| High School
welcomed Larne to Greenisland for this first round match in the Gordon
West Cup in the knowledge that Larne had comprehensively outplayed the
home team on the two occasions they met in the League this season. The
weather conditions were favourable for an open running game with a dry
pitch and a light wind. The team was virtually the same as last week
although Ben Hanvey moved back into his favourite hooker position with
Phil McKeown returning to the centre . In the Second Row Andy
“ Jim” Morrison joined Bryan McGreal in the engine room. |
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The
match got underway in front of a large supporting crowd with the High
School side showing intense commitment from the start . Both Forwards and
backs immediately attacked the opposition to the extent that Larne were
immediately on the back foot. For the first period High School remained in
the Larne half of the pitch and with the game only five minutes old the
first points went to High School with a try to John Balmer. This came from
a classic five metre line out catch and drive. Peter Taylor converted well
from wide out. |
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This
was a good start for High School and as the game progressed it was evident
that Larne were not going to be as dominant on this occasion as they had
been in the previous two encounters. The High School forwards were playing
with composure and with a couple of the eight having their best games of
the season Larne were quickly aware that this was not going to be an easy
match. However you don’t win the League without being a good side and
High School knew that Larne would fight all the way. |
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The
game continued with High School repelling any attack mounted by Larne. The
lineouts were strong with Davy Hanna and Andy Morrison taking clean ball
of the top and feeding Jonny Mayne. In the Scrums the front rows were
having a ding dong battle with both teams occasionally getting the
upperhand . The loose play was excellent with Ben Hanvey involved in
everything and Davy Hanna taking the game to Larne at every opportunity
ably assisted by Brian McGreal and John Balmer who was having his best
game of the season in the high School jersey.
The backline were moving the ball well and were strong in defence
particularly when the Larne forwards moved the ball to the middle of the
pitch on some strong bullicking runs. |
| The game was twenty minutes old
before the next points were scored and again these came from High School
and the boot of Peter Taylor who put over an excellent penalty to take his
team to a well deserved ten points. High School should have been further
ahead at this point such was the dominance of their play but good defence
by Larne thwarted the home team on a couple of occasions. |
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With
the game moving towards half time High School continued to pressure Larne
and tighten the screw but although Larne had a missed penalty opportunity
on forty minutes no further points were scored before the half time
whistle.
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HALT
TIME BHSFP
10
- 0
LARNE
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| The half time score
was a poor measure of how High School had controlled the game in the first
session and were much the better team during that period. They knew
however that Larne would come back in the second half and with the wind
against them they would have to up the ante to come away with victory. |
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As expected Larne started
the second half strongly and for a short period during which Larne scored
two penalties the home team struggled to retain the tight grip on the game
they had in the first half. Larne made a couple of substitutions during
this period which seemed to galvanise their team and they looked more
threatening. With the game sitting at 10 points to 6 in favour of High
School the next points were going to be vital and High School certainly
showed their metal with two excellent tries within a five minute spell of
first class rugby.
The
first try was scored by Ian Elliott who was having an excellent game both
in attack and defence. The High School forwards had taken the ball to
within 10 metres of the Larne line through strong running and handling
allowing Ian to barge his way across the line taking two Larne defenders
with him. The conversion was narrowly missed by Peter Taylor whose line
kicking in this match was out of the top drawer and was responsible for
deflating Larne on a number of occasions.
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| With big Jim to the
fore in the loose High School were winning good ball in all facets of play
. The next try came after twenty minutes of the second half from a loose
situation and can only be described as awesome. The ball was moved across
the pitch in the first phase . At the breakdown the clean possession was
shifted by Jonny Mayne to the backs who now had an opportunity to
demonstrate their attacking skills . The ball was cleanly moved across the
line which had been joined by a couple of forwards. The final receiver was
Gareth Adams who pinned back the ears and went in at the corner for the
points to the delight of the vociferous home support. An excellent
conversion from Peter Taylor took High School into a virtually
unassailable position with the final quarter of the match still to play. |
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Stung by the two tries
Larne continued to play strongly but again the defensive work of the High
School backline kept them in check. With Chris kitchen ,Phil McKeown and
Jordon Frampton hitting exerything in sight High School had the match
fully under control . Consistent play at half back between Jonny Mayne and
Jordon Frampton ensured the ball kept going forward at every opportunity.
With Larne now throwing
all at the home side in an attempt to claw their way back into the game
High School dealt the killer blow with two penalties on 30 and 34 minutes.
These came purely from pressure up front with the High School pack forcing
Larne into errors.
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| As the game moved
towards a conclusion the High School side began to tire having given
everything physically possible up to this point in the match. Larne to
their credit ran in two late converted tries through their speedy backs to
make the scoreline more respectable but in truth the High School side had
dominated most of this match and were much the better side on the day
deserving the win and the prospect of a trip to Virginia in the next
round. |
FINAL
SCORE BHSFP
28 -
20 LARNE
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A word of thanks to the
Ladies who prepared and presented such an excellent pre match luncheon for
the visiting Larne officials and invited guests. The food was first class
and was enjoyed by all.
With the League complete
the next match will be the away game to Virginia . Book your seat on the
bus now !
Labor
Ipse Voluptas
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