Dalriada defeat Portadown and now meet mighty Inst

However, the Ballymoney boys will have home advantage when they take on Royal Belfast Academical Institution.

Inst are regarded as one of the top names in schools’ rugby but Dalriada will be aiming to produce their all to cause an upset.

On a very wet and windy day on Saturday Dalriada defeated Portadown College 26-0 in Ballymoney.

Both teams dealt well with the horrible conditions but it was Dalriada who controlled the game for most of the first half and had built up a 19-0 lead at the interval.

Dalriada came racing out of the blocks and scored a try shortly after the start of the game. A clever kick through by Timmy Emerson was then kicked ahead by Robert Hunter who won the race to score in the corner. The conversion kick was unsuccessful but Dalriada had built up a 5-0 lead.

From the restart the Dalriada forwards controlled possession and made their way up the pitch with some strong ball carries from Matthew Christie and Scott Malcomson.

Dalriada pressure caused Portadown to infringe and from the resultant penalty Timmy Emerson kicked to touch.

The Dalriada forwards took control of the ball from the lineout and drove the maul over the Portadown line with Scott Malcolmson eventually setting his fellow forward, Scott Love, up for the try.

* More inside on p42.

Timmy Emerson added the extras to put Dalriada into a 12-0 lead. Just before the interval Dalriada got good front foot possession which paved the way for Scott Malcolmson to rumble over for a try.

Timmy Emerson, once again, converted to give the Dalriada a 19-0 lead at the interval.

The start of the second half saw Portadown College create a number of scoring opportunities with Ryan Turner, Jason Lau, Niall Davidson and Thomas Troughton all asking questions of the Dalriada defence.

However, the Dalriada defence was up to the task and nothing got through.

Then, on a rare visit to the Portadown College 22m area, the Dalriada full back, Michael Finnerty, took advantage of a lapse in the Portadown College defence.

He broke through and off loaded a clever pass to Timmy Emerson who was only too pleased to run in for a try. Timmy converted the try to put his Dalriada team into an unassailable 26-0 lead.

Portadown College never gave up and took play back into the Dalriada half.

However, Ryan Malcolmson, who put on a “Man of the Match” display, had his defence well-organised.

He got great support from players such as Alan Montgomery, David McKeeman, Craig Anderson and Matthew Steele, as well as young replacement player, Angus Johnston. Their efforts ensured the Dalriada line remained intact.