Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Round Up Saturday 22nd September 2012.
The planned North West Derby game between Limavady Grammar School and Foyle and Londonderry College, scheduled for Saturday 15th was postponed until Monday 17th September.
Limavady Grammar School took a 7-0 lead after six minutes when centre, Andy Miller, broke through and touched down under the posts. Jack McCool was successful with the conversion attempt. Four minutes later, after good work by the Limavady pack, scrum-half and captain, Jamie Millar, made a decisive break and popped the ball to his Number 8, Sam Mackey, who ran in from 30 metres to touch down under the posts. Jack McCool again converted to put his team into a 14-0 lead. At this stage it looked as though Limavady Grammar School would run away with the game as their pack dominated the forward exchanges and their backs were proving elusive in attack. A number of knock-ons and forward passes kept the Foyle College team in the game and, to their credit, the Foyle pack provided enough quality possession for their backs to attack with. On 28 minutes the Foyle and Londonderry College left wing found enough space to race clear and score an unconverted try in the corner to reduce the arrears to 14-5. Limavady immediately replied when their Captain, Jamie Millar, scythed through for another his second try of the game. Jack McCool added the extras to see his team into a 21-5 halftime lead. The Foyle team played with a very strong wind behind them in the second- half and were awarded a penalty when Limavady infringed at a ruck. The Foyle out-half was successful with his attempt to see the score board read 21-8. The same player went close two minutes later with another penalty from distance. However, this was the last opportunity they had to score and the Limavady pack started to dominate all aspects of the game. Further tries from were scored by Number 8, Sam Mackey, and flanker, Philip Thompson. Jack McCool converted one of these tries to leave the final score reading 33-8 in favour of the home team. Limavady remain unbeaten and look forward to another successful season.
The Limavady Grammar School 2ndxv recorded a win against their North West rivals and then took on Antrim Grammar School 1stxv on Wednesday 19th September. Despite leading the game with an unconverted try from prop forward, Stephen Kennedy, it was the Antrim Grammar School 1stxv team that won the game by 7-5 when they scored a converted try.
The Limavady Grammar School 1stxv kept their unbeaten start to the season when they hosted Carrickfergus Grammar School. Both teams were missing a number of players due to injuries. Limavady GS romped into a 36-0 lead after sixteen minutes with good inter-play from forwards and backs. Another unconverted try late in the first half left the scoreboard reading 41-0 at half time. Limavady chose to experiment in the second half with five 2ndxv players being blooded. Limavady went on to score a number of tries, mostly through their backline but, to Carrick’s credit, they never gave up. The Carrickfergus Grammar School team finished with a flurry and were rewarded with a fine try from a quick penalty when their centre touched down under the posts.
Sullivan Upper entertained a dogged Down High School team and went on to win an entertaining game by 55-10. Angus McCartney capped a fine performance with a hat trick of tries for the Sullivan team for whom Mark Crockford touched down twice. Scott Finlay, Michael Cartmill and Peter Cooper touched down for one try each. For the visitors Kelvin Hamilton and Ricky Gill scored one try each. Mark Adair was successful with six conversions as well as a penalty to account for the remaining Sullivan Upper points.
Ballymena Academy played host to Bangor Grammar on Saturday morning in perfect weather conditions for rugby. Through most of the first half, neither side was able to establish territorial dominance though it was the home team who enjoyed the majority of possession. The Bangor defence proved well-organised and they tackled with enthusiasm to thwart several attacks by the home team. It was a line break by Josh McIlroy that finally led to the first points of the morning. The Ballymena back-rower made good yards and the ball was recycled for the impressive Brian Mulholland to sprint through for the opening try of the morning. Andrew Magrath’s conversion was successful and the score remained at 7 – 0 until the half-time break.The home team continued to apply pressure in the second half and, after good work by Jonathan Rosborough and Chris Blackwell, it was second row Craig Barkley who showed strength to power over the line. Andrew Magrath again converted to increase the lead to 14 – 0. As the game moved into the final minutes, Ballymena Academy added a further try when hooker, Jonathan Spence, showed some deft skill and pace to finish from twenty metres. Andrew Magrath’s successful conversion left the final score reading 21 – 0 to the Galgorm Road school.
