Down High 0-13 Campbell College

Campbell College travelled to a soggy Down High on Saturday morning for the fourth round of the Medallion Shield with a huge crowd ready to greet them.  With the wind at their backs Campbell immediately put the Mount Crescent men under pressure but some sterling defence from the boys in green meant that a penalty was all the Belfast school had to show for their efforts. 
 
As the half wore on Down High got a foothold in the game however as it drew to a close a slack clearance kick allowed the dangerous Campbell backline to counter attack and score unconverted in the right corner.  A turnover scrum gifted Campbell their second five pointer on the stroke of half time which again went unconverted leaving it 13-0 at the break.
 
The second half was a scrappy affair with both sides having spells of possession without ever really making any ground.  With neither side troubling the scorers the battle ended with Campbell deserved victors although the Down men will be annoyed at the manner in which the points were conceded...on another day the outcome could have been very different.  Having said that Down High can be very proud of their efforts, not only last weekend but throughout the entire campaign to date.  Good team spirit and a strong work ethic has meant that the boys have had an enjoyable and successful season which is not over yet as they now enter the subsiduary competition with great hope and expectancy.

Down High School 20- 15 Carrickfergus Grammar School

Down High began their Northern Bank Medallion Shield campaign in the 3rd round on Saturday past in Downpatrick. They have been playing well throughout the year, only being beaten by a few teams. Could they pull it out of the bag against a strong Carrick side that had defeated them before Christmas?

The match had a positive start with Down High putting the pressure on the strong visiting side. They absorbed a lot of pressure until a good rolling maul slowly crept up to the try line with William Martin breaking off and scoring the opening points of the match.

Soon after  Jack Patterson weaved his way through the Carrick defence with Luke Sandford, a last minute replacement at out half, converting to make the score 12-0.

The rest of the half saw an exchange of penalties, one from the Carrick fly half and the other from Sandford, leaving the score 15-3 to Down High at half time.

With an impressive first half performance could Down High keep up with the intense pressure? It started loosely with the ball being kicked up and down the pitch. After a break through Carrick’s defence Luke Sandford executed a pinpoint cross field kick with Jamie Gibson finishing it off and making the score 20-3.

Then the tide changed and Carrick came on the charge. Down High showed outstanding pride in defence but eventually the pressure told when the visitor’s outside centre crossed over the line making the score 20-8.

With this score, Carrick had their tails up and continued on their attack. However, Down High kept up the strong defence until the last play when Carrick were awarded a penalty try. The conversion that was to follow this would be the final act of the match and when the final whistle blew, the home fans erupted in cheers and applause. Bring on the fourth round.

Thanks to Carrick for a great match, the referee and a massive thanks to Mr Irvine and Mr Carson for all their commitment to coaching us.

By Ross Carlisle

Down High Medallion Rugby Squad in their new playing shirts. The shirts were kindly sponsored by Subway, Smyth Engineering Services, David Evans Plumber, Carryduff Concrete and Crosby Cleland Gates and Fencing. For regular match reports on their games ee the Medallion webpage on this site.

DHS 12-12 Regent

With this being only their 2nd home match of the season it was vital that Down High Medallion put down a marker from the start against a Regent side that had been strong opponents in the past.

The first half got off to a good start with some great one on one defence. After the pack doing well to regain possession, the home side moved the ball well across the field. It wasn’t long until the referee granted Down High a penalty and Ross Carlisle stepped up to take a shot at the posts. His great kick sailed over giving the hosts their first 3 points.

After the restart Regent nearly got over the line for a try but thanks to a strong scramble defence by backs and forwards Down High managed to finish the first half without conceding any points.

With such a competitive first half it was key for Down High to keep their cool in the second. After receiving the ball off the restart they played some very competitive rugby, with Regent also putting in some crunching tackles.

It was Down High who managed to get the next points after working their way up field on a number of occasions. These points again came from the boot of Ross Carlisle who added 2 more penalties.

With the score at 9-0 Regent didn’t give up and worked the ball well to get their first try. At 9-5 the game was getting closer and a bit frantic but Carlisle kept his cool and when the opportunity arose he kicked the ball between the posts for his first drop goal under competitive match conditions.

At this stage Down clearly thought they had the win and they let their concentration levels drop in defence allowing Regent to capitalise with a second converted try. This brought the score to 12 each and it remained here until the ref blew the whistle to signal the end of this very tight match.

Thanks to the opposition for a great game, to the referee, to our coaches Mr Carson and Mr Irvine and for all the support.

By Matthew Davidson

Down High 24 Friends 0

This was another pleasing win for the Down High Medallions in the lead up to the half term break. Mark Hanna was the stand in captain and there were a few other changes because of injury.

The match got off to a slow start but Down High were able to maintain possession. The forwards worked extremely well together retaining the ball in contact. After a number of phases going forward, the ball was put through the hands to Jamie Gibson who showed his pace to get us the first score of the game. Jack Patterson added the conversion.

After the restart it was important that we re-grouped and didn’t let Friends get a score. The forwards worked well together getting us up the pitch. Then Thomas Forson took the ball off a ruck and got across the line for our second score.  Duncan Ross added a further score before half time after more consistent work from the pack.

When the second half kicked off, Friends got possession and used it well to get near our try line. Thankfully our tackling paid off and the game setttled down for a while.  During this time Down High were just going through the phases and found it hard to break the solid Friends defense.  Eventually a break by Nathan Gibson took play up the pitch and a a few phases later he found himself on the ball again and crossing the try line for Down High's fourth try. Again Jack Patterson added the conversion bringi.

Thanks to Friends for a good game and to Mr Carson for his time after school to referee.

