An experimental Sullivan Upper side agreed to play Regent House on Wednesday 7th facilitating a Regent request not to play on Saturday 10th because of the annual Regent House formal which took place on Friday 9th November. Regent won the game by 19-12 but Sullivan coach Michael Rodgers was delighted with the performance of his young team, in particular Jamie Carr, son of ex Irish International Nigel Carr, playing in an unaccustomed role of scrum half.

Down HS played Friends’ School and the visitors caused many moments of concern for the home side before Down HS eventually won by 31-30.

Bangor GS hosted BRA and lost a well contested game by 30-19. There was a great deal of improvement shown by the Bangor team but they will need to lift themselves up for a difficult match against Ballyclare HS on Saturday. Unfortunately for Bangor GS their trip to Ballyclare did not bring about any great change in terms of results. In a game played in difficult conditions for both teams the home side were comfortable 20-12 winners at the finish.

Banbridge Academy hosted Belfast HS and ran out 22-3 winners. The Banbridge team scored tries through Ryan Bentley, Jamie Gibson, Adam Crozier and Luke Mc Kinney. Lloyd Mc Donald kicked the only conversion of the game.

Carrickfergus GS are proving to be a difficult team to beat at home this season. Antrim GS were the visitors on Saturday and ended up on the wrong end of a 32-7 defeat.

Coleraine AI travelled to Enniskillen to play Portora RS. Both teams were at full strength and the visitors were in a close 18-14 lead at half time. Coleraine totally dominated the second half scoring 26 points to leave them resounding 44-14 winners. Paul Galbraith and Ashley Finley scored tries for Portora with Galbraith converting both. For Coleraine AI, Jonny Shields and Owen Mc Intosh scored two tries each and David Rosett scored one. Michael Mc Dowell scored one try and kicked four conversions as well as two penalties.

Dalriada and Larne GS played in Ballymoney with the visitors winning by 22-0. Eight minutes into the game full back Lee Miller continued where he left off in Canada by scoring the first Larne try following a clever kick through by Stuart Mc Ilwaine. On fifteen minutes 2nd Row Michael Knox barged over to score a hard earned try and ten minutes later Stuart Mc Ilwaine scored Larne’s third try to give them a 15-0 half time lead. Dalriada provided more resistant in the second half and took the game to Larne. The Larne defence was well organised and Dalriada, despite their efforts, failed to find a way through. With little time left, Larne hooker Ryan Maybin scored a try which was converted by Lee Miller to leave the final score 22-0 in favour of Larne.

Foyle and Londonderry College played out a tense 5-5 draw with BRA. The home team has been unbeaten in Londonderry and few sides will enjoy the thought of travelling to play Foyle now that they are back to full strength following the Schools’ Interprovincial series.

Friends’ School hosted Lurgan College with the Lisburn boys’ in confident mood following their positive midweek performance against Down HS. Friends’ dominated the opening exchanges and hooker Conor Diffin went over for the first try of the game after ten minutes. Outhalf Keith Allen kicked the conversion to put Friends’ 7-0 ahead. Lurgan struck back from the restart enabling their outhalf to outpace a sluggish Friends’ defence to score a try. Four minutes later Friends’ extended their lead when quickly recycled ball was well used by the Friends’ backline allowing winger Adam Wilson to score a try in the corner. Once again Keith Allen was accurate with his conversion to put the Friends’ team 14-5 ahead. On the stroke of half time the Friends’ pack surged forward to the Lurgan line and second row Oliver Mairs got the touch down close to the posts. The resulting conversion was a formality for Keith Allen, leaving Friends’ 21-5 ahead at half time. The Lurgan College outhalf scored immediately after the restart, once again making the Friends’ defence appear sluggish. With the score now at 21-10, Friends’ laid siege to the Lurgan line but had only a Keith Allen penalty after sixteen minutes to show for their endeavours.
On twenty minutes the Lurgan scrum half charged down an attempted Friends’ clearance kick and ran in unopposed for a converted try which left the score at 24-17 to Friends’. Near the end of the game another Allen penalty gave the Friends’ team an unassailable 27-17 lead which they carried through to the final whistle.

Campbell College inflicted Grosvenor GS second only defeat of the season when they won by 28-13 at Grosvenor. The Campbell team was 21-3 in the lead at half time thanks to tries from Matthew Austin, Philip Lunn and bustling winger Andrew Dickson. James Mc Kinney hit all three conversions. In the second half Grosvenor stepped up a gear and took the game to Campbell. Grosvenor scored two tries as well as kicking a penalty and conversion. Campbell responded with a Ben Mc Donnell try, converted by James Mc Kinney to leave them as 28-13 winners.

Methodist College entertained Castleknock College at Pirrie Park. The Methody boys welcomed full back Michael Allen back after injury and he, along with Paddy Robinson and Sean Conway, played a starring role in the home team’s 29-20 win. Both teams were prepared to move the ball at every opportunity with spectators enjoying an excellent game of rugby.

Omagh Academy 1stxv has proven to be a difficult team to beat at Campsie in the course of the current season. Limavady GS were the visitors on Saturday and took a 5-0 lead when centre Andrew Givan went in for a try after seven minutes.
On twenty minutes Limavady were penalised following an infringement at a ruck and Omagh kicked the resultant penalty. Shortly after this Mark O’Connor kicked a penalty from the touchline to extend the Limavady lead to 8-3. Just before half time, Omagh reduced the deficit to 8-6, when they kicked another penalty. Omagh started the second half strongly but could not find away through the resolute Limavady defence. On twenty minutes Mark O’Connor converted a hugh penalty from the ten metre to put his team 11-6 ahead. Omagh regrouped and scored a try when the Limavady defence failed to pay attention following a penalty award against them. The Omagh conversion was missed but the score was now level at 11-11. With six minutes to go Limavady were again penalised and Omagh made no mistake with the kick to give them a 14-11 lead. Just as full time was approaching Mark O’ Connor kicked another penalty to leave the score at 14-14 at the end of the game.

Raney ES 1stxv has had an indifferent season to date but their 6-3 win over Ballymena Academy will do their confidence no harm. Wallace HS and RS Armagh played out a 13-13 draw. The Wallace team was 10-5 behind at half time and with the amount of possession the Lisburn team had in the second half they will be wondering how the did not win the game. On the final whistle it was the RS Armagh team which was the happier of the two teams with the draw. RS Dungannon 1stxv has had a difficult season so far and their luck did not improve on Saturday when they lost 47-0 to a lively RBAI team. Down HS continued their recent run of good results when they played well within their capabilities to defeat Wellington College by 22-8 in Belfast.

Thirteen Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ players have been included in an extended Irish Schools’ U18 training squad which will meet in Dublin on 24th/25th November.

The players are:

Michael Allen MCB
Niall Annett MCB
Mark Atkinson GGS
Jason Bloomfield CAI
Michael Boyd Ballymena Academy
Jonathan Heron SUS
Mark Hood Portora RS
Luke Marshall Ballymena Academy
James Mc Kinney CCB
Paul Pritchard Ballymena Academy
Nevin Spence WHS
Andrew Warwick B’Mena Academy
Angus Warwicker CAI.