Early Belfast Inst pressure resulted in two penalties awarded against the Armagh team and TJ Morris was successful with both kicks to put his team into a 6-0 lead. RBAI was able to welcome back Michael Lowry to the side and the talented Year 12 outhalf created an opportunity for captain Lewis McNamara to outwit the defence with some neat footwork and run in for a converted try. Armagh responded in a positive manner with their captain, Michael Thompson, ably assisted by Philip Matthews, Chris Jennings and Matthew McSorley asking questions of the defence, However, the home side held firm and they took a 13-0 lead into the break.
The second half saw RBAI really take the initiative and put Armagh under intense pressure. The RBAI backrow trio of McNamara, Patrick Nicholas and Ethan Harbinson was winning the battle at the breakdown and the latter scored an early second half try to put his team 18-0 ahead. Lowry, James Hume and Jack Conlin then combined to put replacement player, Ben McGavock, over the whitewash. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful but the Royal Belfast Acadedmical Institution team had secured a well-deserved 23-0 win.
RBAI will now play Coleraine AI in the semi final at Kingspan Stadium on Tuesday 3rd March (2.30pm). CLICK HERE to buy tickets.
COLERAINE AI 22 OMAGH ACADEMY 9
Coleraine Academical Institution hosted Omagh Academy in a Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup quarter-final game that marked the end of an era at Coleraine AI. Regardless of the outcome of the game, it was significant due to the fact it was their last home game in the 140 year history of the competition. The school, which has won the competition nine times and been runner up a further 24 times, is set to join with the local all-girls school, Coleraine High School, to form a new co-educational Voluntary Grammar School, called Coleraine Grammar School. The new school will open in September 2015 and transition planning is well underway. As well as enjoying multiple victories in the competition, many future internationals learned their skills at Coleraine Inst, including Ulster and Ireland stars, Andrew Trimble and Jonathan Bell.
The hosts started well in front of an enthusiastic group of supporters. They took play immediately into Omagh Academy territory and pressurised the visitors into giving away an early penalty, which Callum Smith stepped up to convert. Their lead when Daniel McAllister powered his way over from short range. Smith added the extras for a ten point lead inside the opening ten minutes. Omagh Academy recovered from these early setbacks and reduced the arrears to 10-3 when Stuart Ballentine kicked a penalty. Coleraine scored a second try but their defence was pressurised into giving away a series of penalties, two of which were converted by Ballentine, to leave the score reading 15-9 at half time.
Omagh started well in the second half and went on to control possession and territory for long periods of time. Matthew Clyde, James Longwell and Ethan McKeown impressed with their ball carrying ability, while Luke Hanson, Dean Kane and Adam Stephenson looked dangerous in midfield. They had two further penalty chances, in the 40th and 46th but both attempts were missed.
Despite losing a player to the sin bin in the final minutes of the game, it was Coleraine AI that finished the stronger of the two teams. With little time remaining, and having weathered a number of Omagh attacks, the Coleraine AI team laid siege on the Omagh Academy line and Alastair Corbett rounded off some good work by his forwards to score a converted try.
Coleraine AI will now play RBAI in the semi final at Kingspan Stadium on Tuesday 3rd March (2.30pm). CLICK HERE to buy tickets.
CAMPBELL COLLEGE 14 METHODIST COLLEGE 20
The ‘Match of the Day’ tag went to the game featuring Campbell College, Belfast against Methodist College, Belfast, which was played at the famous Fox’s Field venue. Early domination by Methody paid off when fullback Robert Lyttle converted a penalty opportunity to give his team a 0-3 lead. The visitors continued to take the game to the Campbell College team and got due reward when a series of ‘picks and goes’ allowed Daniel Coulter to find a gap in the Campbell defence to score. A change of Methodist College tactics saw them move the ball through the hands of their backs on a number of occasions. Ali McIvor created the space for his winger, Conor Kelly, whose clever inside pass to the supporting Lyttle presented him with the opportunity to score a try under the posts. The conversion kick was a formality for Lyttle who put his Methody team into a 0-15 lead going into the interval.
The second half saw the Campbell College team stage something of a recovery following their first half performance. They made the break through when their hard working forward Jack Barry Glendinning crashed over for a deserved try. Cameron Stewart’s conversion reduced the deficit to 7-15. Methody responded positively and a clever exchange of passes, involving both forwards and backs, finished with captain, Saul Herdman, touching down in the corner midway through the second half. Campbell created a number of try scoring opportunities in the final quarter of the game but found it difficult to get anything out of the Methodist College defence. That was until the final minute of the game when replacement scrum half, Malcolm Corry, sniped his way through to score a try that he converted himself.
Methody will now play Wallace in the semi final at Kingspan Stadium on Thursday 5th March (3.00pm). CLICK HERE to buy tickets.
BALLYCLARE HS 3 WALLACE HS 11
Ballyclare HS knew they had nothing to lose when they hosted Wallace HS in the Danske Bank Ulster Schools’ Cup quarter-final game at the Rashee Road venue. Wallace, competition favourites, had to work hard before they came away from Ballyclare with a hard earned 3-11 victory. In a physical and, at times, abrasive game both teams showed commitment in contact in the early stages. It was Wallace who opened the scoring with an Andrew Cardosi penalty but Matthew McDowell cancelled out that effort shortly after. Then, following a series a close quarter attacks on the Ballyclare line, a succession of forward surges took their toll on the home defence and Andrew Irvine spotted a gap in the home defence to power his way over the line. Cardosi was off target with the conversion but he added his second penalty of the game to give his side a 3-11 lead at the break.
The second half was something of a stalemate with both defences on top. Wallace again had a number of opportunities in the Ballyclare 22m area but they were held up over the line twice by some heroic tackling from players such as Jack Magee, Jack Black and Jack Lewis. Ben Pentland, Ben Finlay, Philip Hylands, Jonny Stewart, Cardosi, and Irvine got through a lot of work the visitors.
Wallace HS will now play Methody in the semi final at Kingspan Stadium on Thursday 5th March (3.00pm). CLICK HERE to buy tickets.