bangorgrammarschool.org.uk

2014 DANSKE BANK SCHOOLS’ CUP THIRD ROUND

- - - - - - - - 08 / 02 / 2014

GRANSHA ROAD, BANGOR

VS

Bangor Grammar School

Sullivan Upper School

Programme Credits

Editor: Simon Hull

Pictures & Analysis: Giles Strutt

Columnists: Phil Broderick, Connor

McKee

Contributors: Andrew Shaw, Jason

Bennett

5 MINUTES TO SPARE?

...WITH ADAM BRENNAN

You can view highlights of this

match or previous games this season

(including the Grosvenor match) by

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Antrim Ballyclare Ballymena Banbridge

Bangor Belfast High

Campbell

Cambridge B.R.A.

Carrick Coleraine Dalriada

Down High Foyle Friends’ Grosvenor

Larne Limavady Lurgan Methody

Omagh Portadown Portora R.B.A.I.

Rainey Regent Armagh Dungannon

Sullivan Wallace Wellington

1st XV League Rankings

POS SCHOOL PL PTS

1. Coleraine 19 26pts 2. Rainey 17 26pts

3. R.B.A.I. 13 24pts 4. Sullivan 14 22pts

5. Belfast High 14 22pts 6. Armagh 16 22pts

7. Limavady 14 21pts 8. Bangor 18 19pts

9. Wallace 14 18pts

10. Down High 13 18pts 11. Ballymena 16 18pts

12. Dalriada 16 17pts 13. Banbridge 19 17pts

14. Methody 09 16pts 15. Lurgan 11 15pts

The challenge we faced in the last

round of the School’s Cup was a tough

one. The conditions were horrible and

didn’t allow us to play our expansive

rugby. However, everyone was ready

for the match and we showed

determination to come back into the

game and hold onto our lead to put us

in the 3rd round.

Saturday’s match brings a new

challenge for the team. We know how

Sullivan play, and we know it will be a

hard game. Hopefully the weather will

be better which will help us, but I

know the guys will be up for the game

whatever the conditions. It’s always

great to have a home draw, and

especially the new pitches at Gransha

Road. The support that a home game

brings can be daunting to the younger

members of the squad, but the home

crowd will get behind the boys to spur

us on. Players coming back from

injury such as James Carson bring

more strength back to the pack, and

with big impact players such as Rob

Gamble in the squad, we are feeling

confident looking ahead to the

weekend.

Phil Broderick

For players and staff of

Bangor Grammar School,

Saturday 25th January

2014 will forever be

r e m em b er e d as a

fortunate escape.

With the weather more

suitable for a sailing

competition than a

rugby match, it would

always be difficult to

break down a determined

Grosvenor side, spurred

on by their mediocre

home support.

The game started and

ended in the balance.

Grosvenor and Bangor

shared the early spoils,

with the home side

growing into the game as

the first half passed by.

Indeed, it was they who

took the lead. The

Grosvenor number 8

opportunistically surging

towards the Bangor try

line off the back of a

scrum. The conversion,

from a wide angle was

a l m o s t i m p o s s i b l e

against the high winds—

it fell short of the posts

by quite a margin.

The Grosvenor smiles

didn’t last long, with

Matthew Coffey racing

free juggling the ball in

his hands as he went.

The chasing defender was

on his tail, but the tackle

was too little, too late.

The score now 5-5.

Ross McCloskey, having

already missed an earlier

p e n a l t y h a d t h e

opportunity to give BGS

the lead. This was an

opportunity he wouldn’t

miss.

The second half followed

more or less the same

pattern. Grosvenor took

a slender one point lead

following a penalty, but

as the sun came out and

the Bangor subs came

on, the tables started to

turn.

Robert Gamble’s impact

off the bench was clear to

s e e a n d B a n g o r

themselves were awarded

a penalty with only

minutes remaining. The

calm Ross McCloskey

kicking Bangor through

to the next round.

With the final whistle

came the joy and relief.

Grosvenor, beaten yet so

easily could have won.

