Ballymena too strong for Limavady Grammar

STRAIGHT from the kick off Ballymena pinned Limavady deep in their own half and Ulster Schools' U19 lock, David Whann, appeared to have scored the first try of the game but the referee deemed the ball was held up.

From the resultant scrum in the 14th minute, Ballymena Academy were awarded a penalty which Callum Patterson converted to give his team a 3-0 lead.

Ballymena continued to dominate but in the 21st minute Limavady eventually put together their first attack. Following a great tackle by George Hargy, the Ballymena Academy prop, on Nathan Barr and a subsequent turnover by David Whann, the ball was released to the Academy backs.

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Caleb Morrison and Charlie Simpson cut through the Limavady defence to put their winger, Matthew McBride, son of former King’s Scholars and Ulster centre Ronnie McBride, through to score an unconverted try in the left hand corner for an 8-0 lead.

The Limavady attack finally gained some momentum and in the 32nd min, they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, Barr slotting over the simple conversion.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Ballymena dominating territory. In the 45th minute, from a line out on the Limavady '22', the Ballymena Academy pack proceeded to maul the ball all the way to the try line. No 8, Peter Wallace, was awarded the resulting touchdown. Patterson added the conversion to give his team a healthy 15-3 lead.

As the second half progressed, Limavady came more into the game, but outstanding defence by Ballymena prevented any scores.

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In the 70th minute of the game, Academy and Irish Schools’ full back, Simpson, intercepted a pass on his own '22' and ran the length of the pitch to score. Morrison converted this opportunistic try to complete the scoring.