Down High School made the long journey to Ballymena for a fixture that has been closely contested in recent seasons. Saturday proved to be no different, with the away team proving to be well-drilled and organised unit.
The first half was non-eventful in terms of points, with neither side able to establish dominance of territory or possession. Ballymena looked more likely to score a try, but the Down High defence was solid. Indeed, the away team could have taken a lead into the interval but narrowly missed a couple of penalty attempts.
The game opened up in the second half and Down High opened the scoring with a successful Patrick Wright three-pointer from just inside the Ballymena half to give his team a 3-0 lead.
This seemed to inspire the home team to raise their game and they replied with a try when their captain, Chris Blackwell, ran a great line to touch down below the posts. Andrew Magrath added the extras and, was again successful moments later, when he converted a try by Josh McIlroy, following a decisive break by Duncan Maguire, to put the Ballymena Academy team into a 14-3 lead.
At 14-3, with the game moving into the final minutes, Andrew Magrath slotted his first penalty of the morning to increase Ballymena’s lead to 17- 3. However, it was the away team who had the final say of the morning when their full back, Ryan Smyth, successfully gathered a well-placed cross kick to score an unconverted try in the corner and leave the final score reading 17-8 to Ballymena Academy.
The first half was non-eventful in terms of points, with neither side able to establish dominance of territory or possession. Ballymena looked more likely to score a try, but the Down High defence was solid. Indeed, the away team could have taken a lead into the interval but narrowly missed a couple of penalty attempts.
The game opened up in the second half and Down High opened the scoring with a successful Patrick Wright three-pointer from just inside the Ballymena half to give his team a 3-0 lead.
This seemed to inspire the home team to raise their game and they replied with a try when their captain, Chris Blackwell, ran a great line to touch down below the posts. Andrew Magrath added the extras and, was again successful moments later, when he converted a try by Josh McIlroy, following a decisive break by Duncan Maguire, to put the Ballymena Academy team into a 14-3 lead.
At 14-3, with the game moving into the final minutes, Andrew Magrath slotted his first penalty of the morning to increase Ballymena’s lead to 17- 3. However, it was the away team who had the final say of the morning when their full back, Ryan Smyth, successfully gathered a well-placed cross kick to score an unconverted try in the corner and leave the final score reading 17-8 to Ballymena Academy.
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