Cup Weekend for College Rugby
It was cup rugby this week at Portadown College with both Medallion and first xv in action. The main game was the School’s Cup fixture between Portadown College and Royal School Dungannon.
The College started brightly, turning Dungannon over from the kick-off. With a platform to attack in the Dungannon half, the boys applied pressure with their brand of running rugby. They opened the scoring on seven minutes when an excellent lineout and maul saw hooker Callum Doak score out wide, with Charlie Rodgers kicking an excellent conversion.
Dungannon responded as their two excellent centres started to play well in the midfield and it was their outside centre who responded with their opening try of the game on fifteen minutes after some very poor tackling in midfield from the College. The rest of the first half saw two evenly matched teams play the game in the middle of the Killicomaine Road pitch, with both sides nullifying each other.
The College continued to play open running rugby, and were very unfortunate on several occasions not to add to their lead. A number of knock-ons or a pass not going to hand proving the fine margins needed to win at this level. Indeed, the case could be made that employing the kicking game more would have served the College boys better on some occasions.
Worryingly, the school lost Captain Sam Bentley to a concussion, and this was one of the reasons the strong College lineout then stopped functioning. Without this element of the game, the College boys started to struggle to capitalise on good field position and scoring opportunities. Just before half time, Dungannon took the lead for the first time with a well struck penalty from the referee adjudging a Portadown player to be offside. The score at half-time was Portadown College 7 – 10 RS Dungannon
The College lost starting winger Thomas Kenny to a leg injury early in the second half, as they upped their physicality in attack. The two College centres in Charlie Ridgers, who has been in excellent form this year, and Sammy Walsh, started to win that battle with their counterparts. Dungannon though, continued to defend well, and were able to extend their lead from another infringement to move their lead to six points.
The College responded and thought they had another Callum Doak try, only for it to be ruled out by the referee. A further Dungannon penalty from distance pushed their lead out to nine points, but with the College playing all the rugby, they were rewarded with a penalty try from a collapsed maul. Now, with the momentum, the College boys pushed for the win, but with a lineout being adjudged to not be straight in the Dungannon half, Dungannon were able to push play deep into the College territory and defend to see the game out. As full time arrived the final score was Portadown College 14 RS Dungannon 16.
Portadown College Medallion secured a hard-fought 32–27 win over Wellington College on Wednesday. In a tense and thrilling first-round clash of the Medallion Shield the boys showed outstanding determination, teamwork, and resilience right to the final whistle. Wellington College came to play and showed a competitive spirit. The College Medallion now look forward to the next Round.