There were a number of midweek games played prior to a large list of games played on Saturday 13th November.
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Campbell College got back to winning ways with a comprehensive midweek victory against Coleraine AI. The Campbell College team started the game without the services of John Creighton and Marc Best, both of whom were recovering from injury. The Campbell College team controlled both territory and possession in the opening exchanges and could have scored a number of tries early in the game only to see chances lost due to decision making and handling errors. However, the Campbell College team did score three first half tries with Chris Best touching down twice and Chris Farrell once. Rory Scholes converted two of the tries to see his team into a comfortable 19-0 half time lead. The Campbell team, with Charles Gallagher and Jan Francois Bester controlling affairs at the breakdown, continued to control the game in the second half. They were rewarded for their attacking flair with a second try from Chris Farrell, a try from Kyle Adams following good work from his lineout colleagues as well as a Rory Scholes try. Rob Haldane added one second half conversion to see the Campbell team through to an impressive 36 points. The Coleraine team got some reward for their endeavours when Paddy Farrell touched down for a try after good work from Michael Poskitt. The final score was 36-5 in favour of a Campbell College team that was prepared to attack at every opportunity.
Because of school tests taking place at some venues on Saturday 13th, a number of fixtures were rescheduled to take place on Wednesday 10th. The Friends’ School team was without Rory McIvor, Paul Anderson and James Vance when they played Carrickfergus Grammar School. The Lisburn team was determined to get back to winning ways following their recent loss to Down High School. They started strongly against a very determined Carrickfergus Grammar School with Desi Eastwood scoring an early try. Michael Cochrane converted the try to see his team into a 7-=0 lead. The Carrickfergus Grammar School responded positively to this early setback and scored a try through Jonny Moore. Andrew Fulton added the extras to take the score to 7-7. The Friends’ team enjoyed a period of possession but the well organised Carrrrickfergus Grammar School defence managed to thwart the waves of Friends’ School attacks. That was until just before the half time whistle when the impressive Michael Cochrane, playing in the unaccustomed role of outhalf, cut a good line through the Carrickfergus defence to touch down for an unconverted try. The Friends’ team was pleased to take a 12-7 lead into the interval but knew they could perform much better in the second half. Desi Eastwood scored his second try of the game early in the second half but the conversion was missed. The Friends’ team rested on their laurels and suffered the consequences when the Jonny Moore/Andrew Fulton combination scored again for the visitors to reduce the arrears to 17- 14. Paddy Pringle took advantage of good work from Jack Ravey and Michael Cochrane to score an unconverted try and put the Lisburn team into a 22-14 lead. Desi Eastwood completed his hat trick to extend the Friends’ lead to 27-14 with Paddy Pringle scoring his second try of the game shortly afterwards. Michael Cochrane added a drop goal close to the end of the game to see the Friends’ School team record a 35-14 win. David Seeds, Joe Murphy and Brice Bailie worked hard in the Friends’ pack to ensure a good supply of quality ball which the Friends’ back line was able to use effectively, particularly in the second half of this game.
Banbridge Academy and Belfast High School rescheduled their game for Wednesday afternoon and played out a 17-17 draw. The opening exchanges were evenly balanced but it was the Belfast High School team which took the lead when Ethan Clarke scored an unconverted try after twenty minutes play to put his team 5-0 ahead. The Banbridge team responded with a try from their winger, Joe Weir, five minutes later. Chrissy Craig converted this try to give his team a 7-5 lead. Five minutes later, good initial work from Jake Toan laid the foundations for a try which was expertly finished off by the Belfast High School winger, Philip Snoddy. Matthew Huntley converted the try to see the High School team into a deserved 12-7 half time lead. Banbridge started the second period of play very strongly. As a result, Andrew McConnell scored an unconverted try after just five minutes to take the score to 12-12. Michael Runciman took advantage of some slack High School defence to score a try which was not converted to take the score to 17-12 after ten minutes of the second half. The Belfast High School team had the opportunity to win the game when, with just minutes remaining, Ryan Elliott scored in the corner. The conversion was narrowly missed ensuring the game ended as a 17-17 draw. Both teams were relieved not to have lost a game that was played in excellent spirit by both teams.
