| A
large band of supporters turned out to watch the Former Pupils take on the
travelling Cavan side at Greenisland in Qualifying League section three.
The game was played on the newly drained Greenisland pitch which was in
first class order for this match. The overhead conditions were good
although there was an intermittent chilly breeze. |
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| High
School had some personnel and positional changes from last weeks match
against Academy with Davy Scott missing from the front row , Jonny Territ
drafted into lock alongside Greg Elliott and Jonny Price coming into the
back row. In the backline Chris Kitchen took over the outhalf role with
Jordan Frampton moving to the wing . |
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| The
game started with High School playing into the breeze and facing a
formidable looking Cavan side. High School were immediately on the attack
taking play deep into the Cavan half and were unlucky not to score after 4
minutes when a good move was destroyed by deliberate Cavan interference.
This was the first of a number of occasions during the game when clear try
scoring opportunities were lost in this way. |
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| The
supporting band only had to wait for seven minutes though before the first
points were on the board . These came from Peter Taylors boot when High
School were awarded a penalty which was duly converted. |
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|
Cavan immediately struck
back and took play into the High School half where they were awarded a
penalty within kicking distance but failed to convert.
Again this week the High
School pack were in the ascendancy in the set scrum against a side
physically much bigger . Equally the mauls were working extremely well and
would be the source of further points later in the game. Success in the
lineout was generally good with Greg Elliott catching well as usual .
Although High School had
the better of Cavan in the early period of play it wasn’t until fifteen
minutes had elapsed before the first try was scored. This came from a
phase of attacking play down the middle . From the ensuing ruck the ball
was cleanly won and moved right through a number of hands to Neil Hastings
on the wing who barged his way through the defence for the try. Pete
Taylor converted.
As previously indicated
High School were unable to score more heavily in this period because of
persistent infringement by Cavan. Eventually the referee lost patience and
on eighteen minutes yellow carded the Cavan fullback for yet another
offence.
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Shortly after this High
School again attacked the Cavan line and secured a line out seventeen
metres out. The lineout was cleanly won and a perfect driving maul was set
up to take the ball cleanly over the Cavan line for a try by Stephen
Morton in typical Neill Back style. Pete Taylor converted cleanly.
High School were very
much on top at this stage although Cavan were sticking to the task and
presented quite a challenge up front. A further 2 minutes of play elapsed
before High School again added points to their tally. Good work by Jonny
Mayne saw the ball charged down , collected in the middle of the pitch and
swiftly moved to Ian Elliott who completed the move with the try. The
conversion was missed.
Cavan continued to defend
well and occasionally threatened the High School 22 but rarely looked like
scoring. High School for their part were winning copious amounts of ball
and using it in a number of pre set attacking runs across the backs. The
next points however came from excellent interplay between Jonny Mayne and
Colin James. From a ruck situation on the half way line Jonny spotted an
opening on the blind side just as Colin did the same . Jonny took the
initial hit and passed to Colin who outpaced the defence for a straight
run to the line. The try was converted by Pete Taylor.
High School looked to be
cruising at this point but as can often happen in rugby a set back occurs.
This time it was an injury to lock, Greg Elliott after thirty one minutes
of play. Unfortunately Greg
was forced to leave the pitch and High School remained at fourteen men for
the remainder of the match.
The game moved to half
time without further score.
|
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| HALF
TIME
BHSFP 29
- 0 CAVAN |
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High School started the
second half as they did the first and although they were a man down
continued to dominate forward play in all areas. Further points came when
the second half was 7 minutes old. With play having been brought near the
Cavan line High School secured a 5 metre lineout and again from a clean
catch and drive Stephen Morton went over for the try. Pete Taylor who was
very much in the kicking groove and playing the captains role again
converted.
With such a substantial
lead built up it seemed High School would continue to run in try’s but
Cavan continued to defend with gusto and this, combined with a degree of
over elaboration, and perhaps too much time saw High School unable to
utilise the ball to the full in this period. The High School backline
though were very much on top throughout the game and showed the natural
running talent present in the side and the capability of scoring try’s
from anywhere on the field.
It
wasn’t until thirty five minutes of the second half had passed before
the supporting band had another try to cheer. This came from loose play
when the ball was picked up and moved to Ian Elliott who sprinted clear up
the field and passed to Jordan Frampton in support. The try was secured by
Jordan and converted by Pete Taylor.
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Bearing in mind that High
School were fielding fourteen men throughout this half they still denied
Cavan any decent scoring opportunity and with the game moving to its
closing stages a final try was secured to bring the score to the Fifty
mark. This try again came from loose play inside the High School half when
the ball was run out from defence and moved to the irrepressible Ian
Elliott on the wing. Ian carried on to within 5 metres of the line and
sensing that Stephen Morton had came up in support and a potential jug was
in the offing he offloaded to Morty for his third try of the game and
certainly his best display in the jersey this season – “so far”.
Pete Taylor converted.
Unfortunately
Cavan again had a player dispatched to the bin just as the final whistle
blew.
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| All in all a satisfying
performance by the team in scoring 50 points and keeping a clean sheet.
The forwards took on a much bigger pack and again came out on top in both
technique and all round ability. The backs did well running from all parts
of the pitch and giving the supporting crowd some exciting rugby to watch. |
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FINAL SCORE
BHSFP 50
- 0 CAVAN
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| Next
week its Lurgan at home ( KO
2.30 ) |
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