Match Report by: Matthew Davidson

Down High School 38 –7 High School Ballynahinch 

Coming up to the game we knew that it would be a tough encounter. With a couple of people out due to injury this was emphasized even more, however we proved we are a flexibile team by getting a strong win.

We got off to a good start with Ross Carlisle kicking across the field where the ball fell into Jamie Gibson’s hands leading to the first try which was converted.  With the momentum up Nathan Gibson used his strength to power across the line for the second try. Next Jack Patterson got the ball just outside the 22 and used his step at speed to score the 3rd just before half time. Carlisle converted.  

After halftime we regrouped. William Martin, who was stepping up from the year below, got over the line for the 4th try with Ross Carlisle getting his 3rd conversion of the day. Nathan Gibson then got the ball again just inside the 22 and got over for the second time.

Following this Ballynahinch fought back and scored a converted try through their number 10.

Just before the end of the game Nathan Gibson got over the line for his third try of the day and allowed Ross Carlisle to finish on a high with the conversion. This was another good win with forward Duncan Ross being named for a particuarly strong game, hitting every ruck and tackle. Back Jamie Gibson was also named for hitting tackles and proving his place on the wing.

Thank you to all the coaches and particularly Mr Carson for their help and support.

By Matthew Davidson

This was our first game at home this season and with the visitors travelling a fair distance we needed to win it. The Game started with Larne kicking to us. After a good catch the visitors started with a good tackle. The forwards had been doing a lot of rucking and mauling work and you could see it in the form of Duncan Ross and Elliot Evans who both used brilliant technique.

The backs were very organised starting with ball rifled through the hands of our scrum half Chris Heenan. The first break came with a run down the wing followed by brilliant support from Steven Martin who got his first try of the season. Then came Ross Carlisle with his kicking tee. It was a windy day but Ross' reliable boot got us up to 7 points.

After the restart we again saw brilliant hands from the backline and got so close to their tryline but unfortunately dropped the ball. We were so close the forwards won the scrum and good strength from James Martin got us up to 12 before another kick from Ross brought us up to 14.

Following this, the Larne squad bombarded us and got a penalty. Their number 8 shouted at us but with a massive hit from our tight head prop Stuart Cochrane really put him in his place.

With a few army balls the forwards punched a hole in their backline and Paddy Preston made the most of the opportunity and scored. Again another good run James martin got us another 5 points getting us to a total of 24.
With the familiar ready, ready press ringing in our ears from the opposition's restart we got the ball and moved it out to the two centres Jack Patterson and Rory Kerr. Rory used blistering speed to get away from the backline with ease and scored a superb try getting us to 31 with Ross missing the posts. 

Half time came and with a few substitutions the game started. Rory and Jack again used their strength and really gave the opposition a run for their money. With an unbelievable step Jack used his pace and got his first try of the season. Rory missed the conversion but all was not lost as we were winning 36-0.

Again with our forwards using their dominance in the line outs and with good ball from the new scrum half,  Thomas Forson, Matthew Davidson got the ball to Jack who again used his speed and step to get to the tryline. Rory converted getting us to 43 points.

Then when it looked like we were going to lose our clean sheet .the forwards, consisting of Callum Duncan, Chris Rauch and Mark Hanna bull dosed the opposition and stole the ball  before it was moved to Jack again who snaked his way up the pitch to score. Rory Kerr added the icing on the cake.  

At 50-0 With Mr Carson blew the whistle early because of our dominance. Mention should be given to Reuben Black, Jamie Parke, Jamie Gibson, Nathan Cairns and Ewan Martin giving their all for down high.

All thanks to the coaches for organising this event Mr Carson for Referring and Mr Irvine for Training and Mr Knox.

By Nathan Gibson

All photos courtesy of Jack Gordon

On Saturday 3rd of September Down High played Bangor away.

We started the morning with a conditioned game which started with 15 minutes of us attacking. Nathan Gibson was the only one to score. Their open side flanker in particular put in numerous big hits. After this we had a short break and then we defended for fifteen minutes whilst Bangor attacked. We defended well but unfortunately conceded a try to their inside centre.

After the conditioned game we went into a full game which also included our first time lifting in lineouts. During this time, we scored five tries. James Martin and Rory Kerr each scored two and Jack Patterson got one. We only conceded two, meaning we had quite a comfortable victory. Both of these again came from their inside centre.

We played as a very strong team though-out the game. Nathan Gibson made many good runs. Stuart Cochrane hit and cleared every ruck. Stephen Martin threw well at line outs, rarely missing his mark. Mark Hannah put ‘fire wall’ and ‘safety’ from earlier training sessions well into practise. Callum Duncan played very well. The flankers Patrick Preston and Elliot Evans both made crunching tackles. James Martin had strong running and two tries at number eight. In the back line both scrum-half’s Chris Heenan and Thomas Forsen played well. Ross Carlisle and Matthew Davidson organised the back line well keeping everyone in check. All the centres played well, Nathan Cairns, Christy Mason, Jack Patterson, Luke Sandford and Rory Kerr, with Rory and Jack getting three tries between them.

The two wings Euan Martin and Jamie Parke both ran complicated moves to confuse both Bangor and our forwards! Rueben Black defended and kicked on form as full-back. George Smyth had an unfortunate game breaking his wrist after only a short while.

All in all a successful game, with particular thanks to the coaches and especially Mr Carson, who coached us from the side line, who took the time out of their day to take us, and the bus drivers.

By Duncan Ross

Welcome to the 2011-2012 Medallion Rugby web page! The team have now completed their pre season training and will play their first game against Bangor on Saturday 3rd September.