Match Preview: Dalriada School vs Bangor Grammar School - 01/12/2018
Dalriada School vs Bangor Grammar School
After a rocky few weeks from mid October to early November, Bangor Grammar's season is well and truly back on track. The latest chapter saw the Gryphons beat a good Friends' side in Lisburn last Saturday in a thrilling match.
This week it's another potentially tricky affair at St James Road, a scene of drastic highs and lows for BGS in recent years.
In the 2012 Schools' Cup 4th Round, BGS won there 11-5 for a place in the quarter final. 2 seasons later, Bangor Grammar were denied a place in the Subsidiary Shield final after a 20-0 defeat to Dalriada.
In 2017, Dalriada and BGS again played at St. James' Road in the Schools' Cup. On that occasion, Dalriada again won to book a memorable day at Ravenhill in the Schools' Cup semi final. Only Ben McCrossan from tomorrow's playing squad will remember playing that day.
Any player will tell you that Dalriada are a very tough team to play away.
Match Preview
As was the case for Friends' last week, Dalriada have had a high win rate so far this season against arguably weaker opposition: wins vs Grosvenor, Cambridge House, Antrim, Foyle College, Larne and Regent House. They have been beaten on just three occasions; by Rainey Endowed, BRA and Ballyclare High School.
Bangor Grammar's season has seen them beat Belfast Met, Belfast High, Ballyclare High School twice, and Friends. Defeats have been inflicted by Armagh, Ballymena, Sullivan, Campbell, Coleraine and BRA.
The Front Row Union produce the best form of ranking system for local schools' rugby. Out of 33 teams, Dalriada currently lie 12th, and Bangor Grammar ranked 17th (up 3 places from last week). The system is geared up to take both results and quality of opposition into consideration.
https://thefrontrowunion.com/2018/11/ulster-schools-rugby-rankings-2018-19-week-4
Last Time
This time last year, both teams faced each other at Upritchard Park in Bangor. BGS came out on top, with Jonny Gamble (x2), Zach Kerr, Ben McCrossan, Jack Gibson and Will Simpson all on the scoresheet.
The final score was BGS 32-17 DAL. Highlights of last year's fixture are below.
Team News
This week, three players are unavailable due to international representation: Aaron Sexton is in the Ireland U19 squad to face Australia U19s.
Riley Westwood is in the Ireland U18 training squad, which Gareth Wells is also on the reserve list for.
Chris Pyper, Luke Norman and Lewis Hatty are the players coming into the BGS 1st XV in their place.
Adam Pritchard is currently recovering from a broken foot, and will be out for approximately 8 weeks.
Match Details
Venue: Dalriada School 1st XV Pitch, St. James' Road, Ballymoney
Kick off time: 10.30 am
Last Encounter: BGS 32-17 DAL
BGS 2018-19 Form: P11 / W5 / D0 /L6 (Points for: 321 / Points against: 259)
Follow the match with live updates on the Gryphiti Twitter Account, plus more reaction and photographs on our Facebook page and here on the Gryphiti website. We'll be videoing the match and will have highlights later in the season. Best of luck to members of the B.G.S. 1st XV team, and all the other teams in action.