ADVERTISEMENT

33 24 15 KEY

TRIES

CONVS

PENS

17 9

1

7

FOUNDED: 1856

PRINCIPAL: Mrs E. Huddleson

SCHOOLS’ CUP RECORD

WINS: 5 (69, 78, 85, 86, 88)

RUNNERS UP: 4 (79, 81, 87, 95)

2014 1st XV KEY PEOPLE

COACHES: Mr J. Morgan

Mr P. Cartmill

CAPTAIN: Phil Broderick

LAST SEASON

ROUND 3: Portadown 3-20 Bangor

ROUND 4: Bangor 17-5 Belfast High

QT FINAL: Bangor 0-25 Armagh

SEASON SO FAR

ROUND 2: Grosvenor 8-10 Bangor

KEY PLAYER

Andrew Shaw

Prop

1877 :FOUNDED

Mr C. J. W. Peel :PRINCIPAL

SCHOOLS’ CUP RECORD

(Shield Wins: 1) 0 :WINS

0 :RUNNERS UP

2014 1st XV KEY PEOPLE

Mr W. Anderson :COACHES

Mr L. Kelly

Mr S. Finlay .

Ross Todd :CAPTAIN

LAST SEASON

B.R.A. 10-20 Sullivan :ROUND 4

Ballyclare 12-10 Sullivan :QT FINAL

KEY PLAYER

Ross Todd

Captain

14 11

FOUNDED: 1856

PRINCIPAL: Mrs E. Huddleson

SCHOOLS’ CUP RECORD

WINS: 5 (69, 78, 85, 86, 88)

RUNNERS UP: 4 (79, 81, 87, 95)

2014 1st XV KEY PEOPLE

COACHES: Mr J. Morgan

Mr P. Cartmill

CAPTAIN: Phil Broderick

LAST SEASON

ROUND 3: Portadown 3-20 Bangor

ROUND 4: Bangor 17-5 Belfast High

QT FINAL: Bangor 0-25 Armagh

SEASON SO FAR

ROUND 2: Grosvenor 8-10 Bangor

KEY PLAYER

Andrew Shaw

Prop

1877 :FOUNDED

Mr C. J. W. Peel :PRINCIPAL

SCHOOLS’ CUP RECORD

(Shield Wins: 1) 0 :WINS

0 :RUNNERS UP

2014 1st XV KEY PEOPLE

Mr W. Anderson :COACHES

Mr L. Kelly

Mr S. Finlay .

Ross Todd :CAPTAIN

LAST SEASON

B.R.A. 10-20 Sullivan :ROUND 4

Ballyclare 12-10 Sullivan :QT FINAL

KEY PLAYER

Ross Todd

Captain

3

0

01 02 03

04 05 06

07 08 09

10

11 12

13 14

15

C

16

17

18

19

20 21

22 23

1986 Heading into the 1986

season, we knew we had

an excellent team and were

in with a good chance of

winning the cup.

A lot of the team had been

in the squad the previous

year when we also won the

cup. At that time,

probably the same as now,

there were always the

same Schools that had

good teams: Methody,

Inst., Ballymena and

Campbell. We knew

they'd be our biggest

rivals. The success of

previous teams didn't

bother us as a lot of us

had been on the team the

year before.

There were a number of

very good players on the

team. Mark McCall was

excellent and in his

game controlling

position as out half was

outstanding. His best

attribute, in my opinion,

was his "vision" and

ability to read the game

and make decisions.

McCall was our captain,

and personally I thought

he'd become an Ulster

player.

Honestly, the forwards in

our pack weren’t great.

We often struggled to get

the ball, especially against

better schools. When it

got to us backs, that was

where we dominated. But

without their hard work

we'd never have won any

games.

In the early rounds we

made good progress,

stuffing all

the teams on

the way. We

u s u a l l y

scored at

least eight

tries.

