With the the School 1st XV having
successfully negotiated their Schools Cup match against Banbridge Academy
with a stunning victory from what , at one point , seemed like certain
defeat the Former Pupils travelled to Coleraine in good form for the
League encounter with the University Students.
Conditions on the day were fine and dry and with the
game staged on the expansive Coleraine pitch High School were hopeful of a
positive result. Unfortunately with poor traffic conditions on the way to
Coleraine preparations were less than ideal with the usual pre match run
out restricted to a brief warm up. The team showed a couple of changes
from the previous week with Ben Hanvey on a home sojourn drafted in at
hooker for Gareth McManus, and Greg Elliott taking up position in the
second row while Paul Shaw moved to the back row to replace the injured
Paul Lavery.
The game got underway with High School under
immediate pressure from a fired up Uni side . Taking the game to High
School the students were rewarded with a successful penalty , after 5
minutes of play . At this early stage High School were not concerned about
these early points from the home team and concentrated their efforts in
securing territory and getting into a good attacking position. With the
visiting forwards dominating proceedings up front the first points came
from a clean catch and drive situation after 9 minutes of play. The
unconverted points were secured by Ben Hanvey.
Soon after, a virtual repeat of the same attacking
situation saw a further addition to the scoreline this time from a catch
and drive taken over by Stephen Morton . Again the conversion was missed.
With High School now in the driving seat the
expectation from the visiting support was that further points would be
accumulated in regular succession. However this was not to be the case as
the High School XV failed to imprint their mark on a UUC team determined
to make an impression . With the visitors playing a rather edgy and
scrappy game UUC were next to get points on the board with a well taken
converted try after eighteen minutes of play taking the score to an even
10 points each. It was at this stage that High School lost the services of
centre David Mayne who suffered a damaged ankle and was forced to leave
the field for the rest of the match. This presented a rather unsettled
High School side with a significant problem to deal with and did little to
settle the team down into their normal rhythm. With the backs not gelling
together as usual and the forwards maintaining the advantage but not
taking full control the next twenty minutes was perhaps the poorest period
of play seen from this team for some time. Things did not improve when
after 32 minutes the visitors were reduced to thirteen men after Ben
Hanvey was sin binned . Although this sin binning was probably deserved it
was not matched by consistency in such matters in the rest of the game.
As the half time whistle drew nearer High School knew
this game was not going the way it was planned but even so there was
confidence that matters could be put right and normal service resumed.
With the team reduced to thirteen players, High School took the next
positive initiative driving up the pitch to be awarded a penalty inside
the Uni 22. A good call set the forwards in motion and with the ball in
hand Davy Henry went over for a well taken and well deserved try , his
first for the team . Tim Murphy converted to take High School into a slim
lead at the break.
HALF TIME UUC 10
- 17
BHSFP
Following a stern half time talk by coach Davy Scott
the play got underway with both sides fighting to achieve the upper hand .
The students were also reduced to fourteen men when their second row left
the pitch after ten minutes of the half. Despite this the edgy form of
High School continued as they found it difficult to stamp their authority
on the game. The next points were added by the students from a penalty
award bringing the home team to within 4 points of the visitors as the
game moved towards the final quarter.
With twenty minutes left to play and matters in the
balance Chris Kitchen scored a well taken try slicing the home defence
right through the middle. The try was converted by Tim Murphy. This was an
important point in the game as it came after some good defensive work by
the high school backline added to the forwards who, for some time, had
taken full control in both set piece and loose. Confidence quickly started
to increase and within a further 4 minutes Jordan Frampton scored an
excellent try following a 40 metre run to the line The try was converted
by Tim Murphy and suddenly High School were well ahead.
At this stage High School needed to regain full
momentum and with twelve minutes left on the clock a further 3 tries were
added before the game finished . Firstly a great run from inside his own
half saw Stephen Morton secure his second try of the day as he sprinted
like a Gazelle to the line. Tim Murphy converted. This was followed soon
after by a well taken try from Paul Shaw which came after numerous
attempts to cross the UUC line had been thwarted. Unfortunately one of
these attempts saw John Balmer in the clear and sprinting for the line
only to be brought down awkwardly on his shoulder. With the shoulder
dislocated and clearly in a lot of pain John left the field reducing the
team again to thirteen men with 8 minutes left on the clock.
The final points came after thirty five minutes when
Phil McKeown secured himself a try following a good touchline run . Tim
Murphy converted. No further points were added as the game came to a
close.
This turned out to be a comfortable victory in the
end by High School but some lessons can be learned as the players were
aware as they left the pitch . All in all valuable league points secured
but not a good day at the office in a number of ways.
FINAL SCORE
UUC 13
- 50 BHSFP
Labor Ipse Voluptas
