With Cavan the welcome visitors to Greenisland the
day weather wise could not have contrasted more with the previous Saturday
. With conditions bright , calm and sound underfoot High School were
looking forward to exploiting their natural running game interspersed with
strong set piece skills. There were no changes in personnel from the
previous match .
The game got underway with High School on the attack
against a strong looking Cavan side . An early blow was struck when the
first scrum of the day was secured by High School against the head. With
the game only 4 minutes old the scoreboard notched up 5 points to High
School after Neil Hastings finished off a trademark run to plant the ball
in the corner. The conversion was missed.
From the restart High School once again took the
ascendancy and foraged deep into the Cavan 22. With the visiting team in
some disarray the ball was moved from the set piece to the wing where Phil
McKeown still had a lot to do to finish off a fine move. Showing
considerable tenacity Phil barged his way through the remaining Cavan
defence to score in the corner with 6 minutes on the clock. The conversion
was well taken by Tim Murphy.
The Cavan side looked a bit shell shocked at this
stage but managed to rally to some degree and defend well for the next
period of time. High School were showing the benefit of the previous weeks
sessions on the scrummage machine with a very solid performance in this
area. In addition the lineout was less of a lottery this week and Greg
Elliott was showing fine form picking balls from the air . The Cavan side
were showing their abilities in the ruck and maul and were
gradually clawing their way back into the game when the High School
increased the score yet further with a fine try by David Mayne. This came
from third phase ball recycled to the right into the hands of David
standing on the wing. Once he received the ball there was a clear run to
the line with the defence clutching the air in his wake. The only problem
was the dive over the line
– could have been sore David !! The
conversion was missed.
As the game progressed High School maintained the
upper hand and continued to press the Cavan defence at every opportunity .
Some superb handling by the back line could have resulted in further
points but for the final ball going to ground or a decision to kick rather
than keep ball in hand. The watching crowd were being treated to a display
of good running rugby ( no doubt noted by the watching spy from PSNI ) but
the forwards were not to be outdone on this occasion. The next points came
from a ruck situation after High School had camped on the Cavan line for
what seemed like an eternity before Gareth McManus had the opportunity to
pick and drive over the line for the points. A well taken try by Gareth
and a clean conversion by Tim Murphy.
With no let up in sight Cavan could see that the game
was now probably beyond their reach but they were determined to give it
everything and with good work from their astute outhalf they occasionally
threatened the High School 22 but at no stage looked like getting points
on the board. With the game 22 minutes old David Mayne struck again with a
well taken try to increase the scoreline yet further . The conversion from
wide out was missed.
The Cavan team was struggling to find any form and
with the game heading towards half time frustration crept in . A bit of a
fracas at the tail of the lineout saw the referee summon the two captains
along with Paul Lavery and his opposite number to a tete a tete in the
middle of the pitch. The result was a yellow card to the Cavan player who
retired to the bin. This was a situation Cavan could have done without but
with a man down they still continued to play hard but were to lose yet
more points after 35 minutes of play when Davy Hanna who was playing his
best game of the season finished a good drive over the line for the touch
down. The conversion was well taken by Tim Murphy.
Exactly on 40 minutes the referee blew the half time
whistle to bring an end to a scintillating first half by High School.
HALF TIME BHSFP
36 -
0 CAVAN
The second half of the match kicked off with the home
team once again taking the ascendancy taking play deep into the Cavan half
of the pitch. The visitors however were clearly stung by whatever
criticism had been levelled at them at half time by their captain and
coach. They were much more focussed and determined up front . High School
for their part seemed to be comfortable with the 36 point lead and were
surprised when Cavan scored their first points from a well worked forward
try after 8 minutes of the half. The try was converted and although there
was no way back for the visitors they salvaged some pride from this score.
As the half progressed the High School eight realised
that Cavan had gelled together better and that a slight change of emphasis
was needed to maintain momentum. This came from good work to the corners
by half back pairing of captain Jonny Mayne and Tim Murphy . With the
resultant lineouts in the corner the ball was cleanly caught on a number
of occasions with the Cavan team defending well initially. Strong work by
Pete Taylor , John Balmer and Andy Morrison meant it was only a matter of
time however before the ploy worked and as is usual in these circumstances
Stephen Morton finished of the move for the points after 20 minutes of the
half. The move was repeated again after 30 minutes of the half when
Stephen went over for his second try of the day . Tim Murphy secured the
points on one of the two tries.
The High School backline were having less freedom in
this half although good work by Neil Hastings, Jordan Frampton and
Chris Kitchen very nearly made the breakthrough on a number of
occasions . The Cavan midfield defence was strong however and with eight
minutes left on the clock Cavan scored their second try of the day and
while this was much against the run of play it was none the less well
deserved. The conversion was missed.
No further points were scored in the match with High
School finishing strongly and content with a good win. With hindsight
however the score could have been a lot more but for a few handling
errors.
The High School can feel content with the season so
far maintaining their second spot in the table. With a two week layoff
until the next competitive game in the league (away to PSNI ) the
opportunity is there for more hard work to take the team forward and
everything to play for.
Lots of support needed for the PSNI game at Newforge.
Labor Ipse Voluptas
