On Monday afternoon, Ballymena Academy faced Royal Belfast Academical Institution in the Schools Cup Final at the Kingspan Stadium. A very large vocal crowd greeted the players, as they ran out for kick off.

Playing into a stiff diagonal breeze, Ballymena were first to show in attack. As Ballymena moved the ball wide James Kerr read the pass, intercepted, and showed a clean pair of heels to the Ballymena defence, as he sprinted over 80 metres to score under the posts. Alex Place’s conversion had Inst up 7-0 in 5 minutes.

Ballymena were patient, going through phases. From a short penalty, Daniel Vercoe-Rogers picked a perfect line, evading Inst tackles to dive over, under the posts. Robbie Coleman’s conversion tied the . . .