Quite a few schools’ games were played on Saturday 8th September but due to Inter Provincial commitments at Ulster U18 Schools and U19 levels, very few schools were able to field their strongest team. However, this gave coaches the opportunity to play some of their fringe players.
Ballymena Academy made the journey to Lisburn to take on Wallace High School with both sides taking encouragement from the victories they had already achieved in their opening games. In conditions perfect for rugby, the opening ten minutes were tightly contested with both sides working hard to establish territorial advantage.
With 15 minutes gone, Wallace enjoyed a prolonged period of pressure near the Ballymena line. After several phases of recycled possession, the Wallace pack drove over to score in the corner with hooker, Chris Knowles, getting the touch down. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the home team had a 5 – 0 lead.
Shortly afterwards, following a Ballymena line break, the away school were awarded a penalty for a Wallace infringement at the ruck but the penalty attempt was narrowly missed.
Towards the end of the first half, Wallace engineered two excellent chances to extend their lead. Slick hands in the back line created space out wide but, on both occasions, the final pass went to ground.
Just before the half time whistle, it was Ballymena who squandered an excellent try-scoring opportunity with a similar error by the outside backs.
The second half was tightly contested, with both teams aware that the next points scored would be crucial. The Wallace kicker was just off target with a penalty attempt and, shortly afterwards, Ballymena should have finished following a break by Brian Mulholland, their impressive full back.
Ballymena were handed a further lifeline when a Wallace player was yellow-carded for persistent infringement at the breakdown, but the away team didn’t capitalise on having the extra player, despite the best efforts of scrum half, Oliver Simpson. Late in the game, with Ballymena pushing for the try, the combative Wallace back row, with Cal McIlwaine impressing, generated a turnover and the ball was moved wide for the Wallace winger, Ross Collingwood to score in the corner. An excellent touchline conversion from Ryan Moore left the final score reading 12 – 0 to Wallace High. Coleraine Academical Institution 1st XV opened their account for the season with a solid away victory to Carrickfergus Grammar School.
The away side started the brighter of the two teams with wave after wave of attacks from the kick off. This approach seemed to have caught the Carrickfergus side by surprise. Strong ball carrying by CAI Number 8, Nick Logan, assisted by Daniel McAllister and Kieran Burns enabled the CAI backline to use their pace and skill to exploit any weaknesses in the opposition defence. The Coleraine side controlled most of the game for the first ten minutes with Carrickfergus GS struggling to deal with the powerful play up front and the hard running in the backs. The only thing lacking from the CAI performance were points on the board. That was until Cameron Fulton stepped up to convert a penalty opportunity, after an infringement at a ruck, to give his team a 3-0 lead.
From the kick off the Coleraine team was able to regain possession and a series of plays enabled the CAI captain, Nick Logan, to run in to score under the Carrickfergus posts and give his team an 8-0 lead. The try was converted and the visitors extended their lead to 10-0.
In the next fifteen minutes Carrick began to get a foothold in the game with their front row players asking questions of the CAI defence with their strong ball carrying abilities. After sustained pressure in the Coleraine 22m area, it took big defensive work from the visitors to ensure their line remained intact. This spurred the CAI team on and they battled their way up to the other end of the pitch, forcing a penalty after another infringement at the ruck. However, the penalty attempt was unsuccessful. The home team had the opportunity to reduce the arrears just prior to the interval but the kick was unsuccessful leaving the half time score reading 10-0 in favour of the CAI team,
The CAI team started the second half as they did the first and took play deep into opposition territory. They came close to scoring on a number of occasions but good Carrickfergus GS defence thwarted the attacks. However, on forty nine minutes the CAI team extended their lead to 17-0 when Joel Stanbridge stormed over for a try which was converted by Andrew Fulton.
Nick Logan then touched down for his second try of the game when he stormed over from the base of a 5 metre scrum. Andrew Fulton added the conversion to leave the CAI team 24-0 ahead.