Regent House welcomed back Jack Rigby and Derek Johnston to their pack for their trip to Coleraine. Endeavouring to get their season back on track after defeats to Rainey Endowed and Portora Royal in the past two weeks Regent started positively and, from pressure inside the Coleraine half, they were awarded a penalty which Gavin Anderson converted to put his team into a 3-0 lead. After fifteen minutes play pressure on the Coleraine back-line resulted in Aaron Culbert breaking clear to feed outhalf Peter Eakin who outstripped the defence to score between the posts. Gavin Anderson converted to increase the Regent House lead to 10-0. Coleraine AI found a gap in the Regent defence enabling their centre to score near the posts after twenty-five minutes. The conversion attempt was successful to reduce the arrears to 10-7 in favour of the Regent team, a lead they held until half time. Regent House started the second half brightly and were awarded a penalty on the Coleraine ten metre line which Gavin Anderson converted to increase the Regent House lead to 13-7. After forty three minutes of the game concerted pressure on the Coleraine AI line saw Regent prop, Jared Purvis, barge his way over the Coleraine line to score an unconverted try. This took the score to Coleraine 7-18 Regent House. On fifty five minutes a loose Coleraine kick was fielded by the Regent left winger Aaron Reid. Aaron started a superb counterattack beating four tackles to find Peter Eakin on the opposition 22 m line. Peter took the opportunity to create space for Gavin Anderson to race into the corner to touch down for an unconverted try to bring the score to 7- 23 in favour of the Regent House team. Coleraine put in a concerted effort in the Regent 22 m area but the visitors turned over possession and attacked up field. After a number of phases in the home side’s 22 m area Aaron Reid finished off a sweeping back move to score in the left hand corner to take the score to 28-7 in favour of Regent House. With two minutes left Coleraine were awarded a penalty try after a number of sorties on the Regent line which left the final score line reading Coleraine AI 14 Regent House 28.
The Royal School, Armagh team was short of a number of players on representative duty when they travelled to play Portora Royal School in Enniskillen. The Armagh team came away with a hard earned 29-5 win. Daniel Ewart scored two tries for the RS Armagh team while Matthew Hooks and Luke Reaney each touched down once. Mervyn Brown weighed in with three conversions as well as a penalty. Michael Rolston and Chris McCreanor impressed with their performances for the RS Armagh team. The Portora team provided strong opposition throughout the game but could only record one unconverted try for their endeavours.
Grosvenor Grammar School hosted Royal School, Dungannon to play for the WK Armstrong Trophy at the Cameronian Drive venue. The home team started strongly and early in the game good continuity from the Grosvenor team presented Sam Purdon with the opportunity to score a try. Sam Baillie converted the try to give his Grosvenor GS team a 7-0 lead. A break from James McCaughey presented Steven Kirk with the chance to run in for the second try of the game to give the Grosvenor team a 12-0 lead. The RS Dungannon team responded with an unconverted try from Jack Milligan to reduce the arrears to 12-5. The Grosvenor team then scored from the restart when Stuart Baillie made a great break to set up the try scoring chance for Peter Davison. Stuart was successful with the conversion to increase the Grosvenor lead to 19-5. Steven Kirk touched down for his second try late in the first half. The try was converted to increase the Grosvenor GS lead to 26-5 at half time. Shortly after the restart Jack Milligan scored his second try of the game for the RS Dungannon team. Jack was successful with the conversion to reduce the arrears to 26-12 in favour of the Grosvenor Grammar School team. Steven Kirk completed his hat trick with a great score which he started with a tremendous break in his own half. Sam Baillie added the extras to leave the score reading 33-12 in favour of the Grosvenor Grammar School team. The visitors scored their third try of the game through Jacob McCammon. Jack Milligan converted the try to leave the final score reading 33-19 in favour of the Grosvenor Grammar School team. The RS Dungannon team will take some comfort from their second half performance in this game which asked serious questions of the Grosvenor GS defence.
