The first round of the 2016 Ulster Schools’ 1stXV Cup kicked-off this weekend with a slightly earlier start than usual as Cambridge House and Limavady GS opted to play their fixture on Friday night in order to avoid a Saturday morning soaking. However, there were no such concerns at Carolan Road in Belfast, a testament to the venue’s modern facilities and talented grounds-staff, as Wellington College and Friends’ SL went head-to-head in their Round 1 fixture.

[wc_tabgroup layout=”box”][wc_tab title=”REPORT”]As the teams took to the field, a previously unseen and sizeable crowd reluctantly  emerged from their cars in the hope that there would be a spectacle worthy of abandoning their comfort. Unfortunately the first half did not live up to this hope in terms of point scoring, but it did make for interesting viewing as Wellington held firm and frustrated a very determined Friends side.

The only score of the first half came from Friends’ kicker David Stewart who converted a fairly comfortable penalty within seven minutes of the start, the kick awarded after sustained pressure near the try-line by his team-mates. It was the first display of dominance from the visitors, which many may have anticipated to continue to build from that point onward; however, it was also the only display of this half as Wellington prevented any further score and actually ended up the more dominant side by the half-time whistle. Despite this, they couldn’t manage any reward for their best efforts, and so, encouraged, but ultimately disappointed, the home team ended the first-half with no score.

HT:  Wellington College 0-3 Friends’ SL

The home side, buoyed by their first-half performance, and the visitors, motivated by their opponent’s resistance, took again to the field with even more fervour than before. Some, in fact, may have had a bit too much fervour, as in the case of the Lisburn side’s number twelve who made an enthusiastic and somewhat-high tackle on one of his opposite numbers. Unfortunately the referee deemed it to be dangerous play and the visitors were reduced to fourteen men for ten minutes. This was just the opening Wellington needed and they pushed Friends down-field, almost crossing the line on a couple of occasions, but having to settle for just a penalty in the end to draw the scores level.

This seemed to spark something in the Lisburn side who responded immediately by marching down the other end, still with a man short, and finally made the push across the line to score the first try of the morning courtesy of Kirk McGrady and Stewart kicked successfully again with the conversion attempt to put Friends back in front.  This knocked the wind out of Wellington who started to let a number of mistakes slip into their game and soon a handling error handed the ball straight back to the visitors who scored a second try through Curtis Dundas and another conversion, a difficult shot from out left, again by David Stewart. From this point Friends’ SL dominated until the very end and cemented their victory in the final minute with a third try, this time by Adam Milligan; the missed conversion brought the final whistle and the visitors celebrated their progression into Round 2.

FT:  Wellington College 3-22 Friends’ SL [/wc_tab][wc_tab title=”GALLERY”]

[/wc_tab][/wc_tabgroup]