RUGBY: Comfortable win for Inst Medallion

Inst made a number of changes to the side that beat Rainey in the Shield the previous week and knew they faced a tough encounter against a strong and physical Grosvenor side.

Grosvenor began the match at a frantic pace and put the Inst defence under tremendous pressure for the first quarter of the game. Their big pack dominated in the early exchanges and only for some excellent defensive work by the Inst pack prevented any pressure being transferred into points. The Coleraine side weathered the storm and slowly began to dominate the rest of the exchanges in the first half scoring three clinical tries which all led from Grosvenor mistakes.

After some strong words from the coaches at half time the Coleraine side turned on the style scoring four unanswered tries in the second half. Inst became more patient with the ball in hand and started playing rugby in the right areas of the pitch.

Grosvenor ran out of steam and this allowed Inst to dominate proceedings and finish the game with a 37-0 victory. This was a professional second half performance with some grit and steel shown by this improving side. There were some standout performances with both Daniel McAllister and Matthew McCook showing great work rate and desire in the pack.

In the backs the returning Luke Scott, Joel Stanbridge and Johnny Crowe all had solid games. Although this was not their best performance of the season it did show that the team has developed a ruthless streak in both attack and defence which is important at this stage of the Medallion season.

The boys can be proud of their efforts and momentum and confidence can now be taken into their next fixture. Inst travel to Belfast on Saturday to face the much fancied Campbell College in the forth round of the Medallion Shield.

Inst know that they face a huge challenge but should take confidence from their recent run of victories and good performances. The boys would really appreciate any support from staff, pupils, parents and old boys to help with there quest in reaching the quarter finals.