Academy boys win Inst tournament

BALLYMENA Academy’s under-14 rugby team created their own piece of rugby history within the school by winning the prestigious Inst tournament last week.
The Ballymena Academy Under-14 XV celebrate their success at the Inst tournament.The Ballymena Academy Under-14 XV celebrate their success at the Inst tournament.
The Ballymena Academy Under-14 XV celebrate their success at the Inst tournament.

Ballymena’s first group match was against Wallace High School; a game where the boys took a while to find their stride. After 20 minutes of nervous play Ballymena came out victors by 14 points to 0.

The team’s second group match was against a spirited Dungannon side that competed well at break down and moved the ball at any opportunity. Ballymena produced another nervous performance to win by 15-0.

From the group stages the team progressed to the semi-finals of the main competition where they met Down High School, a dark horse of the competition already beating Methody and Ballyclare with ease in their group to reach the same stage.

The boys needed to get rid of the nerves and produce the kind of performance their supporters knew they were capable of. Thankfully they did not disappoint; the boys dominated play from the very first kick off taking advantage of a Down High mistake to go over in the corner. The boys maintained the pressure and played some of their best rugby all year. As a result the final score was 21-0.

This set the stage for a thrilling final against RBAI with Ballymena going in as strong favourites. The game got off to a tense start as RBAI capitalised on a loose kick off setting up a platform for them to attack through the middle of the Ballymena defence and score under the posts to make it 7-0.

Ballymena boys bounced back dominating play throughout the second half with all their determination, commitment and team work paying off to produce an outstanding 19-7 victory.

Academy squad: Tim Savory, David Stevenson, Scott Agnew, Ryan Malcolm, Christopher McLeister, Joel Gocher, Azur Allison, Alexander Clarke, Michael Stronge, Angus Kernohan, Conor Barkley, Conor Agnew, Alan Small, Cameron McNeill, Conor Gallagher, Louis McGuckian, Bradley Campbell, Conor Cosgrove, Matthew Boyd, Eoin McCorkindale, Jonathan Morrow, Robbie Anderson.