A number of teams played midweek games in the lead up to the fixtures played on Saturday 15th October.
Belfast Royal Academy hosted a very spirited Larne Grammar School team in a midweek fixture at Roughfort.
The home team enjoyed long periods of possession and territory which brought the best out of the committed Larne Grammar defence in the opening exchanges. However, the Belfast Royal academy team eventually breached the defence and ran in six tries. Jack Carlisle touched down twice with Mark Wylie, Kurt Martin, Daniel Dass and David Patterson all scoring one try each. Jack Carlisle added four conversions as well as a penalty to ensure a 41-0 victory for the Belfast Royal Academy team.
Portadown College had to work hard to defeat Portora Royal by a very narrow margin in their midweek game.
The Portadown team travelled to Armagh to play the Royal School, Armagh team in the Co Armagh derby game.
The Portadown team took a 10-0 lead within the first ten minutes of the game. David Busby ran in for a try which Ben Matchett converted. Ben added a penalty to give the Portadown team their 10-0 lead. The RS Armagh team began to come into the game after their early setback. Daniel Ewart took advantage of good work from his pack to run in for a try which was converted by Alistair Wright to reduce the arrears to 10-7. Daniel Reaney then scored an unconverted try to take the score to 12-10. Just before the interval Alistair Wright converted a penalty opportunity to give his RS Armagh team a 15-10 halftime lead. This lead was increased to 18-10 early in the second half when Alistair Wright was successful with his second penalty of the game. Both teams were adopting a physical approach to the game and it was only in the closing stages of the game that the home team was able to secure the game. Daniel Ewart scored his second try of the game while Jonathan Reaney outwitted the Portadown defence to touch down for a try. Alistair Wright added the conversion to see his team come away with a 30-10 win. For the RS Armagh team, Thomas Johnston and John Dunne impressed with their commitment and determined approach to the game.
Campbell College played Coleraine AI and had opened up an 8-3 lead at the interval.
The Campbell try came from Mark Best with Rob Haldane adding a penalty. The second half saw the Campbell team take a much more positive approach to the game and they were rewarded with a four try second half blitz. Harry Howard, Josh Fullerton, Jack Cooke and Kyle Adams all scored tries in the course of the second half. Rob Haldane added a conversion to see his team emerge as 30-13 winners.
Sullivan Upper probably put in their best performance of the season, thus far, when they hosted a very competent Grosvenor Grammar School team.
The Holywood team played a very positive game and had the Grosvenor team struggling to keep up with their well-executed off-loading game. Sullivan opened up a 28-3 half time lead with Ross Adair showing a clean pair of heels to the opposition defence on a number of occasions. Stewart Baillie was successful with a first half penalty for the Grosvenor Grammar School team. In the second half Stuart Smyth scored a try for the Grosvenor team with Stewart Baillie adding the conversion. The Sullivan team scored four second half goals to see them through this game as 56-10 winners.
Banbridge Academy made Bangor Grammar School work hard for their 36-22 win at the Lurgan Road venue on Saturday.
The Banbridge team took an early 3-0 lead with a Marc Stevenson penalty. Shortly after this the Bangor team hit a purple patch to run in 31 points before the interval. Leading 31-3 at halftime, the Bangor team failed to take account of the determination of the Banbridge Academy team. The home team staged something of a comeback with second row forwards, Matthew Best and Alex Thompson scoring tries. Colin McGregor ran in for a try with Marc Stevenson converting two of the tries to reduce the arrears to 31-22. However, Bangor Grammar School touched down for an unconverted try to leave the final score line reading 36-22 in favour of the Bangor Grammar team.
Dalriada School hosted Foyle and Londonderry College and took an early 14-0 lead with two converted tries being scored after good work from Rhys McAuley.
The Foyle staged a comeback with some flair play and scored a try through Steven Chi. Kyle Henderson added the conversion to reduce the arrears to 14-7. Just before half time Foyle scored an unconverted try to take the score to 14-12 in favour of the Dalriada team. The second half saw Foyle take the lead for the first time in the game Neil Burns converted a penalty opportunity. Sean Devine then scored an unconverted try to see his team emerge as 20-14 winners of this entertaining game.
Royal Belfast Academical Institution travelled to play Rainey Endowed School and had to work hard for their 7-0 halftime lead.
The second half belonged to the Belfast Inst team with their hard work at the breakdown creating quality possession. This enabled the Belfast Inst team to score 33 unanswered points in the second half to see them through this game as 40-0 winners.
Wallace High School travelled to Newtownards to play Regent House in an entertaining encounter.
