Dalriada Medallion extend winning run at Limavady

DALRIADA MEDALLION 28

Dalriada Medallion rugby team made the short journey across the mountain to play Limavady Grammar School.

In a rather scrappy encounter the Dalriada team extended their winning run by beating the hosts 28 – 3.

The home team kicked off and put the visitors under some early pressure. They were rewarded with a long range penalty to go 3 – 0 ahead.

However, Dalriada bounced back and following a great attack with passing between forwards and backs flanker Luke Cantley made a great break to score. Connor Creith converted.

As the half wore on Dalriada put Limavady under constant pressure and increased their lead when fly half Connor Creith spotted a gap in the Limavady defence and burst through to score a fine individual try which he also converted.

In the second half Dalriada made five changes but continued to dominate the game. Following a poor clearance by Limavady winger Joshua McLeister fielded the ball and popped a lovely pass to Ross Fallows who sprinted clear to score a try which Connor Creith converted.

Dalriada’s final try was the best score of the game. Following a line out the ball was passed along the backs for Ross Fallows to burst through on a crash ball and wrong foot the home defence for a superb try. Connor Creith kicked the conversion and the game finished with Dalriada winning by 28 points to 3.

This week’s man of the match was flanker Luke Cantley who had a tremendous game. His workrate and aggression in loose play was outstanding and he made some great breaks.

This was not a memorable performance by the Dalriada team but it gives them 11 wins from 12 games this season. Hark work is now required in training to have the Ballymoney boys well prepared for the Medallion Shield in the New Year.

Dalriada U14 put in a good performance against Limavady Grammar running out eventual winners with a scoreline 47-0.

They had a slightly unsteady start having lost the fixture last year but an early try scored through great support play from Thomas after Matthew Carton broke free before popping to Thomas Hunter to crash over. They scored seven tries in total, three from Luke Pollock, two each from Thomas Hunter and Mathew Carlton and the last one from Jacob Fleck.

Pick of the tries came from a good Dalriada line-out on the Limavady 22 - the pack catching and rolling forward a pre -planned move before Nathan Philipson broke off and linked well with his backs allowing Luke Pollock to crash over under the posts.

In the second half Dalriada made nine changes in total and were still well in control of the game, never looking like conceding a try and great showings came from Sam dowry and Chrissy Wright who are pushing closer to a start position in the team..

Everyone who came on played very well showing the depth the squad is developing. The coaching staff our pleased with the progress with Dalriada looking the better team from start to finish.

The third XV played their Cup Match against CAI and lost out by 25-3.

on a cold wet Saturday and despite competing for most of the game with CAI big heavy forwards scoring a number of late tries to make the score 25-3. Again the team was ably led by David Laverty with good performances from Peter Emerson, Andrew Hutchinson and Stuart McHugh. The team now look forward to entering the Plate competition after Christmas.

Dalriada U13 travelled to Limavady Grammar on Saturday and it was the home team who started brightly, testing the Dalriada defence which held firm. Dalriada showed patience and composure and had their own periods of possession in the opposition half but came away with nothing to show for their endeavours. Limavady were first to score after some strong running from their centre but Dalriada responded almost immediately with a try of their own from Olly McLeod to leave the half-time score at 7-5. Dalriada began the second half on top and eventually scored a second try through James McCormick to take them into the lead. It looked as though Dalriada would win the game comfortably as they continued to attack Limavady but with a third try disallowed and numerous other chances wasted, Limavady were still in touching distance. A tense finale ensued as Limavady attacked, sensing they could steal the win at the death but the Dalriada men dug deep and defended their line until the final whistle for a hard fought win!

The third XV played their Cup Match against CAI on a cold wet Saturday and despite competing for most of the game with CAI big heavy forwards scoring a number of late tries to make the score 25-3. Again the team was ably led by David Laverty with good performances from Peter Emerson, Andrew Hutchinson and Stuart McHugh. The team now look forward to entering the Plate competition after Christmas.