From the kick- off, Stranmillis appeared the stronger of the two teams. They capitalised on good phases of possession when winger Simon Moffet crossed the line to give Stranmillis the perfect start. Unfortunatley, Mark Boyces conversion just sailed wide. With 15 minutes of the first half remaining, Stranmillis doubled their lead when Moffet broke through the North West defence to score under the posts. This time Boyce added the two points.

After the restart, North West attacked deep into the Stranmillis 22’, and they were awarded a scrum for a knock- on. From here, the ball was sent out to Steven Brennan, who side- stepped the fullback to score, reducing the score to 12 -5.

Five minutes later, North West hooker Liegh Huiey barged over the line from 3 yards to score in the corner, after the ball was moved wide by Scrum half Barbour towards Huiey, who shuffled an over- the- line score. This closed the gap to two points at the half time break.

Action from the game

The second half was a much tighter affair, with each team attacking from deep inside its own half’s. Some outstanding defence by both teams saw any scoring chances wasted. The scrum of both teams was solid, and credit must go to each pack. In both teams, it was the first time that many of the students played the full adult scrum variation, unlike what they would have played at club level.

With 13 minutes of the second half remaining, North West took the lead when scrum Ben Barbour intercepted a Stranmillis pass from deep inside the North West 22, to run the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Steven Brennan hit a drop goal to add the conversion, giving North West a five point lead.

But it wasn't to be North West’s day, when just minutes before the final whistle, Stranmillis hit back with prop Andy “ Small Man” Craig crashing over from the back of a rolling maul to level the scores. This time Mark Boyce made no mistake when he added the conversion to regain the lead and win the match for Stranmillis. The final score of the match was Stranmillis 19 - North West 17   

North West Regional College Rugby Team would like to thank Willie Lamrock and the Staff of Londonderry YMCA Rugby club for hosting the game. Also to Mike and Ivor for transporting the players from each campus to and from the games, and referee, Colin Mc Candless for officiating the game. 

North West Regional College will now travel to Sligo to play Sligo IT in the culmination of the Irish Colleges Campaign for 2007/2008.

North West Regional College pictured with Community Rugby Development Officer, Jonathan Quigley