Dalriada going from strength to strength

While the first are enjoying the limelight with other Dalriada sides have also been making progress in their respective Cup Competitions. The seconds played out a tight Quarter final Plate match against Belfast High, while the Medallion made their way into the Quarter Final of the trophy competition with a good win over Downshire School.

Dalriada 2nd XV travelled to Belfast High to continue in the 2nd's School's Cup after they beat Cambridge House two weeks ago. The teams were well matched with both teams attacking and defending well.

All the points of the game came in the second half as two Dalriada, and one Belfast High penalty attempts went wide. Dalriada scored first through wing Jonny McMullan. As Belfast High ran the ball at the defending Dalriada line, Flanker and Captain Andrew Skelton did well to make the tackle and win the ball. The Ball was then released blind and made its way to Full Back McMullan who beat several defenders with quick feet and a strong Hand off to set a simple conversion for John Laughlin. The score was now 7-0.

Belfast High responded a few minutes later with a converted try of their own to level the scores at 7 all. They were held off for a few minutes on the line by a much improved and organised Dalriada defence from previous weeks, but the patient Home side were awarded with a forward try. Centre John Allen's great tackling and running game was marred at this point in the game as he was yellow carded for coming in the side of the ruck.

Now a man down, Dalriada did well to get back in the lead. From a ruck in the Belfast 22 the home side tried to kick down the field. Jonny McMullan caught the ball and ran it back, again beating several defenders to score his second try of the game. The difficult conversion was missed.

Shortly after this Belfast responded again with a controversial try. A kick in behind Dalriada looked to bounce on the touch line, and a few Dalriada players eased off their chase, but with the ball being on the Belfast High Supporters side it went unnoticed. The Belfast wing took this opportunity to score the five points. Dalriada were maybe done justice as the conversion was missed to level the scores 12 all.

Dalriada and Belfast High will now replay the game sometime next week, this time at Home. John Stewart and Andrew Skelton should be mentioned for their big tackles and good rucking. Good vision and tactical kicking from Scrum Half Matthew Dunlop kept Dalriada moving forward, out of their own half and set up good attacking positions. Man of the Match went to Jonny McMullan for his great running rugby.

Medallion through to next stage

An epic weekend for Dalriada rugby began early on the Friday afternoon, when the Medallion team travelled to Carrickfergus to play in the Medallion trophy competition, against Downshire School. The game started well and Dalriada immediately took up field position within the Downshire 22. Dalriada were awarded a penalty, and Timothy Creaney tapped quickly to allow Ryan Malcomson sight of the line. His try was unconverted and Dalriada were 5 -0 up with 6 minutes played. On 22 minutes Dalriada back line had a good passing move, releasing Philip Linton on the right wing. His run was bundled into touch 5 metres out but from the lineout Downshire failed to tidy the ball and quick reactions from Philip Taylor secured another try.10-0 to Dalriada and minutes later, after great work by the pack to break up the defence, the backline passing released the opposite wing, Josh Hetherington, with a run in to the corner . The try was converted by Jamie Gardiner leaving the score at half time 17-0 to Dalriada.

Downshire started the second half strongly and looked to keep the ball secure in the forwards.Their larger pack was certainly capable of causing damage and, early from a scrum on the Dalriada 5 metre line, the Downshire pack recycled the ball to maul over in the left corner. The unconverted try making the score 5-17.

Encouragingly for Dalriada, the heads were still up and with good positional kicking and an outstanding run from half way by Peter Johnston, the game moved to the Downshire 22. From a scrum mid field , the backline split and Jamie Gardiner delayed his pass until right up to the tackle line. A floated pass into space saw Stuart Fallows burst through between the two defenders to touch down left of the posts. The converted try brought the score to 24-5 and a comfort zone of sorts. On 18 minutes a strong run by Henry Loan on the left was halted just short of the line. Intelligent play saw him keep the ball alive with an immediate pass out of the tackle, and Stuart Fallows was on hand to score his second try.

However, even with the score at 29-5, Downshire never gave up and scored from a close range ruck, following the deep restart kick. Injuries to David Holmes and Adam Hodges saw them replaced by Mark Matthews and David Mckeeman. Both had made significant impact in the match but their replacements did not weaken the side. Strong defence in the last 5 minutes kept Downshire from scoring, especially by Stuart Fallows, who held up a Downshire player over the goal line, turned over possession and drove the play back out off the danger zone. The final score Downshire 10 Dalriada 29 was a fair reflection of the game and the boys now progress to the quarter finals of this competition.

TEAM:

Ryan Malcomson ,Timothy Creaney, Josh McCormack, Adam Pollock, Jamie Gardiner, Mark Matthews, Andrew McWilliams , Josh Hetherington,.Scott McCollum, .Peter Johnston,(capt) Stuart Fallows, Andrew Kinnaird, Henry Loan, Jonny Allan, .Allen Carruthers, Adam Hodges, Philip Linton , Andrew Wells, Philip Taylor, Timothy Emerson, David Mckeeman, David Holmes.