Down High Under 13s 26 Clounagh Junior High Under 13s 7
After two defeats, Down High Under 13s came out top in a physical battle against a well marshaled Clounagh Junior High School. From the kick off the home side knew they were in a battle, with the boys from County Armagh showing a level of physicality and aggression not experienced by the Down team before. The Clounagh number 8 in particular was a strong and aggressive runner and the Down boys were lucky to survive when he broke through a couple of tackles and looked certain to score when a fantastic tap tackle by Matthew Edgar stopped him in his tracks. It took about ten minutes for the boys in green to take a foothold in the game and Edgar turned try scorer going over in the corner after fine work by the backs. This gave the Down team some confidence and it wasn't long before they were back in the opposition 22 where Conor Findlay bundled over from a few yards out. Aaron McNeilly converted. The last couple of minutes of the first half saw two further converted tries- hooker Niall Cockfield scoring after a good series of pick and drives and then full back Yanni Kiekkas finished off a fantastic passage of play where the ball was moved through the backline to leave the score 26-0 in favour of the home side.
It was to be expected that the level of intensity would drop in the second half and credit should go to Clounagh for sticking at their task and they eventually scored when their number 8 finally broke through the Down defence to score under the posts with virtually the last play of the game. The next fixture for Down is an away fixture to Dromore on Monday 19th October where they will face another physical challenge.
Man of the match: Matthew Edgar
After two defeats, Down High Under 13s came out top in a physical battle against a well marshaled Clounagh Junior High School. From the kick off the home side knew they were in a battle, with the boys from County Armagh showing a level of physicality and aggression not experienced by the Down team before. The Clounagh number 8 in particular was a strong and aggressive runner and the Down boys were lucky to survive when he broke through a couple of tackles and looked certain to score when a fantastic tap tackle by Matthew Edgar stopped him in his tracks. It took about ten minutes for the boys in green to take a foothold in the game and Edgar turned try scorer going over in the corner after fine work by the backs. This gave the Down team some confidence and it wasn't long before they were back in the opposition 22 where Conor Findlay bundled over from a few yards out. Aaron McNeilly converted. The last couple of minutes of the first half saw two further converted tries- hooker Niall Cockfield scoring after a good series of pick and drives and then full back Yanni Kiekkas finished off a fantastic passage of play where the ball was moved through the backline to leave the score 26-0 in favour of the home side.
It was to be expected that the level of intensity would drop in the second half and credit should go to Clounagh for sticking at their task and they eventually scored when their number 8 finally broke through the Down defence to score under the posts with virtually the last play of the game. The next fixture for Down is an away fixture to Dromore on Monday 19th October where they will face another physical challenge.
Man of the match: Matthew Edgar