Sullivan Upper and Regent House met in a midweek game as a result of the rescheduling of their Saturday fixture. In an evenly balanced first half the only score that separated the teams at half time was a Nathan Burns penalty that gave his Regent House team a 3-0 interval lead. The Holywood team was dominating the set pieces and became much more dominant in the opening exchanges of the second half. They took the lead when good kicking from Charlie Preece combined with strong running from Oliver Loughead, paved the way for an Oliver Matthews try. Harry Eves added the conversion to see his team take a 7-3 lead. Regent House attacked at every opportunity but the Sullivan Upper defence was resolute as well as being well organised. Good work from Andrew Kerr enabled the home side to turn over Regent House ball. Good continuity involving both forwards and backs paved the way for the Sullivan captain, Michael Scott, to touch down for an unconverted try. With the Sullivan team now leading by 12-3, the scene was set for an interesting final quarter to this game. Adam Wood extended the Sullivan lead to 17-3 with an unconverted try following good work from his pack at a lineout deep in the Regent House half. Regent House came back strongly in the final five minutes of the game and got some reward for their positive approach to the game when Steven Deering scrambled over the Sullivan line for an unconverted try to see the final score read 17-8 in favour of the Sullivan Upper team.
Wallace High School travelled to play the previously undefeated RS Armagh team on Friday. The Armagh team held the upper hand in terms of territory and possession in the first half.
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Thomas Johnston, Stuart Hooks and Neil Faloon were at the heart of all that was good about the Armagh performance and it was the RS Armagh team that took a 14-0 lead. Thomas Johnston and Neil Faloon scored two first half tries with Harry Boyd adding the conversions. On the stroke of half time, David Scott scored an unconverted try for the Wallace High School team to see the half time score read 14-5 in favour of the home team.
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The second period of play witnessed a complete turn-around in terms of territory and possession. It was the Wallace High School team that dominated both and got their just rewards when Dean Irvine scored a hat trick of tries with David Scott touching down for his second of the game. Jordan Heatley added one conversion to see the Wallace High School team emerge as deserved 27-14 winners. Cal McIlwaine and Simon Gilmore laid the foundations of this Wallace victory with their impressive performances in the second half of the game.
Belfast Royal Academy got back to winning ways with a comprehensive victory against a very confident Foyle and Londonderry College team. The Belfast Royal Academy team put the disappointment of their loss to Bangor Grammar School behind them as they started strongly against the Foyle and Londonderry College team.
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The Belfast team was 18-8 in the lead at half time with two Ryan Clarke tries, a Stuart Olding try and a Stuart Olding penalty accounting for their first half total. In response the Foyle team scored a try from Ian Vance and a penalty from Chris Campbell.
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The Academy team dominated proceedings in the second half and scored through Ryan Clarke, to complete his hat trick, Jordan Thompson, Robbie Jamison, Andrew McClements, Andrew Robinson and Matthew Robinson. Robbie Jamison weighed in with two conversions to see the Belfast Royal Academy team through to an impressive 52-8 victory.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution recovered from their loss to Foyle and Londonderry College last week end when they defeated a very committed RS Dungannon team at Osbourne Park. The home team scored an early unconverted try through Nathan Dugan to gain a 5-0 lead. The RS Dungannon team responded with a Peter Nelson try which he converted himself to put his team into a 7-5 lead. The Belfast Inst team regained the lead with an Andrew Roulston try which Matthew McGuigan converted to take the score to 12-7. Just before the half time whistle the Inst team extended their lead to 17-7 when Paddy Bell touched down for an unconverted try. In the second half the Belfast Inst team scored three further tries from Michael Kilpatrick, Paddy Bell and Matthew Keane. Matthew McGuigan converted one of these tries to put his team into a 34-7 lead. The RS Dungannon scored the try of the game when Peter Nelson weaved his magic following good work from his pack. The score remained at 34-12, in favour of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution team, until the final whistle. The RS Dungannon team made the Belfast Inst team work hard for their win with good performances from Peter Nelson, Andrew Clingan and Mark Wright. Adam Clarke had an impressive debut in the centre for the Co Tyrone team.
Ballymena Academy hosted a very young but talented Rainey Endowed School 1stxv at the Galgorm Road venue on Saturday. The Ballymena team was quickly out of the blocks against Rainey and enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges. Nicholas Stirling showed outstanding pace in beating several defenders to race clear for the first try of the morning which Caleb Morrison converted to give the home team a 7-0 lead. 
The home team increased their lead with a fine individual try through their Captain, John Andrew. John tapped a quick penalty and powered through several tackles to score below the posts. Caleb Morrison once again added the extras to extend the Ballymena Academy lead to 14-0.The young Rainey team began to impose themselves on the game and scored their first points of the morning with a penalty from Martin Connolly in the 20th minute to reduce the arrears to 14-3.
Immediately from the restart, Ballymena went on the attack and got rewarded for their adventurous approach when their live wire scrum half, Jack Fleming, scored an unconverted try in the corner to increase their leads to 19-3. Just before the interval, the Rainey backline attacked the wide space and were unlucky not to score in the corner. However, the Magherafelt boys did come away from this period of pressure with another Martin Connolly penalty to leave the score reading 19-6 at half time. 
