Down High School U13s 47 Clounagh Junior High School U13s 21

Down High Under 13s backed up their win against Royal School Armagh with another fine victory against a physical Clounagh Junior High School. Down captain Rhodri Phillips opened the scoring after a few minutes as he picked up from the back of the scrum and charged under the posts for a converted try. Clounagh responded almost immediately when they capitalised on a Down knock on in midfield and their winger showed excellent pace to score a converted try. Clounagh were playing a pick and drive game and Down’s defence needed to be strong to repel the attacks with Reuben Burtney and Reuben Smyth being at the forefront of this defence. Having withstood the pressure Down scored two quick converted tries both through Phillips. The first saw him crash over from a few yards out and then an excellent cross field kick by Adam Colgan gave Phillips a first half hat trick. Down scored with the last play of the half as Adam Jackson showed great strength to break through the opposition backline to touchdown for yet another converted try. This left the halftime score 28-7 in favour of the home team.
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Adam Jackson started the second half as he finished the first with another trademark powerful run through the defence. Phillips once again converted. Credit to Clounagh for not letting their heads go down and the Mount Crescent team spent much of the time without the ball but were committed in their tackling. When Down had the ball in hand there were some strong runs by Jonah Twomey and Jonny Reid. Eventually a superb steal at the ruck gave Phillips another score but Clounagh scored two late converted tries which sandwiched another Phillips gather from a Colgan crossfield kick to leave the final score 47-21 to Down High.
 

Royal School Armagh U13s 5 Down High U13s 47

Down High Under 13s travelled to the Orchard County and returned with an excellent victory against a physical Royal School Armagh side. Centre Adam Jackson opened the scoring as he showed excellent pace to burst through the opposition midfield. Rhodri Phillips converted. Down continued to press and persistent infringing at the ruck by the home team set up the second converted try as Phillips barged over from close range. As expected Armagh replied with pressure inside the Down 22 and got on the scoresheet when their outhalf picked up at the base of the ruck to score. The two try lead was restored almost immediately as Phillips picked up from the back of a scrum to score another converted try under the posts. The last five minutes of the half saw Armagh camped on the Down line but great defence and some aggressive tackling kept the score at 21-5 at halftime.

Down knew the first score of the second half would be important and Phillips duly obliged with another strong run through the opposition defence. There was now a great belief amongst the players and this was demonstrated as hooker Reuben Smyth backed himself to outpace an Armagh winger and Todd Craig was on hand to finish off a fine move involving a number of backs. Smyth got on the scoresheet again shortly after and despite some late Armagh pressure the Down line stood firm to record a fine victory.

Grosvenor U13s 26 Down High U13s 26

Down High Under 13s travelled to Belfast on Saturday morning and returned with a share of the spoils. Ultimately they will be disappointed not to return victorious as the home side scored two late tries to secure a draw. Just like last week Down were quick out of the traps but credit to the Grosvenor defence which held firm. The Belfast team took the lead shortly after as they punished a couple of Down handling errors to score a converted try under the posts. The Mount Crescent team's response was instantaneous and good recycling in the opposition 22 gave Rhodri Phillips the space to score and then convert his try. Grosvenor had a few strong runners in their backs and Down's defence was standing firm but they were caught napping as the home flanker picked the ball up at the base of the ruck and ran in unopposed from 40 metres. Once again Down replied immediately and that man Phillips scored another converted try. Just as it looked as it was going to be even at halftime, prop Todd Craig showed great vision and pace to go in at the corner to give the Co Down boys a 19-14 halftime lead.

The second half started with Down on the front foot and scored the try of the match as Adam Colgan's cross field kick found makshift winger Rhodri Phillips who duly completed his hat trick of converted tries. Credit to Grosvenor who didn't give up and their never say die attitude was rewarded with those two late tries to secure a draw which was probably a fair result.

The Down boys can take many positives from the game as they continue to improve. Credit to Adam Colgan for filling in admirably at out half due to an injury to Tom Crudgington.

Down High Under 13s 19 Bangor Grammar U13s 31

Down High Under 13s almost completed a remarkable comeback in their first game of the season against Bangor Grammar Under 13s. With 15 minutes gone Bangor had run in four unanswered tries to take a 24-0 lead and the boys in green were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat. It was only at this point that the home team seemed to wake up and were able to show their capabilities with some fine rucking and moving the ball in the backs. On the stroke of half time number 8 Rhodri Phillips crashed over in the corner to leave the score 24-5 at the interval.

A much more even game in the second half with both teams cancelling each other out looked as if it would be scoreless until two quick converted tries in the last ten minutes by Rhodri Phillips and Jake Hamilton brought the Mount Crescent boys to within 5 points of the visitors. Unfortunately Down could not complete the comeback and the visitors had the last word as they scored under the posts with the last play of the game to run out 31-19 victors.

Credit to Down High for their attitude in coming back from such a poor start. There were some great performances including Fionn Carey and Tom Crudgington as well as try scorers Phillips and Hamilton.