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Danske Bank Schools' Cup: Quarter-Final Preview

10th February 2023

The Subsidiary Shield, Schools' Bowl, and Schools' Trophy are also down to the last 8 Schools, with Quarter Finals to be played on Saturday morning.

Once all fixtures have been concluded, the draws for the Semi-Finals of all four competitions will take place at The Royal School, Dungannon.

Danske Bank Schools' Cup Quarter-Finals

Royal Belfast Academical Institution v Dromore High School, 10:30 KO

RBAI played their first game in the Cup in the Round of 16, having entered as one of the ten seeded Schools. They were drawn away to Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, and had to work hard to record a 29-13 win. RBAI scored tries through James Clark, Josh Gibson, Alex Place, and a penalty try. Josh Eagleson weighed in with two successful conversions as well as one successful penalty goal.

Dromore were at home in the previous round, and recorded the win in a high-scoring contest with Down High School. They scored tries through Jonny Scott, Callum Bradley, Livai Naga, Ethan Dickson and Jack Allen. Nathan Hook was successful with three of his conversion kicks as well as one penalty kick in a 34-22 win.

Dromore had qualified for the Round of 16 having come through the Group Stage, winning all 3 of their games to top Group B. The won 19-7 away to Banbridge Academy in the first fixture, beat Bangor Grammar School 42-6 in the next game, and then secured their qualification with a 40-0 victory over Larne Grammar School.

Wallace High School v Coleraine Grammar School, 11:00 KO

Both of these seeded Schools entered the Cup in the Round of 16 to begin their tournament.

Wallace High School played their fixture at home to Foyle College, who had qualified as the best-placed runners-up from the Group Stage. The Lisburn school recorded a 43-5 win, as Sam Warwick recorded a hat trick of tries with Matthew Crowe, Charlie Beattie, Ben Armstrong and Noah McCluskey each touching down for one try. Charlie Beattie added the extras to four of the Wallace High School tries.

In the previous round, Coleraine Grammar School were drawn at home to Limavady Grammar School, who had topped Group A. Unconverted tries from Matthew Curry and Igor Zielinski gave the Coleraine Grammar School their 10-0 first half lead, before Jordan McAuley touched down to secure their 15-7 victory.

Sullivan Upper School v Campbell College, Belfast, 10:30 KO

This fixture is also a meeting of 2 of the seeded Schools which entered in the previous stage, the Round of 16.

Sullivan Upper reached the quarter-final after recorded the slimmest margin of victory of all the fixtures played in the previous round, as they edged past Royal School Armagh 8-7 at home. The Sullivan Upper points came through a penalty from Harry McKeown and a try from Ryan Drain.

Last year's finalists Campbell reached the last 8 with a last-gasp win away to Ballymena Academy. The Belfast school built a 10-0 lead following a try from Cameron Faith, which was converted by Matthew Rae, and a Rae penalty. The home side pulled level, before Campbell's Rae slotted a penalty with the last kick of the game to secure a 13-10 win.

Royal School, Dungannon v Methodist College, Belfast, 10:45 KO

Royal School, Dungannon, were another School to have worked their way to this round of the competition having successfully navigated the Group Stage in winter. They started with a 28-8 win away to Rainey Endowed, beat Friends' School Lisburn 21-0, and then qualified with a 43-5 win at Portadown College. This set up their Round of 16 tie with Ballyclare High School.

The home side took an early 3-0 lead through a Jacob Clarke penalty and never went behind en route to a 24-18 win. Clarke also converted his own try, as well as scores by Cameron Cummings and Reuben Gibson.

The defending champions Methodist College had to come through a tough opening tie this season, as they made the short trip the Belfast Royal Academy and recorded a 29-22 victory.

The Belfast Royal Academy team scored three tries through Ben Dewhurst, Scott Baxter and Jacob Burton. Ryan O’Hara added one successful penalty kick as well as two successful conversions.

The Methodist College, Belfast team scored four tries through Matthew Gourley, Tyrese Abolarin, who touched down twice, and Matthew Scott, David Armstrong added the extras to three of the tries as well as kicking one penalty goal.