Dalriada Medallion into the final

Coming from behind late in the game Dalriada scored two tries to seal the victory and take the team into the trophy final today (Tuesday) at Limavady Grammar against Foyle College.

Dalriada kicked off the semi-final against a big Wellington pack and very vocal Wellington supporters (armed with drums).

The opening exchanges showed that both teams were up for the game and evenly matched. On 11 minutes a series of phases of play were Wellington retained possession took them to within five metres of the Dalriada line and their big tight head prop rolled off the back of a maul and was unstoppable with just metres to go.

The conversion was successful and Dalriada were seven points adrift.

The boys came right back at Wellington and maintained possession on the Wellington 22.

However, a series of infringements let Wellington off the hook.

It was not until the 26th minute when a quickly released backline move saw Johnny Allan cut back and dive over for a much-needed try to level the score leaving the half time score a nail-biting 7 -7.

Thirteen minutes into the second half and Dalriada exerted sustained pressure inside the Wellington 22.

An attacking scrum saw Timothy Creaney set his backline in motion and Stuart Fallows delayed his pass until his opposite centre broke the defensive line.

The resulting gap was all that he needed to score to the right of the posts.

12-7 to Dalriada. But the lead was short lived as Wellington used their maul effectively to gain possession in the Dalriada 22 and a series of quick balls from breakdowns left the Wellington right wing enough room to score in the corner 12-12.

With 25 minutes played Dalriada started to play their best rugby.

The ball was retained through eight phases without error but the final pass went to ground and Wellington recovered the ball. However, they found it impossible to get out of their 22 and Dalriada won possession again and with a series of efforts from the five metre line eventually saw Adam Pollock cross the line, an unstoppable force from this short distance leaving the score was now 17-12.

Dalriada were close to scoring from the restart but knocked on allowing Wellington to kick deep back into the Dalriada 22 Great defensive work especially from the David Holmes and Stuart Fallows recovering possession then with five minutes to play and the try of the match to seal the game.

From the turn over, Henry Loan received the ball deep in his own 22.

His pass right brought Johnny Allan into the line and he ran out of the 22 passing to right wing Josh Hetherington.

His run down the touchline into the Wellington half where he off loaded inside.

The ball was then moved through hands to the left wing where David Holmes made good yardage before passing to Timothy Emerson whose elusive run was stopped just short of the line. He managed to pass to Allen Carruthers who dived for the line and touched down in the corner for an amazing try, one containing everything a coach could ask for, wonderful support play, intelligent running lines and passing.

Jamie Gardiner capped this try with a successful conversion from the touch line.

24-12 to Dalriada who again pushed for more points in the remaining few minutes, at the final whistle the score remained 24-12 and Dalriada were through to the final.

Dalriada Junior sides in action

On Saturday Dalriada under12 and 13’s took on BRA at home and it was the younger team that secured a 12 -7 win over the strong Belfast side with Angus Johnston scoring late in the game to take a great win.

The under 13’s had a stronger challenge against a very large and physical side. BRA took the win scoring from a number of breakaway tries by their big powerful centre.

Dalriada certainly in periods of the game competed by moving the ball skilfully from wing to wing where both Scott McCaw and Michael Finnerty looked dangerous.

Rory Strang also stood out with fine running and thoughtful kicking. Reward did come for the Dalriada side with a great team try scored by Aaron Sparkes and converted by Strang leaving the final score 40 -7.

The under 14 squad played in the O’Kane trophy at Ballymena Academy and managed to win their pool with wins over RS Armagh and Rainey, however in the semi final injuries began to take their toil and Dalriada went out of the competition with a narrow defeat to Wallace.

The senior teams returned from a short tour to Scotland were they played Hutcheson Grammar from Glasgow. It was successful trip with both teams winning, the firsts winning 33-23 and the seconds winning 18-13.

The seconds now look forward to their quarter-final game again Methodist College on Wednesday in Belfast. All support would be gratefully welcomed.