Carrickfergus GS responded well and five minutes later they managed to regain possession and, after some nice interplay and hard work at the breakdown, forced a penalty which their out half, David Carse, converted to reduce the arrears to 24-3. In the final minute, Carrickfergus GS rallied one more time and Rhys McConnell touched down over the CAI line for an unconverted try and leave the final score reading 24-8 in favour of the CAI team.
Friends’ School, Lisburn travelled to Dungannon Royal School, in what promised to be a very close encounter. Friends’ were very slow to get going and Dungannon capitalised early with a try following a driven from a line out to give the home team a 5-0 lead. The Friends’ School team responded positively and they fought back with two penalties from the reliable boot of skipper, Ross Robinson. Friends’ kept challenging the line and Dean Howes, their hard working Number 8, managed to drive over the Royal School line for an unconverted try to give his team an 11-5 lead which they held until the interval. Friends’ School once again started the second half in a ponderous manner and allowed the Royal School team to score a simple try due to poor midfield defence. The conversion attempt was successful and the home side had regained the lead with the score reading 12-11 in their favour. Friends’ showed great courage and determination and managed to hit back with two more penalties from Ross Robinson to give them a 17-12 lead. They continued with their momentum and, with quick ball from a ruck, Dean Howes managed to run over for his second try of the game. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the Friends’ team now had a 22-12 lead. Unfortunately Friends’ became complacent and this cost them dearly. Sloppy defensive work resulted in far too many gaps appearing and the home team took advantage to run in two tries, one of which was converted to see them rescue the result with a 24-22 victory. Both teams will take many positives out of this exciting game and will look forward to the season with confidence.
On Saturday 1st September Limavady Grammar School hosted a Round Robin Tournament in which they defeated Cambridge House by 35-0 and drew 0-0 with Omagh Academy. This was the first rugby the Limavady boys had played since their successful tour to South Africa.
On Saturday 8th September they hosted Belfast High School with both team losing players to the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ training session. Limavady GS dominated from the kick-off and sustained pressure saw them go close on a number of occasions. However, the well organised Belfast High School defence kept them at bay in the opening exchanges. After ten minutes Limavady GS took the lead when, after good work by both backs and forwards, scrum-half, Jamie Millar finished off a move in which eleven players handled the ball and the home had gone seventy metres up the pitch. Luke Faulkner converted to give the Limavady GS team a 7-0 lead. Limavady were playing a fast open game but after fifteen minutes play, the Belfast High centre intercepted a pass and touched down under the posts. The try was converted and the scoreline now read 7-7. The home team responded well and tries from full-back Joel Stirling and centre Jack Elliott with one conversion left the half time score reading 19-7 in favour of the Limavady GS team.
Limavady GS continued to dominate in all aspects of the game in the second half and were justifiably rewarded with unconverted tries from centre, Andy Millar, and loose head prop, Ashley Gallagher. Belfast High scored late in the game through their left winger in the corner leaving the final score reading 29-12 in favour of the Limavady GS team.
Following on from their comfortable 25 – 0 defeat of Portadown U19’s last weekend, the Portadown College team travelled to Banbridge Academy for another controlled game against their local rivals. This format has been in place now for a number of seasons and has allowed the staff of both schools to experiment with formations and give valuable game time to many of the younger squad members. Portadown College started the stronger of the two teams quickly establishing possession allowing them to impose their early season game structure on the opposition. Banbridge struggled to get any valuable possession throughout this period of play and the pressure paid off with a fine try finished by 5th former, Jordan Dowds, playing at fullback. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the Portadown team continued to dominate large periods of play. They were rewarded with a superb try created by centre and captain, Ryan Calvert, who off loaded to another 5th former, Niall Davison playing at outhalf, to score under the posts. This try was converted by Niall Davidson to give the Portadown College team a 12 – 0 lead. In the second third of the game Banbridge began to put pressure on the Portadown defence, particularly through the hard work of their props, Tom Carlisle and Calum Boardman. The final third (25 min) was played as a normal game with both sides enjoying their share of possession. It was the College half back partnership of Ben Matchett and Niall Davison who dominated, keeping Banbridge pinned back in their 22m area. Portadown , following a great turn over ball, spread the ball quickly for 2nd row Ross Purvis to pop up in the centre and barge through to score untouched under the posts. The try was converted by Niall Davison to give the visitors a 19 – 0 win. All in all both sides found the exercise valuable with both sides used twenty five players in the course of the morning’s activities. For Banbridge Academy, young full back, Daniel McElderry, really impressed as did Jordan Dowds for the Portadown team.
