Armoy 11 v  BHSFP 43

With the Christmas and New Year break now a distant memory High School travelled to Armoy for a tricky first fixture of 2006 . Conditions for the match were quite good with a reasonably firm and dry pitch . The only change in personnel from the last game saw David Henry make his return to the second row. 

The game got underway with Armoy taking the initiative against the High School side which seemed to be a bit lacklustre having not played for a few weeks. Initial handling was not good with a number of balls going to ground and little cohesiveness about the pitch . Armoy took full advantage at the start of the game and with only 4 minutes of the game gone the first points were on the board delivered by their industrious pack. 

It was hoped that High School would improve as the match progressed but for the next period of play both sides tended to cancel each other out with mistakes on either side. On a number of occasions High School should have been in for a try only to let the last pass slip or take a wrong decision. What they needed was points on the board to settle things down and sure enough with 16 minutes gone a good move by the backline resulted in Neil Hastings touching down in the corner. The conversion was missed .

With things now all square High School started to play much better rugby against the disruptive Armoy pack who continually spoiled as much as possible in tight and loose. The High School forwards however soon dominated the lineout and with good throwing by Gareth McManus and the clean work of Andy Morrison and Paul Shaw a good supply of ball was the norm for the rest of the game. The next points however were taken by Armoy who converted a penalty to nudge into the lead again. 

The game continued with the Armoy side employing the same disruptive tactics against the visitors who were also by now dominating the loose play with Pete Taylor very much in evidence around the fringes. Good work by the High School backline had threatened the Armoy defence on a number of occasions and with 35 minutes gone the inevitable happened . From rather messy set piece possession Jonny Mayne managed to get an excellent pass away to Tim Murphy who broke through the home defence with relative ease to score the try which he then converted. This took High School into a well deserved lead but within a minute of the restart Armoy again retaliated with a converted penalty. 

Taking play into the corner from a penalty rather than take the points proved a good decision by Capt Jonny Mayne, when from the resultant lineout that man Morton was there again for the catch and drive which this time Armoy were unable to stop. Tim Murphy converted. 

This try took High School further ahead and at half time it seemed there was no way back for Armoy who were struggling to attain any decent possession and had little impact against the well organised High School defence. Some great midfield tackling by David Mayne and Chris Kitchen allowed nothing through much to the frustration of the home backline.

HALF TIME    -    ARMOY  11    -    19  BHSFP       

In the absence of coach Davy Scott and his assistant Derek Wilson who were touring with the School squad, medic Ken McBride doubled up in the coaching role for the day taking the half time team talk.

In the knowledge that they had a comfortable lead High School commenced the second half much more in the groove than they had started the first. The ball movement was crisper and it was clear the backs had shaken off the New Year blues . It was only 6 minutes into the half before the next try was scored through a simple ball across the backline to David Mayne , who found himself in open space for the first time in the game. With 40 metres to go David outstripped the home defence before they had noticed to score an excellent try. The try was converted by Tim Murphy. 

Within another 6 minutes David scored again , this time it was from a neat chip by Tim Murphy which was picked up by David on his fingertips having left the defence for dead. With no resistance he went in for the points . The conversion from wide was narrowly missed. 

With 14 men on the pitch Armoy went further behind 2 minutes later when David Mayne completed a good day at the office with his third “Jug” try of the day . This one came from a loose play situation with the ball arriving in Davids hands and another run in against the floundering defence. This one was converted by T Murphy. 

With their scrum not as dominant as perhaps expected and the lineout not functioning Armoy struggled to keep the visitors in check but to their credit did not give up . With their No 6 restored to the play and a prop off injured uncontested scrums followed which did little to assist High School who were dominating in the front row and around the fringes. However with 27 minutes of the half gone High School were awarded a penalty just inside their own half and finding himself with ball in hand “Morty” tapped and took of as fast as he could go bisecting the Armoy team running clear to the line . The conversion was missed. 

Despite having in excess of 70% of the play in the last 12 minutes High School were unable to add to the scoreline and with Morty receiving a yellow card with only 5 minutes remaining and Jordan Frampton ,who had an excellent game, limping of with cramp the game came to an end with both teams glad to head for the showers. 

Next week its home to Civil Service. All support welcome.