Match Report: Bangor Grammar School 42-24 Ballyclare High School

Bangor Grammar School vs Ballyclare High School

Two weeks on from a disappointing Schools' Cup exit in Armagh, Bangor Grammar School opened their Subsidiary Shield campaign last Saturday, against defending champions Ballyclare High School.

Both sides had played each other twice this season already, with Bangor Grammar emerging narrow winners in both occasions. Despite this, a strong string of results either side of the Christmas break had Ballyclare as many experts' favourites.

The forecast rain held off all morning, leaving overcast skies and a strong wind blowing down the length of the Gransha Road pitch. Ballyclare fly-half, Adam Clarke, kicked off to begin proceedings.

A couple of minutes later, Ballyclare were in attack. Penetrating the Bangor Grammar defence, Robert Reid recorded the first score. Mark Jackson's conversion hit the target.

The match ebbed and flowed through the next five minutes, with neither side making much of an inroad through the other's defence. This continued until Aaron Sexton received the ball off a Bangor scrum 66 metres out. From there, the BGS full back weaved through scattered Ballyclare shirts, making the most of his trademark speed. Touching down behind the posts, Sexton's try brought Bangor back into contention. Rhys Larmour levelled the score with the conversion.

After ten minutes, Ballyclare High School were awarded a kickable penalty for a Bangor high tackle. On target, Mark Jackson saw Ballyclare High School retake the lead.

In the early stages, Bangor looked to have the scrum advantage. After Ben McCrossan's assault on the line was held up, the hosts had another golden scoring opportunity from an attacking 5 metre scrum. Breaking off the back, Adam Pritchard pushed three Ballyclare players back beyond the try line, and grounded the ball for five points. Rhys Larmour added two more with the conversion.

Rattling through the phases, Bangor again built from half way for their next try. Scrum half Angus Christie spotted a gap, and did well to rotate mid tackle then reach for the line. Larmour converted successfully for the third time.

Five minutes before half time, Pritchard departed the pitch with a dislocated shoulder. Chris Pyper joined the action in his place.

Pushed on by the Gransha breeze, Ballyclare tried to get a score before the break. Their efforts were rewarded as number 8 Jack Gamble crashed over. Jackson's conversion meant that there were four points between both sides at the interval.

After the break, Bangor Grammar had the tailwind, but couldn't deploy their kicking game to fully benefit from the conditions. Instead, Ballyclare were the team most likely to score early in the second half. But, we've seen time and time again how the Bangor talent can turn something out of nothing - Patrick Dobie turned over, then Cameron Stewart ran in for yet another BGS try, again converted by Larmour.

At this stage, it looked as though the game was starting to slip away from Ballyclare. To their credit, they dug deep and Callum McConnell's reach for the line (and Jackson's conversion), once more brought the gap to four points.

With McConnell's try, and a yellow card issued to Bangor lock Robbie Winters, momentum seemed to be shifting back to Ballyclare. Ultimately, this proved not to be the case, and Bangor ran in two late tries through Ben McCrossan and Patrick Dobie to win the match and book their place in the Subsidiary Shield semi final. Larmour's final conversion tally was 7 from 7.

Following this match, the draw was made for the Subsidiary Shield semi finals. Bangor Grammar School will face Dalriada School at home, while in the other tie, Sullivan Upper School will host Royal School Dungannon. Both matches will be played on Saturday 9th March.

Final Score: Bangor Grammar School 42-24 Ballyclare High School

Teamsheet: 1. Grant, 2. Moore, 3. McCrossan, 4. Dobie, 5. Winters, 6. Westwood, 7. Wells, 8. Pritchard, 9. Christie, 10. Larmour, 11. Angus, 12. McCracken, 13. Stewart, 14. McCreary, 15. Sexton.

Subs: 16. Norman, 17. Nesbitt, 18. Cavan, 19. Pyper, 20. Wood, 21. Hamilton, 22. Ritchie, 23. Hatty.

BGS Tries: Aaron Sexton, Adam Pritchard, Angus Christie, Cameron Stewart, Ben McCrossan, Patrick Dobie.

BGS Conv: Rhys Larmour (x6)

BCL Try: Robert Reid, Jack Gamble, Callum McConnell

BCL Conv: Mark Jackson (x3)

BCL Pen: Mark Jackson