Belfast Royal Academy recorded a hard earned but well-deserved 24-19 victory against Ballyclare High School. In a close encounter played at Roughfort it was the visitors that took the lead when they ran in for an unconverted try to give them a 5-0 lead. The Ballyclare HS team continued to dominate both territory and possession but found the home team to be resolute in their defensive duties. On the half hour mark, the home team got rare possession in the Ballyclare HS half and Jordan Carlisle took advantage of hesitancy in the Ballyclare defence in dealing with a clearance kick. Jordan ran in for an unconverted try to leave the half time score reading 5-5. Belfast Royal Academy dominated much of the second half and scored tries through Jordan Hylton, Ross Bryans and a second for Jordan Carlisle. Two of the tries were converted to see the home team into a 24-5 lead. The game was held up for a period of time as staff dealt with an injury and in the final ten minutes of the game the Ballyclare team scored two tries, both of which were converted. This left the final score reading 24-19 in favour of the Belfast Royal Academy team.
Royal School, Armagh entertained Bangor Grammar School at the College Hill venue. The loss of the appointed referee at the last minute meant that a member of staff from the Royal School had to take on the refereeing duties and both teams are grateful to Mr Gareth Beggs for doing so. The home team opened up a 5-0 first half lead with a try from John McDonagh. Apart from this there were few opportunities for either side in the course of a dour first half but the second half proved to be a bit more lively. Bangor GS dominated the proceeding in the early stages of the second half and got rewarded for their endeavours with a well taken try to see the score board read 5-5. However, the inexperienced Royal School team displayed great character and scored a try through Andrew Hawthorne. Matthew Hooks converted the try to put his team into a 12-5 lead. The Royal School, Armagh team held onto this lead until the final whistle. Matthew Hooks received the RSA Man of the Match Award and displayed great versatility when he finished off the game playing in the outhalf position because of injury to the RSA outhalf, Mervyn Brown.
Omagh Academy asked questions in the early stages of their home game against Royal Belfast Academical Institution, a team that travelled missing some seven regular players missing due to representative commitments. The home team took the lead midway through the first half with a Scott Hemphill try to give his team a 5-0 lead. Five minutes later Scott scored his second try of the game which was converted to see the home team into a 12-0 lead. The Belfast Inst team scored a try close to the interval to see the score board reading 12-5 in favour of the Omagh Academy team at half time. The start of the second half saw the Belfast Inst team score a second unconverted try to reduce the arrears to 12-10. Adam Longwell took advantage of good work from his scrum half, Lloyd Kane, to give his Omagh team a 15-12 lead. Poor defence from the home team allowed the visitors to run in three tries and put them into 27-12 lead. The Omagh team then scored through Lewis Stephenson and another Adam Longwell try. One was converted to reduce the arrears to 27-24. In the final few minutes the superior fitness of the Belfast Inst team enabled them to score two more tries to leave them as deserved 37-24 winners of this entertaining game.
Down High School recorded the biggest winning margin of the day when they hosted an injury hit Larne Grammar School team. The Down boys scored forty eight points with only three against. There were impressive performances from a number of Down High School players including Jamie Thompson and Ricky Gill who each scored two tries. Ryan Smyth, Thomas McCavera, Jamie Ross and Daniel Stanfield touched down for one try each while Luca Rea added four conversions.
In other games played Dalriada School defeated Grosvenor Grammar School and Methodist College were narrow winners against Sullivan Upper School.
The Friends’ School junior U13 and U14 teams broke new ground when they travelled for the first time to play against Coleraine AI junior teams. The Lisburn boys were delighted to register a 40-22 win for their U13’s and a 24-12 win for their U14’s.
