Coleraine GS got their Schools’ Cup campaign off to an impressive start with a emphatic 64-7 victory away to Banbridge Academy on Saturday morning. The Coleraine side have had a positive start to the year with confidence building wins over Cambridge House, Larne GS, Omagh Academy & Regent House.
Coleraine started the game off at a frantic pace with some free flowing and high tempo rugby. The away side secured a bonus point within the first
twenty minutes of the encounter with 2 tries from winger Callum Wallace and other tries from centre Rory Telfer, flanker Shaw Fleck & impressive
full back Cameron Leighton. Out Half Harry Caskey converted five out of six conversions to help his side build up a substantial lead.
To their credit Banbridge did not drop their heads and continued to work hard. The home team were rewarded for their efforts with a try by front rower
Alex Porter who barged his way over from close range following an impressive Banbridge maul.
Coleraine responded right from the kick off with another well worked team try by winger Ryan O’Kane to leave the score 40-7 to the visitors at the
break.
Banbridge started the second half with real focus and determination putting the Coleraine side under sustained periods of pressure. The powerful Banbridge
pack made good inroads but failed to turn pressure into valuable points.
Coleraine were patient and got back on track with second half tries from winger Ryan O’Kane, prop Nathan Ogborne, scrum half Cameron Wallace and centre
Tom Curry. Out half Harry Caskey orchestrated proceedings for the away side and capped off a man of the match performance with two more touchline
conversions.
Overall this was an excellent performance by Coleraine GS who moved the ball well and played expansive rugby from the outset. Banbridge gave their
all right to the end and can take plenty of positives from their second half performance into their tie with Belfast High School. Coleraine will
now focus their efforts towards a home tie with BRA who got their campaign off to a winning start on Friday afternoon.
Head coach Richard Boyd was pleased by his sides efforts on the day “I am delighted with the performance today, with how the boys approached the game and how we coped with the pressure of the cup. It is always a tough place to come with the long journey and Brian Leslie always has his sides well drilled so we had to be focused. We still have plenty of areas we must improve upon and it is important we keep our feet on the ground and put our focus towards BRA who will be a big challenge after Halloween. They are a good side that also like to move the ball and play with tempo so it should be a good game.”
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