Coleraine Inst Medallion record another victory

COLERAINE Inst Medallion continued their good start to the season with an impressive win over an organised and talented Ballymena Academy outfit.

With the pitch in excellent condition and the early morning sun out, the stage was set fair for both sides to play some entertaining and flowing rugby.

The match started at a great pace and intensity with both sides seeking dominance in both defence and attack in the early exchanges. The Ballymena side started the stronger and took play to the Coleraine team with some surging runs from their pack and in particular their dynamic number eight.

Although this period of pressure lasted for a number of phases, the Coleraine side showed great improvement in their defensive organisation and discipline to hold out the Ballymena side. With Ballymena unable to breach the Coleraine line after this period of sustained pressure they began to get frustrated and give away needless penalties.

Against the run of play, Coleraine then produced a fantastic counter attack with a superb turnover by prop John McLean, followed by great handling from the backline which led to a superb try by Joel Stanbridge in the corner. This try shifted the momentum of the game and Coleraine started to put phases together and play rugby with ball in hand.

After some great work in the pack the pressure started to pile up on the Ballymena side and this led to a penalty, converted by scrum half Jack Farrell who had another solid game in his adopted position. Scoring in the first half was rounded off by a superb individual try by Stranbridge who doubled his tally for the day after some excellent work by the pack again.

The second half saw a revival in the Ballymena side who kicked well and put Inst under pressure at times again but to the Coleraine side’s credit they stuck to their task and after another brilliant try by Shiels the final score was left at 22-5.

This was a solid win by the Coleraine side who showed spirit and determination to ensure their unbeaten record remained intact. The scrum and lineout functioned well all day with Matthew McCook, Nathanal McCollum and Kieran Burns all putting in solid performances.

The team showed vast improvements in their defensive set up and discipline at the break down, as well as maintaining a solid set piece and threat with ball in hand. Tough challenges lie ahead for the side but the team are improving week by week and confident of the task awaiting them in the next few weeks.

The Medallion B XV had their first fixture of the season on Saturday morning, narrowly losing out 22-14 to Ballymena Academy. The Coleraine side fought hard and played some excellent rugby with Alross Alejo, Matthew Dunlop and Bradley Dempster all performing well. Great team spirit was shown as the Inst boys matched Ballymena in every department and will gain confidence from this for the fixtures ahead of them.

This week the Medallion B XV face Ballymoney High School at home on Tuesday afternoon and on Saturday both sides travel to face Belfast Inst in an eagerly awaited battle.

Good start for under-13s

THE under13s continued their good start to the season with two convincing victories over Ballymena Academy.

The A’s won 39- 5. The best forward was Jake King and the best back was Connor Vauls.

The B’s won 39-7. Matthew Webster was the best foward and Callum Norris the best back.

Excellent display by under-14s

The under-14s won 15-0.

This was an excellent performance from the team as they had lost by 30 points against Ballymena last season.

Inst defended brilliantly throughout the game especially in the last five minutes when they refused to allow Ballymena in for a score even though the game was won.

Winger Callum Wallace scored two first half tries and Reece Ramage scored the other.

“It would be unfair to single out any player as this was a real team performance,” said team coach Mr Gaston team.

The under-14B’s won 27-0.

This was a very pleasing performance as the team had been narrowly beaten last year against Ballymena.

The B’s played some fantastic running rugby with backs and forwards all comfortable handling the ball.