The team schedule instructed the squad to meet at the Eddie Irvine Go-Kart track in Bangor at 9.25am. With all assembled, the Ulster players made their way through to a briefing room, where the “would be” Eddie Irvines received safety instructions and the rules for a 2 hour team endurance race.

Captains for five teams were called for, with the front row men volunteering their services as they believed they had the necessary leadership skills for such an onerous task. Overalls were fitted, then each captain in turn selected his drivers, after this it was off to the track for a series of practice laps to establish pole position.

Paul Marshall, Cillian Willis and Isaac Boss were the early front-runners then it suddenly dawned on the front row men that the cars went faster when the lighter men were at the wheel. A quick look round the paddock and it looked as if the bookies money would lie with Bryan Young’s outfit.

When the race got underway Marshall set the early pace but he nearly came a cropper when he had an argument at a corner with Justin Fitzpatrick and Ian Whitten. The race was stopped, and when the green lights came on again Marshall finished his stint in front, handing over a narrow lead to Andrew Trimble.

When the 2 hours were up the chequered flag signalled that Bryan Young and his team of Humphreys, McCrea and Porter completed more circuits than the rest.

It was clear that the squad had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Some of the antics in the pit lane as the drivers changed over would have definitely received several drive through penalties, if not disqualification had Formula 1 rules been strictly applied. The banter and craic was mighty from start to finish and it was exactly the reaction that the management were looking for. Neil Doak explains, “It was a team building exercise, the boys have been separated for 5 weeks so we decided to get them back together in a friendly environment, to get back the banter and craic. There was a bit of physical activity, we got them to gel into teams just to give them a bit of competition, as we build up to the Glasgow game on Friday night.”

After the Go-Karting the squad met in a local hotel to have a structured team meeting, during which they reviewed the achievements to date, and looked at the tasks that lie ahead during the next five games.

Lunch followed, then it was off to Regent House for a pitch training session, which the pupils and their coaches were able to attend. Brian McLaughlin said, “The venues today have been something different for the players to deal with and with the pupils watching the training this afternoon it helped the boys focus on keeping things accurate. It is also nice for me as Regent is my old school, although I never remember the pitches looking as good as this in my day. I think today has been a success, the boys have enjoyed the different environments and they have worked very very hard. We will be back to Newforge tomorrow and will build on what we have achieved today. It was important to get the boys back into focus for Glasgow as quickly as possible and today has been a very useful exercise.”

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