Down High 17-7 Portadown College With a significant number of starting players away on a school trip to Rome the home side got off a slow and scrappy start to this fixture.
In the opening half the aggressive Portadown pack forced a lot of errors out of Down High and were responsible for the first score of the game when the host's were unable to contain the sustained pressure up front. The young and talented Portadown out half, Niall Davidson, added the conversion.
Down High did have one clear opportunity to close the gap on Portadown when they were awarded a penalty right in front of the posts inside the visitors 22 but confusion reigned and a quick tap squandered this chance. Despite a number of chances for both teams following this, neither were able to score leaving Portadown up 7-0 at half time.
The second half started as the first had finished but as time went on Down High began to gel and spent considerable periods of time in the Portadown half. This territorial advantage and pressure soon gave way to the first score of the game for Down HIgh when the pack secured ball of a 5m line out and mauled their way over. Matthew Ferguson got the touchdown which was unconverted.
It was clear as the half progressed that Down High were beginning to make more opportunities and out half Patrick Wright took one of these extremely well opening up the Portadown defensive line after some well executed set piece play provided the side with a numerical advantage in the three quarter line.
The final score of the game came from Ricky Gill who on the back of some interplay with Luca Rea in the midfield, identified that the visitors had left no-one behind their defensive line, he chipped kicked over it and then re-gathered the ball for a well taken try. Wright added the conversion.
When the final whistle blew Down High were pleased to have got a victory but also knew they were leaving with plenty to work on at training midweek.
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In a game that was severely disrupted and shortened after an injury to a Portadown player, the seconds recorded a 7-0 win.
In the opening half the aggressive Portadown pack forced a lot of errors out of Down High and were responsible for the first score of the game when the host's were unable to contain the sustained pressure up front. The young and talented Portadown out half, Niall Davidson, added the conversion.
Down High did have one clear opportunity to close the gap on Portadown when they were awarded a penalty right in front of the posts inside the visitors 22 but confusion reigned and a quick tap squandered this chance. Despite a number of chances for both teams following this, neither were able to score leaving Portadown up 7-0 at half time.
The second half started as the first had finished but as time went on Down High began to gel and spent considerable periods of time in the Portadown half. This territorial advantage and pressure soon gave way to the first score of the game for Down HIgh when the pack secured ball of a 5m line out and mauled their way over. Matthew Ferguson got the touchdown which was unconverted.
It was clear as the half progressed that Down High were beginning to make more opportunities and out half Patrick Wright took one of these extremely well opening up the Portadown defensive line after some well executed set piece play provided the side with a numerical advantage in the three quarter line.
The final score of the game came from Ricky Gill who on the back of some interplay with Luca Rea in the midfield, identified that the visitors had left no-one behind their defensive line, he chipped kicked over it and then re-gathered the ball for a well taken try. Wright added the conversion.
When the final whistle blew Down High were pleased to have got a victory but also knew they were leaving with plenty to work on at training midweek.
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In a game that was severely disrupted and shortened after an injury to a Portadown player, the seconds recorded a 7-0 win.