Match Preview: Bangor Grammar School vs Sullivan Upper - 20/03/2019
Bangor Grammar School vs Dalriada School
193 days after their season began, Bangor Grammar School's 1st XV season comes to an end tomorrow afternoon. Before that, though, is the small matter of a Subsidiary Shield final to contest against Sullivan Upper School of Holywood.
Tomorrow will be Bangor Grammar's fourth Subsidiary Shield final appearance. In 1984 they shared the title with Belfast High School after a nine all draw. Five years later, Bangor Grammar won outright by beating Coleraine Academical Institution 9-3. After losing out by 26 points to 3 in the 1999 final to Royal Armagh, Bangor Grammar again made the final in 2011. Unfortunately this also ended in defeat, as Ballymena left with a 33-5 victory.
Bangor Grammar's last 1st XV final was two seasons ago - as the team beat Regent House to win the Schools' Bowl at Pirrie Park.
The BGS 1st XV is coached by Mr Kennedy and Mr Hunter with help from old boys Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) and Matthew Agnew (Ulster Academy).
Amongst the Bangor ranks is 18 year old Aaron Sexton, who has already played once for the Ulster seniors (earlier this season). He raised eyebrows for the Ulster As in the Celtic Cup, where he scored seven tries in six matches, and recorded the fastest ever speed for any player representing an Ulster team. He has also represented the Ireland U19s this season. Sexton's speed is his golden weapon, he is the fastest school boy in Irish 100m history.
Elsewhere in the Bangor squad are forwards Ben McCrossan, Gareth Wells and Riley Westwood, who all have interprovincial age-grade experience (through the Ulster U18s and U19s).
Last time out, Ben McCrossan became the top try scorer this season, on 14 tries. He passed Conor Lusty (13 tries). Unfortunately a broken thumb has ruled Conor Lusty out of all BGS Schools' Cup and Subsidiary Shield matches so far this season.
The Bangor Grammar School captain is Rhys Larmour, whose kicking passed the 100 point mark for the season, during the last match against Dalriada.
Bangor's season started off inconsistent, but they have turned their form around when it counted, with gritty and resounding wins as underdogs against Regent, Ballyclare and Dalriada School. Now they seem to be hitting a rich vein of form at just the right time.
Bangor's opposition tomorrow are Sullivan Upper School, based on Belfast Road in Holywood. Up until 2014 (where they were Schools' Cup runners up), Sullivan's greatest rugby achievement was their Subsidiary Shield triumph in 1980. On that day, they beat Down High School 3-0.
That Schools Cup final in 2014 for Sullivan proved to be the springboard for a new breed of strong rugby footballers, and Sullivan are now considered one of the top teams in the country. They were very unfortunate to draw defending Schools' Cup champions Campbell College in Round 4 of this year's competition and after putting up a great fight, fell just short.
Sullivan are led by head coach Adam Craig, with assistance from David Armstrong, Chris Henderson, Mark Henderson, Paddy McGrattan and Ross Adair. Their captain is Jamie Thallon. One player to watch is scrum half Conor McKee who featured in the Ulster U19 squad (with Bangor's Riley Westwood, Gareth Wells and coach Mr Kennedy) that beat Australia Schools before Christmas. Conor scored 4/5 conversions the last time Bangor and Sullivan met.
One of Sullivan's season highlights came in November as they beat Campbell College by a point. Their low point came in February against the same side when they were knocked out of the Schools' Cup. Wins over Ballymena and Enniskillen were also very impressive results.
The Front Row Union produce the best form of ranking system for local schools' rugby. Bangor Grammar sit 19th, whilst Sullivan are currently 4th. The system is geared up to take both results and quality of opposition into consideration.
https://thefrontrowunion.com/2019/02/ulster-schools-rugby-rankings-2018-19-week-11
These rankings would suggest Sullivan are clear favourites. But Bangor have been second favourites in all of their Cup and Shield matches so far and have won 3/4 of those. Write off Bangor Grammar School at your peril!
An additional factor in this match is the fact that six players (three for both sides) played together for the Bangor RFC minis (pictured below in 2007, then again a few years later - talk about feeling old! )
Last Time
These two sides faced earlier this season at Sullivan. With numerous players unavailable for selection for both sides due to inter-provincial representation, Sullivan won 33-10. Shay Storey (x2), Thomas Leitch, Harry Baird and Jamie Thallon were the Sullivan try scorers, with Conor McKee adding four conversions. Bangor's try scorers were Gareth Wells and Conor Lusty.
Remarkably, last season's fixture between Bangor Grammar and Sullivan Upper produced exactly the same score: 33-10 to Sullivan. Bangor's try came from Daniel Young with Rhys Larmour adding 5 more points from the tee.
Team News
Keep an eye out on our Facebook & Twitter pages tomorrow morning. The team will be published just before kickoff.
Match Details
Venue: Queen's Sport Malone (The Dub), Dub Lane, Belfast
Kick off time: 2:30 pm
Last Encounter: SUS 33-10 BGS
BGS 2018-19 Form: P21 / W9 / D0 /L12 (Points for: 524 / Points against: 547)
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 within the next few weeks. Best of luck to members of the B.G.S. 1st XV team, and all the other teams in action.