With no 2nd XV game, Ballymena Academy made six changes in the second half and seemed to struggle to maintain the intensity that they had shown, at times, in the first period. Nevertheless, the home team were first to score in the second half when Jordan Foster chased through a kick to score in the corner to put his team 24-6 ahead. Ten minutes into the second half, Rainey capitalised on an extended period of possession and Jamie Burrows out-flanked the Ballymena cover to score in the corner. 
The successful touchline conversion from Martin Connolly reduced the arrears to 24-13. Ballymena Academy added two more tries before the final whistle through George Hargy and Nicholas Stirling, one of which was converted by Caleb Morrison, to leave the final score at 36-13. This deserved win put the Ballymena Academy team back to winning ways after losing to St Michael’s College in their previous game. For the Rainey team this was their first defeat following an impressive run of wins in recent games.
Methodist College hosted Castleknock College from Dublin in an entertaining encounter at Pirrie Park. The physical nature of the Castleknock pack asked questions of the Methody pack but with players such as Dan Kerr, Ryan Annett, Rory Winters and James Harrison all performing well, the Castleknock team did not enjoy as much quality possession as they might have expected. The visitors did start brightly and spurned an early chance to take the lead when a penalty attempt from their out half drifted wide. This was to be their last chance in the first half, however, as the Methody team dominated territory and possession for the remainder of the first half. Although Methody came close to crossing the visitors line on a number of occasions the Castleknock defence held firm restricting the home side to a penalty from their Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ winger, Mark Gribben, to put Methody 3-0 in front at the break.
With the wind at their backs the home support looked forward to another period of territorial advantage in the course of the second half. However, this did not turn out to be the case as the abrasive Castleknock pack took the game to their hosts resulting in Methody conceding a penalty in their 22m area which was converted to bring the sides level at 3-3. Midway through the half, Methody got their noses in front once again when Mark Gribben converted his second penalty from 30 metres to put his team into a 6-3 lead. In reply, Castleknock resumed their onslaught and were soon level when their out half converted a simple penalty chance. Shortly afterwards the same player put the visitors into a 9-6 lead when a drop goal attempt, which looked to have been miss hit, managed to clear the home crossbar.
With only 10 minutes remaining it looked like the visitors were going to take the spoils. However, not to be undone Methody managed to work their way into the visitors 22 and, following a period of sustained pressure, No 8 Rory Winters was driven over the line by the home pack to give them an 11-9 advantage. The Methody team managed to hold onto until the final whistle to give them a narrow win and maintain their good run of recent results against Dublin opposition.
Carrickfergus Grammar School recorded a rare but well deserved victory when they hosted Portora RS on Saturday. The Portora team travelled without Rory Gibson, Adam Baxter, Nick Doherty and Alex McCurry but welcomed back Jonny Magwood and Phil Dickie from injury. The Carrickfergus Grammar School team started strongly and had opportunities to put points on the board. However, a combination of poor Carrickfergus decision making and good Portora RS defence ensured the game remained scoreless until the 25th minute when Portora outhalf, Robert Connors, wrong footed the home defence to score under the posts. A scuffed conversion attempt followed but it was the Portora team that took a 5-0 lead. The home team responded immediately with Matthew Elliott making up for previously dropping the ball over the Portora line by touching down for a try. Andrew Fulton added the conversion points to put his team into a 7-5 lead. Just before half time, Jonny Magwood outpaced the Carrickfergus Grammar School defence to score an excellent try. Robert Connors converted the try to ensure the Portora team an unlikely 12-7 half time lead. The Carrickfergus Grammar School team started the second half strongly and managed to control the possession they enjoyed. Their outhalf, Jonathan Moore, made good use of the possession his forwards provided and scored two tries. Andrew Fulton converted one try as well as a penalty to ensure his team emerged from this encounter as deserved 22-12 winners. Portora RS had good performances from their half back pairing of Michael Parkinson and Robert Connors but could not get enough quality ball from their pack to enable these players to control the game fully.
The Bangor Grammar School team was confident they could halt the progress of the impressive Ballyclare High School team, following their excellent win against Belfast Royal Academy in their last outing. However, the Ballyclare High School team was equally confident they could come away from the Ballymacormack Road venue with another impressive victory under their belts. The scene was set for a very interesting game! Bangor Grammar School started the game strongly with their impressive back row forward, Gareth Irvine, getting a touch down after only four minutes of play. Stuart McCloskey missed the conversion but the Bangor team had a 5-0 lead. Ballyclare responded positively and controlled possession and territory for the next ten minutes. The Ballyclare High School No 8, Jonny Darling, scored a try which was converted by Jonny Holmes to see the visitors into a 7-5 lead. Shortly after this score, good work from Andrew Butler paved the way for a Peter McMechan try which Jonny Holmes converted to see the visitors extend their lead to 14-5. Just before the half time whistle, the Ballyclare team scored a third try when Peter Ferguson outpaced the home defence to touch down close to the posts. Jonny Holmes was once again successful with his conversion attempt to see the Ballyclare High School team into a 21-5 lead. There was still time on the clock for the Bangor team to reduce the arrears prior to half time. They did so when Craig Harper, playing at full back, created space for himself to touch down for an unconverted try which took the score to 21-10 in favour of Ballyclare High School at half time. The Bangor team dominated proceedings in the second half but they were restricted to only one score. Craig Harper combined well with his younger brother, Philip, who was playing on the wing. Philip took full advantage of the space created to power his way over the Ballyclare High School line for an unconverted try to reduce the arrears to 21-15. Bangor Grammar continued to dominate the game and came close to scoring on a number of occasions. However, it was not to be and it was the visiting Ballyclare High School team that emerged victorious from this excellent game of schoolboy rugby with their 21-15 win.
