Campbell looked threatening with ball in hand in the opening minutes, their second row Joe Hopes making a couple of impressive carries. Wallace held firm in defence under sustained pressure and got the scrum just 5 metres from their line. They ran the ball with Charlie Beattie making his way up to the 22-metre line with a great run.
Wallace soon had a line-out and demonstrated their impressive attacking maul which made several metres of ground. Campbell were able to regain possession however, and eventually got a penalty which they kicked for touch. Campbell then went on the maul and opted for the pick-and-go – Wallace did really well to hold Campbell College up on two occasions, but eventually Matthew Booth showed great strength to cross over for CCB’s first try, and Peter Caves added the conversion.
Campbell College probed again, and eventually got their second score on 24 minutes when winger Henry Johnson raced in under the posts, and Caves made no mistake with the extras to put the Belfast side 14 points up.
Wallace enjoyed a period of pressure and again used their strong attacking maul to make ground, but the Belfast side eventually did well over the ball to make the turnover on half-way.
After the break, Wallace worked hard to get into a promising area of the field, and soon had a penalty opportunity on 39 minutes, which Matthew Halliday duly obliged and knocked over the three points.
WHS were in the ascendancy and pressed Campbell College; prop Cameron Doak prominent in the loose, making hard carries. They earned another penalty on 46 minutes and Halliday was on-target with the three.
Campbell College didn’t take long to respond, and they had an opportunity to show the threat their attacking maul could carry. Co-captain Zac Solomon crashed over to claim their third try, and Caves nailed the difficult conversion.
Wallace had a great opportunity after Matthew Crowe made a break off the back of the scrum, and they worked their way to just a few metres out, but Campbell got the 5-metre scrum and out of immediate danger.
Campbell College had the final say in the last minute of the game, when winger Oliver Topping ran clear for their fourth try. Peter Caves made it four from four off the tee with the excellent conversion.
Full-time score: Campbell College Belfast 28 Wallace High School 6
Scorers
Campbell College
Tries: Matthew Booth, Henry Johnson, Zac Solomon, Oliver Topping
Cons: Peter Caves (4)
Wallace High School
Pens: Matthew Halliday (2)
Line-ups
Campbell College
(15-9) Peter Caves, Oliver Topping, Matthew Booth, Callum Florence, Henry Johnson, Tom Crowther (Capt.), Johnny McCracken;
(1-8) Cameron Hillis, Zac Solomon (VC), Darragh Hanlon, Alexander Brennan, Joe Hopes, Oliver McCauley, Luke Johnston, Cameron Faith.
Replacements: Christopher Massey, Lucas Perez De Leza, Matthew Murphy, Reece Bell, Cameron Faith, Matt Rea, Stuart Johnson, Jake Daly.
Wallace High School
(15-9) Charlie Beattie, Ben Armstrong, Finn Rankin, Zac Lindsay, Noah McCluskey, Mathew Halliday, Ethan Patterson;
(1-8) Cameron Doak, Ethan Gilliland, Nicholas Macklin-Copeland, Philip Kennedy (Capt.), Fraser Harrower, Michael Waite, Adam McClean, Matthew Crowe.
Replacements: Harry Wright, Josh Hanna, Fionn McCloskey, Aaron Bailie, Daniel Hearne, Lewis Stevenson, Ethan Dunbar, Jacob Longley.
Final Tickets
Tickets for the Danske Bank Ulster Schools' Cup Final will go on sale on Friday 4 March at 10am.