Down High U13 39 - 12 High School Ballynahinch U13/U14

The Down High men left school early on Monday this week to play  against Ballynahinch High; a school known for their hardness and this team definitely showed it.

From Down High’s previous match on Saturday against Wellington where they dominated throughout, the boys weren’t prepared for the blast that Ballynahinch had in store. The game kicked off and before long Down High were making mistakes including their decision making and as a result Ballynahinch took their chance and scored the opening try. After a motivating talk from their coach, Down High were ready to strike back, and soon after the boys scored a try in the corner when Jonny McCoubrey powered over the line. Paddy Browne, who had had a near flawless day of kicking last Saturday, struggled to get the ball through the posts. A few phases of play from the restart saw Jonny score another unconverted try. Down High kept the pressure on Ballynahinch and were soon rewarded with another try scored by Matthew Porter in the corner. This was more like the Down High we saw at Friends. Still Paddy was finding it hard to get his boot through the ball and narrowly missing the extra two points. Ballynahinch strengthened their team using a couple of U14 resources. By now the game was becoming extremely physical, but the Down boys maintained their scoring pattern and McCoubrey complted his hat trick to leave the half time score 20-7.

In the second half Harry Hitchens moved into outside centre and Adam Brown took the position of full-back. Rory Horder also came on for Michael Harper after missing the Wellington match from a chest injury. However, Down allowed Ballynahinch to take a quick penalty and one of their speedy forwards dived across the Down High line for the second time in the game.  The Down boys realised their mistake and after some great play from the Down High pack Clayton Milligan broke through two or three tackles and dived over the line underneath the posts. Paddy Browne capitalized on this and gave Down High the extra two points. Soon after Jonny McCoubrey got his fourth try by using his speed to break down the left wing and touch the ball down under the posts. The game came to an end with Jonny McCoubrey scoring his fifth and final try before Paddy converting the last kick of the game and giving them a convincing victory of 39-12.

Man of the match: Jonny McCoubrey