The Limavady Grammar School team travelled to play Omagh Academy on the back of some poor results. They were determined to turn their fortunes around when they took on an Omagh side who have also found this season tough going. The heavy pitch and soggy conditions ensured the game would be forward orientated. Limavady Grammar School welcomed back, from injury, their vice-captain Shay McIntosh. The opening ten minutes of the game were very even with neither side able to get a real hold on proceedings. Omagh took a 3-0 lead when their Ashley McIlwaine kicked a simple penalty in front of the posts. Limavady responded immediately with a try from their captain, Nathan Barr. The ball was spread wide to winger Zak Graham who chipped through for Barr to score millimetres from the touchline. The conversion attempt was just wide but the Limavady team now had a 5-3 lead. The Limavady team dominated the final ten minutes of the first half and might have scored again when Nathan Barr slipped Shay McIntosh a delicate pass after the powerful back-rower picked an excellent running line. However, determined Omagh defence ensured he was stopped short of the line and the score remained at 5-3 in favour of the visitors at half time. Limavady Grammar School began the 2nd period very quickly with wing-forward Ryan McCool touching down. This try came as a result of some excellent work from Shay McIntosh, Nathan Barr, Stuart Hull and Jamie Millar. Nathan Barr added the conversion to put his team into a 12-3 lead. The Omagh team responded to this set back with their captain, Gary Sherrard, crashing over the Limavady Grammar School line for a try following a quickly taken penalty. Ashley McIlwaine was successful with his conversion to reduce the arrears to 12-10. The Limavady players knew the next score was crucial and it came in the form of 3 points when Nathan Barr was successful with a penalty kick to give his team a 15-10 lead. Limavady created a number of chances in the remaining 10 minutes. However, they could only manage to convert one of these with centre Stuart Hull scoring a try following good work from Simon Olphert and Robert Lamberton. Nathan Barr was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt but his team had got back to winning ways with their deserved 20-10 victory.
Dalriada had a relatively comfortable victory over Larne Grammar School with the Larne team finding it difficult to get territory behind the Dalriada gain line. Mark Robinson impressed for the home team with his strong running but the Dalriada back row was too strong at the break down ensuring that the Larne Grammar School attack rarely got through more than a couple of phases of play. Dalriada made good use of the possession they enjoyed and scored tries through Jack Magee, a Year 11 player making his debut on the 1stxv, Ewan Strang and Jonny McMullan, who touched down twice. Jonny McLaughlin added three conversions in the course of the game. In response, the Larne team scored one try which was awarded to Alan Murray which Philip Andrews converted. The final score read 26-7 in favour of the Dalriada team who had Andrew Skelton, Roger Bonnar and David Campbell to thank for their work at the break down, ensuring a good supply of turn over ball which the Dalriada back line used effectively
Campbell College had an impressive 45-5 win at Grosvenor Grammar School
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– Click Here – For 116 pictures from Grosvenor Grammar v Campbell College Sat 13th Nov 2010 – for high resolution email: info@intouchrugby.com
– Click Here – Another 176 pictures from Grosvenor Grammar v Campbell College Sat 13th Nov 2010 – Thanks to Grosvenor Pupil Robert Cairnduff
While a Down High School “Select” xv defeated Wellington College.
The game between Lurgan College and Antrim Grammar School has been postponed until Saturday 20th November.
The draw for the First Round of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup took place on Tuesday 9th November. The draw was made by Mr John Wilson, Chairman of the Ulster Schools’ Rugby Committee. He was assisted by Keith Patton, M-I-C Rugby at RS Dungannon and the Ulster Schools’ representative on the IRFU, Ulster Branch Committee. Three schools will contest the Round Robin series and draw is as follows:-
Lurgan College v Strabane Grammar School Saturday 27th November
Strabane Grammar School v Wellington College Saturday 4th December
Wellington College v Lurgan College Saturday 11th December
The draw for the second round of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup will take place after the Round 1, Round Robin series of game have been completed.