For me,

playing at

R a v e n h i l l

was a dream

01 Willie Johnston 02 Darryl Flanagan 03 Mike Davis 04 Roger Brown 05 Glenn Lindsay 06 Sean Crowther 07 Keith Esdale 08 David Cooke 09 Kenny Woods 10 Mark McCall (C) 11 Rodney Blackmore 12 Brian Wickens 13 Gavin Ellis 14 Jason Bennett 15 Chris Jackson

Subs 16 Simon McGookin 17 Simon McKenna 18 Joel Bennett 19 Brian Hawkins 20 A. Mawhinney 21 Ian Thompson

Photographs from left: The monumental

Bangor support; The victorious proudly

showing off their prize with Jason circled;

Kenny Woods offloads the ball in the final.

come true. The

pitch was super

and to have such a

b i g c r o w d

watching was

amazing. I’d never

seen so many schoolgirls

at a rugby match!

We went in to the match

itself as favourites. We

had narrowly beaten

Campbell College in the

Semi. Before that match

everyone had said that

whoever won, would go on

to win the final. Also,

from recollection, we’d

already beaten Inst. quite

comfortably earlier in the

season.

On the day, we played

reasonably well; enough to

win comfortably, but we

could have been better. A

few weeks later we played

the Ulster Schools’ side at

Upritchard park. This

was the last match for the

school for many of us, and

we beat them 24-0. That

was a much better

performance than the

Schools’ Cup final.

Of my own performances,

I must have been good

enough to retain my place

in the team. I believe

that the guys on the

Bangor Grammar

School 2nd XV

would have made

it onto nearly any

other teams firsts.

We felt on top of

the world when

celebrating and

showing off the cup at

Ravenhill. The partying

continued back at Bangor

Rugby Club. It was an

excellent night but my

memory after about 9pm

is quite scant.

Following that day, the

reaction at the school was

great. I think everybody

at the school was proud of

the achievement, winning

the cup two years in a

row.

Photographs from left: The monumental

Bangor support; The victorious proudly

showing off their prize with Jason circled;

Kenny Woods offloads the ball in the final.

ADVERTISEMENT

THE ART OF HOOKING

The hooker is positioned between the two props in the scrum and throws the

ball into the line-out. After the scrumhalf has put the ball into the scrum they

use their feet to "hook" the ball back and win possession for their team.

Hookers generally have a short back and long arms to aid in binding to props.

When the opposition is putting the ball into the scrum the hooker will either

attempt to win the ball or try and disrupt the scrum. They are usually more

mobile than the props and are often used to crash the ball up during open play.

Only specialist front row players can play

hooker, and if a team cannot field one for any

reason the scrums will become uncontested.

Hooking itself is a specialist skill as it requires

both physical and mental excellence. The skill

is managing the match and then stopping and

taking time with the line-out, zoning out from

the match and focusing on the throw.

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Looking back on the

Grosvenor match, I can

only reflect on it with

mixed emotions.

Ultimately a win is a

win, however we had

hoped for a much more

comfortable victory. In

general I do not like to

blame a poor perfor-

mance on anything but

ourselves, however you

would be foolish not to

acknowledge the fact

that the weather played

a substantial role in the

outcome of the match. I

a m , h o w e v e r ,

exceptionally pleased

with the outcome, whilst

d i s r e g a r d i n g t h e

scoreline.

Now looking ahead to the

Sullivan fixture at the

weekend and spirits

within the camp are very

high. Although we were

looking for a slightly

easier draw, we were not

at all disappointed when

we heard we got Sullivan.

Due to tactics which we

hope to implement

against Sullivan, I

cannot reveal too much

about our preparations

but I can say the team is

looking strong and eager

to smash the Sullivan

boy's back to Holywood.

PLAYER PROFILE

THE INSIDE LINE

Glenn Burton has been a

regular for the 1st XV

for the good part of two

years now. Filling the

boots of his brother

Craig, playing in the

second row, he has

shown why he should be

on the starting XV.

Glenn’s large frame

contributes to him

winning his own and

sometimes his opponent's

line outs.

A recent injury has

caused Glenn to sit out a

few games and watch

eagerly from the

sidelines.

