Down High played two fixtures this week.
On Wednesday they welcomed Methodist College to Downpatrick. Both sides were missing a number of key players due to injury and interprovincial commitments.
In the first half Down High attacked with flair and defended with fantastic resilience.
A solid set piece up front provided a super platform for the backs to work their art. A number of early line breaks from Ricky Gill created definite scoring chances for the home side in opening 20 minutes but frequently the last pass didn’t go to hand.
Around the 25 minute mark a creative piece of backs play brought about another linebreak which saw Luca Rea in support and taking the final pass for the first score of the game. Rea added the extras to his own try.
As could be expected, Methody fought back hard after Rea’s try but Down High soaked up all the visitors threw at them and went into half time with a very pleasing 7-0 lead.
Early in the second half Methody levelled the scores when a poor Down High clearance kick landed in the arms of the visitor’s full back who initiated a counter attack which ultimately led to a converted try.
With 15 minutes to go Down High regained their lead when full back Ryan Smyth received a kick deep in the hosts half, dummied a return kick and then fed the ball to Daniel Stanfield who rounded the chasing defence and ran 60 yards for a great individual effort.
In the final 10 minutes the Down High side fatigued severely and leaked two converted tries, the latter of which saw their flanker Darren Cheung injured and the game stopped 5 minutes short. This left Methody 21-12 winners and a Down High side disappointed because they had come so close to an upset.
On Saturday Down High travelled to Grosvenor with a significant number of changes from their mid week fixture however they were able to record a very pleasing win. Scores came from Jamie Thompson, Thomas McAvera and year 12 student Rory Kerr. Ricky Gill added one conversion leaving the overall score at 17-5.
On Wednesday they welcomed Methodist College to Downpatrick. Both sides were missing a number of key players due to injury and interprovincial commitments.
In the first half Down High attacked with flair and defended with fantastic resilience.
A solid set piece up front provided a super platform for the backs to work their art. A number of early line breaks from Ricky Gill created definite scoring chances for the home side in opening 20 minutes but frequently the last pass didn’t go to hand.
Around the 25 minute mark a creative piece of backs play brought about another linebreak which saw Luca Rea in support and taking the final pass for the first score of the game. Rea added the extras to his own try.
As could be expected, Methody fought back hard after Rea’s try but Down High soaked up all the visitors threw at them and went into half time with a very pleasing 7-0 lead.
Early in the second half Methody levelled the scores when a poor Down High clearance kick landed in the arms of the visitor’s full back who initiated a counter attack which ultimately led to a converted try.
With 15 minutes to go Down High regained their lead when full back Ryan Smyth received a kick deep in the hosts half, dummied a return kick and then fed the ball to Daniel Stanfield who rounded the chasing defence and ran 60 yards for a great individual effort.
In the final 10 minutes the Down High side fatigued severely and leaked two converted tries, the latter of which saw their flanker Darren Cheung injured and the game stopped 5 minutes short. This left Methody 21-12 winners and a Down High side disappointed because they had come so close to an upset.
On Saturday Down High travelled to Grosvenor with a significant number of changes from their mid week fixture however they were able to record a very pleasing win. Scores came from Jamie Thompson, Thomas McAvera and year 12 student Rory Kerr. Ricky Gill added one conversion leaving the overall score at 17-5.