Omagh Academy continued their recent good run of results when they hosted Banbridge Academy at the Campsie playing fields. The Omagh team started strongly when Lloyd Kane charged down a clearance kick, gained possession and touched down for a try with only a few minutes on the clock. Adam Longwell then got in on the act when a quickly taken penalty was off-loaded to him and he charged through a hesitant Banbridge Academy defence to touch down for a try. James Catterson converted the try to give the Omagh team a 12-0 lead. The visitors responded with an excellent try from Rory Thompson. Paddy Hayes converted the try to reduce the arrears to 12-7. The Omagh team came back to score their third try of the game when Adam Stephenson took advantage of a Banbridge Academy knock on. He hacked the ball through to win the race for the touch-down. The try was unconverted but the Omagh team had a 17-7 half time lead. Five minutes into the second half Calum Boardman scored an unconverted try for the Banbridge team to take the score to 17-12. This was followed by Omagh Academy tries from Dean Henderson, who touched down twice and Scott Barr. Lloyd Kane added all three conversions to see the Omagh team emerge as deserved 38-12 winners. In the absence of Aaron Kennedy who was on representative duty, Banbridge Academy scrum half, Conor Morrow played very well in this game.
On a beautiful morning at Springtown Rainey Endowed started brightly against Foyle and Londonderry College by going immediately on the attack. They had a few opportunities to open the scoring but s stout home defence kept the Rainey team out. Sam Hawe almost worked himself into a scoring position but was held up over the line. For the opening twenty minutes Rainey did most of the attacking but were frustrated by Foyle who defended very well. Foyle then began to come more into the game and tried to get the ball wide on a few occasions. With ten minutes of the half remaining a fine line out take by Mark Kavanagh put Rainey into a strong attacking position. From a quickly taken penalty, Jonathan Lees powered over the line to get the visitor’s first try. The conversion was missed but Rainey had a 5-0 lead. Within minutes of the restart Rainey had their second try. Eunan Shaw jumped highest to steal a Foyle lineout throw and drove over the line to score. Arran Murphy kicked the conversion to give Rainey a 12-0 half time lead. Rainey started the second half in a confident mood and soon added to the score. Again, from a line out, the ball was moved effectively by the Rainey Endowed backs. Jonathan Kyle made a strong burst in mid field which was carried on by Jonathan Lees who put a fine inside pass to scrum half, Oisin Quinn. Oisin proceeded to score under the posts to increase the Rainey lead to 17-0. Aaron Murphy added the conversion to take the score to 19-0. Rainey now attacked at every opportunity and full back, Matthew Stewart, was making clever breaks from the back. The next try was probably the score of the game. The backs again opened up the Foyle midfield. Number 8, Michael Dawson, continued the move and his pass found outhalf Kieran Lynch who jinked his way over the line to increase the Rainey Endowed School lead to 24-0. Again, Aaron Murphy was successful with the conversion to extend the score to 26-0. Winger, Odhran McCloy, was unfortunate not to get a score when a last ditch tap tackle stopped him with the line at his mercy. The forward exchanges were now being dominated by Rainey. Prop, Michael Nevin, was making a lot of ground driving around the fringes. Try number five came with Tim Maxwell making a clever run. He beat a couple of Foyle defenders and then fed Oisin Quinn who ran in for his second try. Aaron Murphy added the points and Rainey now led 33-0. With time running out, Matthew Stewart was replaced by Gavin Pollock at fullback. Foyle to their credit went on the attack and almost got a score. They drove hard at the Rainey line but the defence held them out. They then went wide but an excellent tackle by Rigan Sanderson on the Foyle and Londonderry College winger prevented what seemed like a certain score. However, Rainey had the final say in the game. Centres, Aaron Murphy and John Stewart combined beautifully to set up a great attacking position. From the attacking scrum, the Rainey captain, Michael Dawson, drove through a number of home defenders to score an unconverted try which ensured a well-deserved 38-0 win for the Rainey Endowed team.