After a good win over

Grosvenor, I'm sure

Glenn and the rest of the

lads hope to come out on

top over Sullivan today

and make it through to

the Quarter Finals of the

Schools' Cup for the

third year in a row.

DOB: 03/10/95

PLAYED: 12

POINTS: 00

By Giles Strutt

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GROSVENOR GRAMMAR (08)

V

BANGOR GRAMMAR (10)

25th January 2014

DANSKE BANK ULSTER SCHOOLS’ CUP

Second Round Result s :

Banbridge Academy 10-15 Colera ine Ac. Inst . 25 /01 /14

Dalr iada School 26-00 Portadown Col lege 25 /01/14

Down High School 30-00 Lurgan Col lege 25 /01 /14

Grosvenor Grammar School 08-10 Bangor Grammar Sch 25 /01/14

Limavady Grammar School 15-06 Foyle Col lege 25 /01 /14

Regent House 12-07 Portora Royal Sch 25/01/14

Belfast High School 13-05 Omagh Academy 29/01/14

Rainey Endowed School 22-03 Belfast Royal Acad. 29 /01 /14

Ballyclare High, Ballymena Academy, Campbe ll Col lege , Methodist Col-

lege , R.B.A.I., Royal Armagh, Sullivan Upper and Wallace High wi l l

join the winning teams f rom Round 2 in the draw for Round 3.

Third Round Fixtures

Ballyclare High School v Bal lymena Academy 08/02/14

Bangor Grammar School v Sul l ivan Upper 08 /02 /14

Belfast High School v Wallace High School 08 /02 /14

Campbel l Co l l ege v Royal School Armagh 08/02/14

Colera ine Academica l Inst . v Regent House 08 /02 /14

Dalr iada School v R. B. A. I . 08 /02 /14

Methodist Col lege v L imavady Grammar 08/02/14

Rainey Endowed School v Down High School 08 /02 /14

Defea ted teams wi l l en ter the Subsidiary Shield competi tion. Winning

teams progress to the Quarter Final.

2 ND XV PLATE

Prel iminary Round Fixture:

Co lera ine Academica l Inst . v Bangor Grammar TBC

MEDALLION BOWL

Selected Quarter Final Fixture:

Friends’ School Lisburn v Bangor Grammar 08 /02 /14

FRIENDLY RESULT

BGS 2nd XV 00-15 BGS Medal l ions 03/02/14

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22

23

24

REFEREE:

MARK

PATTON

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

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SULLIVAN UPPER

* SUBJECT TO

CONFIRMATION

CORRECT AT TIME OF

PRINTING

SUBSTITUTES | MATCHDAY SQUAD

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

(C) ROSS TODD

CONNOR McAVOY

MARK CROCKFORD

CHRIS GRIFFTHS

JOSH DAVIDSON

MAX CLARKE

MATTHEW NESBITT

DAVE CAVE

ANDREW BAILIE

FERGUS JEMPHREY

JAMES HOUSTON

JOHNNY BRYANS

CHARLIE McKEWAN

MARK ADAIR

DILLION GILBERT

MICHAEL CARTMILL

DAVID McMASTER

RYAN SPENCE

CHRIS JORDAN

ZACH BERTENSHAW HARRY HARPER JORDAN BETTS

CALUM JEFFREY ANGUS McCARTNEY

PETER COOPER CHRIS BALL

JACK CUMMINGS

ANDREW SHAW

ELLIOT BOYLAN

JAMIE NEILL

GLENN BURTON

JAMES CARSON

ADAM BRENNAN

CHRIS BOAL

CONNOR McKEE

SHAUN FAIR

JAMIE FULTON

MATTHEW COFFEY

ROSS McCLOSKEY

PHIL BRODERICK (C)

ROBERT GAMBLE

JOSH McKIMM

FINN GARBUTT

ARVIN ANTONY

EVAN McMILLAN

ADAM BROWN

ROSS MAXWELL

WILL LOGAN

DAN ORR

AARON CORBETT