clinical when in possession; there might have been a different outcome. Full back, Jack Dempster, hit a great line to open up the Wellington College defence but was unableVids below & CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES
Game Highlights:
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Coach Peter Chambers Comments:
[youtube 2OzCt89k-UA] to get his pass away to support runners close to the Wellington College line. A five metre scrum had the Wellington College pack in difficulties but poor control at the base of the scrum allowed the Wellington College captain, David Marshall, to win crucial turnover ball. This provided the Wellington half backs with the opportunity to clear the danger and alleviate the pressure. The Wellington College team got great encouragement from this and took play deep into Antrim Grammar School territory. Once again the Antrim defence had to dig deep to withhold the onslaught. However, close to the end of the game a penalty awarded against the home team for an off-side offence was successfully converted by David Marshall to ensure a deserved 15-6 victory for his team. The hard work put in by all the Wellington College players in the past few weeks paid off with the team executing the game plan, produced for them by the Wellington coaching staff, perfectly. The Wellington College team will now travel to play Friends’ School, Lisburn in the 2nd Round of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup on January 14th. Antrim Grammar will have their name in the hat for the draw for the Quarter-Final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Trophy and should see themselves as potentially one of the favourites for this competition. This draw will take place on 14th January.
Grosvenor Grammar School had a difficult game to contest when they hosted the very competent Royal School, Armagh team on Saturday.
The game was delayed for a short time while staff worked hard to ensure the pitch was playable. The game kicked off with the Grosvenor Grammar School team determined they were not going to be overawed by the reputation of the Royal School, Armagh team. The home team, with Nick Jones and Stuart Smyth to the fore, worked hard at the set pieces to ensure the visitors were under prewssure at scrum time. Their hard working backrow, led by Matthew Cahoon, defended well and got through a lot of work at the breakdown. However, it was the RS Armagh team that made the most of the scoring chances that came their way. Darryl Morton and Daniel Reaney scored first half tries for the visitors with Alistair Wright converting both. Alistair kicked a penalty opportunity as well to account for the 17 points scored by the RS Armagh team in the first half. In response, Nick Jones scored a try for the Grosvenor team with Peter Davison adding a first half penalty to see the halftime score read 17-8 in favour of the visitors. Matthew Clarke scored a second half try for the RS Armagh team which was converted by Alistair Wright to see the RS Armagh team maintain their unbeaten run against local schools with their 24-8 win. Thomas Johnston, Stuart Hooks and Matthew Clarke all worked hard with the ball in hands for the RS Armagh team while Duncan Steed impressed at full back. Matthew Cahoon, Nick Jones and Stuart Smyth set very high standards for their Grosvenor team mates with their industry and endeavour throughout the game.
Down High School hosted Sullivan Upper and pulled off another impressive win.
The Down team was leading 10-5 at halftime with a try from Jamie Thompson which was converted by Justin Rea. Justin also weighed in with a first half penalty. In response the Sullivan Upper had Oliver Matthews to thank for their first half try. The Down team scored a second half try through Luca Rea as well as three penalties from Justin Rea. The Sullivan team scored a try through Owen Glenn but it was a case of “too little, too late” as the Down High School team secured a well-deserved 21-10 win.
Campbell College hosted a very talented Ballymena Academy team at Fox’s Field and got back to winning ways following the disappointment of their recent defeat at the hands of Methodist College. The Campbell College team won this entertaining encounter by 24-21 despite being down at the interval by 14-10. Ben Sloan scored two tries for his Campbell College team with Harry Howard and Jack Owens weighing in with one try each. Rob Haldane converted two of the tries to account for the Campbell College points. The Ballymena Academy team scored tries through Nicholas Sterling, Matthew Rea and George Hargy. Darren Geddis was successful with all three conversion attempts.
Wallace High School and Bangor Grammar School played out a very dull, dour and mistake ridded 3-3 encounter at the Ballymacormick Road Road venue.
James McCallen kicked a penalty goal for the Wallace High School team while Max Montgomery did likewise for the Bangor Grammar School team.
The Methodist College team had a scheduled fixture with Christian Brother’s College, Cork on Saturday 10th but the Cork team decided very late on they were not in a position to travel.
At the last minute a squad run out against the Dromore High School U17’s was organised with the Methodist College coaches using the game as an opportunity to look at a number of their fringe players.
Some of the Methodist College senior players such as Rory Winters and Mark Gribben were unavailable to play in this game. The Dromore team, which will play in the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ 2nd XV competition, started the game well and had the better of the exchanges in the course of the opening quarter of the game. Their attacking style of rugby and sheer determination to impress seemed to take the Methodist College team by surprise. It was not until the seventeenth minute that the home team created an opportunity to create something positive. James Gallagher broke through the Dromore High School defence with a strong run. He off-loaded to David McElhinney who combined with Ritchie McKee to send James Harrison in for a try in the corner. The conversion was missed but the Methody team now had a 5-0 lead. A few minutes later David McElhinney created space for Dan Bingham to attack. Dan then off-loaded to the supporting Rudolph Benade who outpaced the Dromore defence to run in for an unconverted try and put his team into a 10-0 lead. Just before the interval, the home team hit the visitors with a double whammy of tries. Connor McKee touched down for the first one which Rudolph Benade converted to put the Methody team into a 17-0 lead. From the restart, the Methody team regained possession and presented an opportunity for James Gallagher to finish off a flowing move and score in the corner. The conversion was missed but the Methody team had a 22-0 halftime lead. Both teams made substitutions at the start of the second half and the Dromore High School team displayed great confidence and ability in the course of the second period of play. However, Chris Gracey and Rudolph Benade touched down for two second half tries for the Methody team. One try was converted and the game finished with the Methodist College team winning by 34-0. Both squads got a lot from the run out with Jacques Benade taking great pride and pleasure from the performance of his young Dromore High School squad who were not fazed in any way by the reputation of their illustrious hosts.
Games involving Dalriada School, Limavady Grammar School, Portadown College, Omagh Academy, Banbridge Academy and Belfast Royal Academy were victims of the adverse weather conditions experienced in various parts of the Province.
The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Shield Round 1 games have all taken place in recent weeks. The results were as follows:-
Antrim Grammar School 5 Craigavon Senior High School 15 Bangor Grammar School 50 High School, Ballynahinch 30 Lurgan College 31 Strabane Academy 10 Wellington College 25 Downshire School 15 Byes : Friends’ School Omagh Academy
