Down High 1st XV 21   Sullivan 1st XV 10 

Down High notched up another impressive victory with a 21 – 10  win against Sullivan on Saturday. This was a very competent performance by the home team who, despite being under pressure for significant periods of the game, displayed great patience and control to build a match winning lead.  

Sullivan kicked off playing with a slight wind advantage and from their first attack took an early 3 -0 lead when Down High were penalized in front of the posts. Down High regained possession from the restart and threatened the Sullivan line but the final pass was spilled out wide and Sullivan cleared their lines. With 11 minutes gone Down High won a five meter scrum and moved the ball smartly to the right creating space for Jamie Thompson to score in the corner and give the home side a 5 – 3 lead. The lead was short lived and when Down High were robbed of possession Sullivan exposed weak midfield defence to cut through for a try under the posts, the conversion was added giving the visitors a 10 – 5 advantage. Sullivan continued to attack but the Down High defence was solid and well organized and soaked up the pressure and as half time approached Down High were awarded a penalty to the right of the posts, Justin Rea landed the kick to leave the half time score 10 -8 in favour of the visitors.

The second half began with Sullivan once again slightly on top but the Down High defence remained solid and when Sullivan tried to move the ball wide Luca Rea intercepted a flat pass and ran in from 40 meters to score under the posts, Justin Rea added the conversion to give Down High a 15 – 10 lead. Sullivan tried to work their way back into the match but they became more and more frustrated by the aggressive Down High defence with Tommy McConnell and Ben Hale landing some big hits. With  55 minutes gone Down High moved further into the lead when Sullivan were penalized following a Kelvin Hamilton trademark barging run, Justin Rea landed the 35 meter kick and the home side eased further ahead 18 – 10. The growing maturity of the Down High performance was clear when from the restart they regained possession and concentrated on retaining the ball keeping Sullivan pinned inside their own half and from a lineout on the Sullivan five meter line the Down High forwards worked a catch and drive which resulted in Sullivan being penalized at the ruck, Justin Rea landed the kick to increase the lead to 21 – 10 with five minutes remaining.

Sullivan launched an all out attack in the closing minutes and despite having Luca Rea sin binned for a deliberate knock on the Down High defence remained solid and they closed the match out for what, in the end, was a confident, well constructed victory.   

 Down High 1st XV 42  Carrick Grammar 0

Recent results by both teams suggested that this would be a reasonably straightforward encounter for the Down High boys and so, in the end, it proved to be but the home team made reasonably hard work of their victory with a number of unforced errors and missed chances meaning that it was only in the closing minutes that the winning margin really became convincing.

Down High were missing a number of key players and when Carrick made searing breaks with their first couple of plays it looked like the form book may have done them an injustice but with their first real attack Down High took the lead when the ball was moved quickly to the right to create an overlap for  Ryan Smith to stroll over from 5 meters, Luca Rea added the conversion to leave the score 7 – 0.

Down High regained possession from the restart and quickly worked their way deep into the Carrick half where Kelvin Hamilton collected a pass and proceeded to brush off three defenders to score under the posts, Luca Rea converted to give Down High a 14 – 0. The home team failed to capitalize on the early domination and the remainder of the half was a scrappy affair punctuated with numerous stoppages but on the stroke of half time Roger Birt brought the game to life scoring under the posts after a fine individual break, Rea added the extras to leave the half time score 21 – 0.

The second half saw a mini revival by the Carrick team when they produced their best rugby of the match was this was well contained by solid Down High defence and the home team soon regained domination of possession and territory but opportunities were wasted through conceding cheap penalties and poor ball retention meant that it was the 51st minute before the home side increased their lead when Luc Bonnargent scored under the posts after an incisive Jack Calvert break, Rea added the conversion to take the Down High lead to 28 – 0. That seemed to deflate the Carrick boys and their weak defence allowed Roger Birt to waltz his way through for his second try which was converted by Rea to take the score to 35 – 0. There was still time for a final flourish which saw Roger Birt complete his hat trick when he outpaced the Carrick defence to touchdown beneath the posts, the conversion was added leaving the final score 42 – 0.

The task will be much tougher next week when Down High host a much fancied Sullivan Upper 1st XV and with the Schools Cup looming there is much work to be done to fine tune what is proving to be a Down High team with great potential.