
Regent U13A - 0 Down High U13A – 36.
Report by Marcus Graham
On a bright and crisp November morning the Down High boys travelled to the fortress of Comber Road under the shadow of Scrabo Tower to do battle against a strong Regent team. Despite the wet ground and long grass some great rugby was played with Down High U13As returning home to Mount Crescent victorious again with another resounding win.
Regent won the toss and chose to kick off. The Down High pack caught and drove forward and provided good clean ball for scrum-half Terry Hutley to release the backs. This strong link between the forwards and the backs became the solid base of the Down High game plan.
After five minutes with Terry getting continuous quick ball to the backs, Jonny McCoubrey made a trademark run through the centre, running through the Regent defence to score Down High’s first try in the corner. Up stepped Paddy Browne for what was his most difficult kick of the match, and kicked the conversion beautifully through the posts. Down High were up and running.
After a superb passage of play by the Down High boys, with the ball being passed cleanly through the hands of the backs, the forwards dominated the resulting maul and the ball was again moved out to the backs, this time reaching Marcus Graham who outran the opposition to score in the corner.
It was obvious the Regent team were not going to take this lying down and began to get stuck into the Down High boys. Tempers began to flare in a number of off-the-ball incidents, but the referee calmly took control and both teams got back to playing rugby. Sam Rickard, Lewis Canning and Zac Ward drove through the Regent boys from the front, setting up attack after attack, and soon the ball reached Angus Ferris who raced to score Down High’s third try before the half-time whistle was blown.
Regent came out fighting in the second half and the Down High defence was tested time and again, but each time stood firm. The notable defence tackling by Marcus Graham resulted in his Man of the Match award. Further tries from Jonny McCoubrey and Angus Ferris, and a couple of conversions took the game beyond the reach of Regent. One of the last passages of play was a chip through by Paddy, chased by William Annett, who despite being tackled was able to pop the ball up to Paddy for him to get over the line for Down High’s final try.
Thanks to Aaron Cairns and Andy Ward for their touchline coaching throughout the game, and to the parents who travelled to Newtownards to shout for DHS!
Man of the Match: Marcus Graham
The Under 13B’s completed a fine morning for the Year 9 boys with a convincing win over their Regent counterparts. There was a hat trick of tries from man of the match Christy McGuire along with braces by Michael McDowell, Stuart Burns, Jack Gibson, Alistair Ross and Harry Hitchens and a solo effort from Mark Herron.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THOSE PARENTS WHO TRANSPORTED BOYS TO NEWTONARDS ON SATURDAY
Report by Marcus Graham
On a bright and crisp November morning the Down High boys travelled to the fortress of Comber Road under the shadow of Scrabo Tower to do battle against a strong Regent team. Despite the wet ground and long grass some great rugby was played with Down High U13As returning home to Mount Crescent victorious again with another resounding win.
Regent won the toss and chose to kick off. The Down High pack caught and drove forward and provided good clean ball for scrum-half Terry Hutley to release the backs. This strong link between the forwards and the backs became the solid base of the Down High game plan.
After five minutes with Terry getting continuous quick ball to the backs, Jonny McCoubrey made a trademark run through the centre, running through the Regent defence to score Down High’s first try in the corner. Up stepped Paddy Browne for what was his most difficult kick of the match, and kicked the conversion beautifully through the posts. Down High were up and running.
After a superb passage of play by the Down High boys, with the ball being passed cleanly through the hands of the backs, the forwards dominated the resulting maul and the ball was again moved out to the backs, this time reaching Marcus Graham who outran the opposition to score in the corner.
It was obvious the Regent team were not going to take this lying down and began to get stuck into the Down High boys. Tempers began to flare in a number of off-the-ball incidents, but the referee calmly took control and both teams got back to playing rugby. Sam Rickard, Lewis Canning and Zac Ward drove through the Regent boys from the front, setting up attack after attack, and soon the ball reached Angus Ferris who raced to score Down High’s third try before the half-time whistle was blown.
Regent came out fighting in the second half and the Down High defence was tested time and again, but each time stood firm. The notable defence tackling by Marcus Graham resulted in his Man of the Match award. Further tries from Jonny McCoubrey and Angus Ferris, and a couple of conversions took the game beyond the reach of Regent. One of the last passages of play was a chip through by Paddy, chased by William Annett, who despite being tackled was able to pop the ball up to Paddy for him to get over the line for Down High’s final try.
Thanks to Aaron Cairns and Andy Ward for their touchline coaching throughout the game, and to the parents who travelled to Newtownards to shout for DHS!
Man of the Match: Marcus Graham
The Under 13B’s completed a fine morning for the Year 9 boys with a convincing win over their Regent counterparts. There was a hat trick of tries from man of the match Christy McGuire along with braces by Michael McDowell, Stuart Burns, Jack Gibson, Alistair Ross and Harry Hitchens and a solo effort from Mark Herron.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THOSE PARENTS WHO TRANSPORTED BOYS TO NEWTONARDS ON SATURDAY