There was a number of Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Finals played in the course of the week as well as two Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield semi-finals played on Saturday 10th March.
The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Trophy was played at Belmont, the home of CIYMS/Grosvenor RFC, on Tuesday 6th March.
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The participating teams were Wellington College and Grosvenor Grammar School. Both teams brought with them a large and enthusiastic group of supporters and the scene was set for an exciting game. Included among the supporters were Jill McCullough and Lesley McCaughey both of whom work in the same office at the Ulster Branch Head Quarters at Ravenhill. Jill was supporting her nephew who was on the Grosvenor Grammar School team while Lesley was supporting her son who was on the Wellington College team.
The Grosvenor Grammar School team started strongly and took the lead after only seven minutes when their No 8, Daniel Mayhew, took advantage of good work from his fellow forwards to break through the Wellington defence and touch down for a try. The try was not converted but the Grosvenor team had a 5-0 lead. Both teams moved the ball around to good effect and it was the Wellington team that was winning the battle for territory. Following good work from the Wellington back division to put the team into a strong position, the Wellington captain and No 8, Andrew McVeigh, powered his way over the Grosvenor line to touch down for a try. The conversion was missed but the scoreline now read 5-5 after twenty minutes of play. Despite the best intentions of both teams there were no further scores in the course of the first half leaving the half time score at 5-5. The Grosvenor team started the second half strongly at regained the lead when Gareth Thompson converted a penalty opportunity to put his team into an 8-5 lead. After this the Wellington pack started to gain control and supply some quality possession for their talented back division to use. Wellington centre, David Montgomery, ran in from thirty metres to touch down for a try to give his team a 10-8 lead. Chris Marshall converted the try to increase that lead to 12-8. Wellington College sealed the game with a Matthew Walker try in the closing minutes of the game. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the Wellington College team celebrated winning the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Trophy with their 17-8 victory against a gallant Grosvenor Grammar School team. After the game, it was a very proud Wellington College captain, Andrew McVeigh, who received the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Trophy from former Ulster Branch President and ex King’s Scholars player, Mr Ian H Graham. Both teams were very grateful to the staff and Office Bearers at the CIYMS/Grosvenor RFC complex for the use of facilities and pitches and hosting this game.
On the same afternoon Ballymena Academy hosted the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Bowl final with Rainey Endowed School and Carrickfergus Grammar School competing for the Medallion Bowl.
The Rainey Endowed team took the lead midway through the first half when a clever lineout move provided the possession for Calvin Smith to crash over the Carrickfergus Grammar School line and touch down for the first try of the game. Mark Rooney added the extras to see his team into a 7-0 lead. The Rainey team continued to control both territory and possession for the next few minutes but the Carrickfergus Grammar School defence held firm. This gave the Carrick team great confidence and they began to compete strongly with the Rainey Endowed pack. Turnover ball was used wisely and now it was the turn of the Rainey team to defend. With seven minutes of the first half remaining the Carrickfergus Grammar School team launched an attack which ended when their centre, Michael McIlfatrick, accelerated past a number of despairing Rainey defenders to touch down under the Rainey posts for a try. David Carse converted the try to draw the scores level at 7-7. In the second half the Carrickfergus Grammar School team dominated possession with their backrow trio of Jonny McMaw and the Berry twins, Rhys and Chris, getting through a lot of work at the breakdown. With just a few minutes remaining the Carrickfergus Grammar School team sealed a deserved win when Jonny McMaw scored a try following good work from David Carse and Rhys Berry. David Carse added the conversion to ensure a 14-7 victory for the Carrickfergus Grammar School team in the final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Bowl competition. Following the final whistle the victorious Carrickfergus team was presented with the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Bowl by Mr John Andrews, PE Teacher at Ballymena Academy and one of the incoming Ulster Schools’ U18’s coaches. Both Rainey Endowed and Carrickfergus Grammar School would like to thank the Principal of Ballymena Academy, Mr Ronnie Hassard, and his staff, for the use of facilities and pitches and the hosting of this game.
The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl final, featuring Belfast Royal Academy and Sullivan Upper School was held at Pirrie Park on Thursday 8th March. Both teams brought groups of enthusiastic supporters with them and the scene was set for a good game.
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The Sullivan Upper team controlled the game from early on and scored three first half tries. Michael Cartmill, Tom McCartney and Rory Barton touched down for one try each with Chris Hayes adding two conversions to give the Holywood team a 19-0 halftime lead. The Belfast Royal Academy team mounted something of a revival in the early stages of the second half. They took advantage of some confusion as well as indiscipline in the Sullivan ranks to run in tries through Angelo Marisa and Stuart Martin. Jordan Carlisle added one conversion to reduce the arrears to 19-12. The academy team threw everything in to drawing level but as spilled Belfast Royal Academy pass was gathered by the impressive Oliver Matthews who outpaced the chasing defenders to run in for an unconverted try and ensure a 24-12 Sullivan Upper victory. The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl was presented to Owen Glenn, the Sullivan Upper captain, by Mr Laurence Caldwell, the President of the Ulster Branch of the IRFU. Both teams would like to thank Mr David Wells and the Methodist College staff at Pirrie Park, for the provision of facilities and pitches and hosting the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Bowl final.
