Down High School 0 Banbridge Academy 24

Down High Under 13s first match of the New Year resulted in a defeat to an aggressive Banbridge Academy side. The first half turned out to be scoreless but unfortunately Down High suffered injuries to two of their influential back row players Zac Ward and Matthew Porter. Before this Down matched the aggression of their opponents and it had the potential to turn into a very competitive game.

At the beginning of the second half, Banbridge exploited the naivety of some of the Down forwards to score a converted try in the corner. After this Down suffered another blow when talisman Paddy Browne had to leave the action with a head injury and fellow back Harry Hitchens had to retire also. With the Down sideline being like a scene from Casualty and the team being down to 14 players due to all subs being used, Banbridge scored 3 late tries to finish victorious.

It would have been interesting to see the outcome if the starting line up had been together for much longer but credit must go to Banbridge for their aggression at the breakdown.

Man of the match: Clayton Milligan