Season off to a great start!

Having lost 11 pupils from last year's first XV it was a much changed squad that travelled to a blue skied but windy Bangor on Saturday morning for a round robin against RS Armagh, Regent and Bangor Grammar.

In their opening encounter against Armagh the Down lads made the most of the wind in the first half with out half Ross Carlisle showing some adept touches with the boot to keep Armagh well pinned in their own half. They also defended extremely well against some charging runs from the big Armagh men. The first score came when Patrick Preston fortuitously received the ball off an overthrown lineout on the Armagh 22 but showed great strength and agility to cross the whitewash. Joseph Bingham added a fine conversion given the angle and windy conditions. 

Down scored a further try in the half after a period of sustained pressure in Armagh territory saw the ball moved wide to prop Nathan Gibson who showed fantastic strength to shrug off the covering defenders and barge his way over the line. Again Bingham added a fantastic conversion.

In the second half Down made plenty of line breaks but were unable to convert any into scores leaving the full time score at 14-0. 

In their second game against Regent, Down made wholesale changes making full use of the large squad that had travelled. Whilst mounting several attacks the new side struggled to be clinical over multiple phases. Indeed Regent were first to score when they struck a penalty 10 minute into the game to lead 3-0.

In the second half the Down lads again made successful use of the wind to keep play in Regent territory. This pressure soon yielded a couple of tries. The first came when out half Patrick Browne, playing his 1st XV debut, chipped the ball into a gap behind the Regent defensive line where it bounced nicely for Joseph Bingham to gather and touchdown. Bingham wasn't so fortunate with the conversion as the ball fell of the tee on his approach to kick it and was easily charged down by Regent.

The second Down try also came from a debutant. Year 12 student Johnny McCoubrey playing in the centre showed he has an eye for the line when he found a gap in the defence and stretched to touch the ball over the whitewash after sustained pressure from the likes of James Martin and Duncan Ross up front had helped to draw in the Regent defence. Bingham had no problems with the conversion. This left the full time score at 12-3.

In the third fixture of the day against Bangor the men in green continued to experiment with player combinations. In the opening half they created a number of scoring chances but failed to convert with the last pass often going array. Towards the end of the half Bangor asked plenty of questions of the Down defence and it was they who were rewarded with the first score of the game after some consistent pressure up front from some of their mobile ball carrying forwards. Bangor added the conversion.

Despite a less than pleasing first half Down produced a very encouraging second half. They played lots of really exciting rugby and produced their score of the day when Nathan Gibson finished off a passage of play that had started on the half way and saw incredible continuity skills from a number of players and an eye catching line break from another debutant Claytan Milligan. The conversion attempt drifted wide leaving Down to chase the game in the closing minutes. They did this with great gusto and looked capable of scoring but ultimately the host's defence held firm and the final whistle was met by a cheer from the home crowd who knew this was a game that could have went either way.

At the close of business Down reflected on a most encouraging day's work and a great start to the season given the scale of change to personnel in the senior squad. It also became clear that there will be plenty of selection headaches this season with so many performing well over the day.