Two Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Shield semi-finals were played on Saturday 10th March.
Royal School, Armagh hosted their near neighbours and close rivals, Royal School, Dungannon at the College Hill venue.
The home team had to contend with a very spirited performance from their Dungannon counterparts who had big performances, in the course of the game, from players such as Andrew Clingan, Stephen Rogers, Mark Wright, Willie Graham, Jack Milligan and Peter Cashel. The RS Armagh team took an early 6-0 lead through two Alistair Wright penalties. The RS Dungannon team came back strongly and came close to scoring on a number of occasions only to spill the ball close to the RS Armagh line or be subjected to tremendous home defence with players such as Thomas Johnston and Matthew Clarke impressing with their determination to keep their line intact. Just before the interval, a Stuart Hooks break paved the way for a Toby McAlpine try. Alistair Wright was successful with his conversion attempt to give the RS Armagh team a 13-0 halftime lead. The second half was controlled by the home team and a Royal School, Dungannon infringement at the breakdown provided Alistair Wright with another penalty opportunity. He was successful, once again, and put his team into a 16-0 lead. Daniel Reaney then ran a great trail line to receive an inside pass from Sturat Hooks and crash over for a try. The conversion was missed but the RS Armagh team had a 21-0 lead. Darren Morton, the hard working RS Armagh No 8, thought he had increased this lead when he touched down for a try only to be brought back by the eagle eyed RS Armagh touch judge, Mr Lawson, for a foot in touch! However, it was really only a matter of time before the home team secured their win! John Dunne scored the try which Alistair Wright converted to ensure the RS Armagh win by 28-0 and a place in the final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield.
The second of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield Semi-Finals took place at Limavady Grammar School when the home team entertained Grosvenor Grammar School.
The Limavady Grammar School team had to work hard in the course of the game with the Grosvenor Grammar School team asking questions of the home pack especially at scrum time. However, the Limavady Grammar School backline did get sufficient possession early in the game and Robert Lamberton took advantage of good work from his fellow backs to run in for the first try of the game. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the Limavady Grammar School had opened up a 5-0 lead. The Grosvenor Grammar School team responded well from the restart aided by some silly handling errors and ill-discipline around the fringes of the breakdown by the Limavady team. This provided Grosvenor with a penalty opportunity and Stuart Baillie made no mistake when he converted his penalty kick to reduce the arrears to 5-3. From the restart the home side seemed to be on track for another score with the Limavady forwards proving very successful in the lineout. However, a turnover resulted in Grosvenor clearing their lines and the home side being pinned back in their 22m area for the remainder of the half. Despite the best endeavours of Matthew Cahoon, Sam Purdon, Nick Jones and Stuart Smyth in the Grosvenor pack the Limavady defence held firm. Great counter rucking on a number of occasions as well as well-organised in goal defence ensured the Limavady Grammar School line remained intact to ensure they maintained their 5-3 lead at the interval. The second half proved to be a more interesting encounter. Once again, Limavady got off to a good start with Jamie Millar linking well between the forwards and backs and dictating the pace of the game. Unfortunately, this pressure could not be converted into points due to unforced errors and the Grosvenor side proving to be a nuisance at the breakdown. Frustration came to fore resulting in a Limavady forward being sin-binned. A period of inconsistency with both sides guilty of basic errors followed. That was until Limavady Grammar School replacement player; Jack Elliot intercepted a stray pass and made considerable ground into the Grosvenor Grammar School 22m area. The consequent field position resulted in mounted pressure on the Grosvenor line. Unfortunately for the home team, Grosvenor regained possession. However, a handling error proved costly for the visiting side as Stuart Hull offloaded the ball to put Jack Elliot under the Grosvenor posts for a try. Michael Barr converted to take the score to 12-3 in favour of the Limavady Grammar School team. From the restart, Limavady pinned the visiting side into their 22m area. Persistent pressure led to an attempt from the Grosvenor half backs to clear their line. The ball remained in play and Robert Lamberton ran past a despairing Grosvenor defence for his second try of the game. Once again Michael Barr made no mistake in adding the extras to increase the Limavady Grammar School lead to 19-3. The Grosvenor Grammar School team responded positively and took advantage of yet another Limavady player receiving a yellow card. Nick Jones touched down for an unconverted try but it was a case of too little, too late for the Grosvenor Grammar School as the Limavady Grammar School team celebrated their hard earned 19-8 victory and with it, a place in the final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield against Royal School, Armagh. This game will be played at Ravenhill on Wednesday 21st March at 2-30pm.
The final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Medallion Plate competition will take place at Rainey Rugby Club on Friday 16th March at 3-15pm. Dalriada will play Ballymena Academy in the Medallion Plate final.