After the pleasing midweek performance and result against the Limavady Grammar School 2ndxv, the Antrim Grammar1st xv, boosted by the return of Matthew McWhinney, Matthew Simpson and Jack Lyons, were looking to kick on against Lurgan College at home on Saturday. Unfortunately, they were overcome by Lurgan’s power and physicality and fell to a 5-21 defeat. The home side’s backline was disrupted early on when outside centre, Chris Donnelly left the field of play with an ankle injury and Cameron Waddell was brought on at full back with Andrew White filling Chris Donnelly’s position at in the centre. The game started sloppily for the home side and Lurgan put early pressure on with their large forward pack dominating up front. It was their backs, however, that created the first score of the game after they made the most of an overlap on the left hand side and their winger dived over for a converted try to give the visitors a 0-7 lead after fifteen minutes. Antrim Grammar bounced back well and had Lurgan on the back foot for much of the rest of the first half but could not capitalise and Lurgan saw out the rest of the half to leave the half time score reading 7-0 in favour of the Lurgan College team. Antrim Grammar knew they were not at their best in the opening thirty five minutes but the fact that the score was so close gave them encouragement and they started the second half well. They upped their pace and accuracy and were eventually rewarded with a try out wide from Cameron Waddell. Mark Strange pulled the difficult conversion attempt wide but Antrim Grammar were right back in the game at having reduced the arrears to 7-5. Frustratingly, Antrim Grammar School failed to build on this momentum and some missed tackles allowed the Lurgan centre through for a soft converted try around ten minutes from the end to extend their lead to 5-14. Antrim Grammar tried to get back in the game but to no avail as it appeared it just was not going to be their day. The visitors added a third try with the last play of the game when the home side’s defence switched off and allowed the visitor’s prop to score a converted try under the posts. This ensured a 21-5 win for the Lurgan College team. All in all, the visitors deserved the win but perhaps not by as much as the score line suggests. There were some positives to be taken by the Antrim Grammar School team but work will have to be done in training this week to try to eradicate the basic mistakes that were made.
In other school games played on Saturday 22nd September Wallace High School lost to Campbell College.
The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ team displayed great character against Munster Schools’ in the final Ireland Schools’ Interprovincial game played at Ravenhill on Saturday. The Ulster team was forced to make a number of changes following their impressive win in Connacht ten days ago. Injury to key players dictated a number of changes to the team, especially in the pack. The Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ team found themselves 15-3 down at one stage of the game, their only points at this stage coming from a Jack Owens penalty in the first half. However, the team displayed great resilience to stage to stage a comeback. One second half try, initiated by a powerful drive of the base of a scrum by Ulster captain, Darryl Morton, and finished by Jack Owens, as well as three second half penalties from Jack Owens, gave the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ team a deserved 17-15 victory. This ensured the Ulster team finished as runners-up in the Championship and won the Pat Power Trophy.
The Ulster U19 team had twelve schoolboy players in the squad which put on a very committed display against the much vaunted Leinster U19 “A” team. The Ulster U19 team started well and took a 6-0 lead through two Justin Rea penalties. Midway through the first half the home team scored a converted try to take a 7-6. The Leinster team converted a penalty opportunity as well and then proceeded to run in a converted try on the stroke of half time to see them take a 17-6 half time lead. Two minutes into the second half the Ulster team reduced the arrears to 17-9 when Justin Rea was successful with another penalty opportunity. For the next few minutes the Leinster team dominated territory as well as possession. The kicked a penalty and scored an unconverted try to take a 25-9 lead. Then it was the turn of the Ulster team to dominate proceedings for a period of time. They were rewarded with a penalty try following a driven maul being pulled down illegally on the Leinster line. Justin Rea converted the try to reduce the arrears to 25-16. The Ulster team went looking for another score and came close on a number of occasions. However, a turn over ball in the Leinster 22 m area surrendered possession and the Leinster team counter-attacked to good effect to score an unconverted try to take a 30-16 lead with just minutes remaining on the clock. The Ulster team battled bravely but the Leinster team held out to record a hard earned 30-16 win. The Ulster U19’s will finish their season when they play the Exiles U19’s at Ashbourne RFC at 12-30pm on Saturday 29th September. The Ulster U19 squad has worked hard under the astute direction of coaches, Kieran Campbell and Brian McLaughlin. They will want to finish their season on a high against the Exiles xv.