Having been unable to play the previous weekend, the Regent House team appeared to be a little ring rusty in the course of the first half. The Wallace High School team ran in three first half tries with David Scott, Stephen Arneill and Jordan Heatley all touching down. James McCallen added one conversion to give his team a 17-0 halftime lead. It was a different Regent House team that emerged for the second half. The home forwards began to dictate to the opposition and they pressed deep into Wallace High School territory on a number of occasions. Regent House took advantage of good work a lineout to recycle ball in the midfield area. The ball was moved to the right hand side of the pitch to allow Stephen Deering, the Regent House Captain, to cross for a try. Nathan Burns added the extras to reduce the arrears to 17-7 after fifty five minutes. Five minutes later Regent hooker, Philip Patton, took advantage of slack Wallace High School defence to touch down under the Wallace High School posts. Nathan Burns converted the try to take the score to 17-14. Wallace High School had the final say of the game when Zack McCall took advantage of a Regent House handling error to run in for an unconverted try and give his team a 22-14 victory.
Ballymena Academy travelled to a windy Roughfort to lock horns with an improving Belfast Royal Academy team.
The visitors started strongly and opened the scoring after ten minutes when captain, Matthew Rea, powered over for a try. Darren Geddis was successful with his conversion kick to give his team a 7-0 lead. A few minutes later, Ballymena tried to move the ball from deep but the Belfast Royal Academy No 8, Daniel Dass was on hand to intercept and touch down below the Ballymena Academy posts. Jack Carlisle was successful with his conversion to take the score to 7-7. The score line remained level until the final minute of the first half when Nicholas Stirling rounded the covering defence for a well-taken individual try. The conversion from Darren Geddis meant that the half time whistle sounded with Ballymena Academy 14-7 ahead. In the second half, Ballymena Academy used the driving maul to good effect and were unlucky not to increase their lead when Matthew McMurray was adjudged to have been held up over the line. The away team made amends moments later when Sam McNabney touched down for an unconverted try and give his team a 19-7 lead. After a sustained period of pressure near the Ballymena line the home team was awarded a penalty try which Jack Carlisle converted to close the gap to 19-14. However, it was Ballymena Academy who finished the stronger and, in injury time, George Hargy touched down for Ballymena’s fourth try of the morning. Darren Geddis converted from the touchline conversion to leave the final score reading 26-14 in favour of the Ballymena Academy team.
Methodist College travelled to Dublin to play St Mary’s College without a number of key players.
The Methody team opened up a 9-6 halftime lead with Rudolph Benade kicking three penalties for the Belfast team. The St Mary’s backline was asking questions of the Methody defence in the early stages of the second half. The Dublin team did manage to cross the line for an unconverted and take an 11-9 lead. However, the Methody team responded positively and regained the lead when Patrick Colhoun took advantage of good work from James Harrison, Chris Gracey and Rory Winters to run in for a try. The try was not converted but Methody had regained the lead by 14-11. This was extended to 19-11 when Rory Winters touched down for an unconverted try. St Mary’s College responded with a penalty to take the score to 19-14. The Methody defence remained intact until the no side whistle ensuring the Methody team returned home with a notable victory against a Dublin School.
Omagh Academy travelled to Friends’ School and started the game strongly taking play deep into Friends’ School territory.
However, they failed to capitalise on their possession and lost ball at the breakdown due to the good work of Dean Howes and Daniel Bell for the Lisburn team. Ross Robinson kicked Friends’ into a 3-0 lead when he converted a penalty opportunity. Andy Allen converted a penalty for the Omagh Academy team to leave the score line reading 3-3. Just before half time the Friends’ team took a 10-3 lead when Zack Finlay ran in for a try which was converted by Ross Robinson. Good work at the breakdown by the Omagh backrow provided the opportunity for Greg Deazley to run in for a try in the early stages of the second half. Andy Allen added the extras to take the score to 10-10. Omagh took a 15-10 lead with a James Brown try only to see the Friends’ team respond positively with a try from Stephen Marley. Ross Robinson converted the try to put his team into a 17-15 lead. The physicality of the Omagh Academy pack took a toll on the young Friends’ team in the closing stages of the game. James Brown scored his second try of the game with Andy Allen scoring in the corner with just minutes of the game remaining. Andy converted his try to ensure a 27-17 win for the Omagh team at the end of this entertaining game.
Portora Royal School played Royal School, Dungannon in Enniskillen and the team was delighted to register their first win of the season against their close rivals.
In a game dominated by both teams giving away a lot of penalties it was the RS Dungannon team that took an early 3-0 lead through a Jack Milligan penalty. The home team responded with two Patrick McCleery penalties to see them into a 6-3 halftime lead. RS Dungannon had a player sin binned in the opening exchanges of the second half and Portora took full advantage. Patrick McCleery kicked his third penalty of the game to give his team a 9-3 lead. RS Dungannon responded well and scored a try through David Buckley following good work at the lineout from his fellow forwards to reduce the arrears to 9-8. Poor RS Dungannon defence allowed James Ferguson through to touch down for a try which was converted by Patrick McCleery to give the home team a 16-8 lead. The RS Dungannon team played a lot of rugby in the closing stages of the game and were rewarded for their enterprising approach when Jack Milligan scored a try. Jack converted his own try to take the score to 16-15. However, it was a case of “too little too late” for the Dungannon boys as the Portora team celebrated their very close 16-15 victory at the no side whistle.
