Craigavon Senior High School celebrates fine U16 Ulster High Schools' Rugby Trophy victory at Kingspan Stadium

The two sides had previously met in the semi-final of the Pollock Cup in a tightly contested game where the Senior High won 26-19.

Going into the game as favourites, the Senior High had to cope with the losses of captain and centre Ted McQuitty, full back Dylan Adamson and utility back Hayden Smyth prior to the game through injury and illness. The team were under no illusions that this would be a tight contest.

The Senior High team kicked off towards the Aquinas end and immediately stamped their authority on the game. They camped Ballymoney in their own 22 for the opening 10 minutes and the pressure eventually told.

After several phases, out-half Samuel Ruddell released Captain James Beattie into open space before setting up Bailey Lappin to run in a fantastic opening score.

It wasn’t long after the restart that a fantastic counterattack from Craigavon in their own 22 released speedster Ben Robinson down the left-hand side for a sprint finish for the try line. A fantastic cover tackle from the Ballymoney centre caused Robinson to knock on just before the try line. This proved to be Robinson’s last involvement in the match damaging his collar bone and leaving the field.

A few minutes later Craigavon had their second try. A well worked backline move saw centre Matthew Givan sidestep his way through the defence to score just to the right of the posts.

Using the wind to their advantage in the second half, out-half Samuel Ruddell pinned the opposition into their own 22. After telling pressure, Craigavon were awarded a penalty a few metres out. A tap penalty move straight off the training paddock was used to allow Captain James Beattie to crash over from close range to the elation of the coaching staff.

The fourth try came a few minutes later. Great interplay between backs and forwards released wing Jacob Farr on an incredible run, side stepping and cutting through countless defenders. A few phases later after some industrial work by the forwards, it was James Beattie who barged over for his second try.

The Senior Highs pack were showing great dominance at the lineout, particularly their attacking maul. A rumbling maul set up just inside the Ballymoney half rolled its way close to the try line before collapsing. Ballymoney’s second row received a yellow card for collapsing the maul.

From the resulting penalty, the forwards recycled the ball well before influential Number 8 Alfie Thornton crashed over from close range to score. Replacement second row Aaron Conn rounded off the scoring five minutes from the end gathering a loose lineout throw and powering his way over from close range for his teams sixth and final try.

Out-half Samuel Ruddell received the Player of the Match award for playing a pivotal role in marshalling his team and was influential in setting up several pivotal scores.

The sound of the final whistle brought to close an emphatic 30-0 win for the Senior High who celebrated in front of a large travelling support of students, staff, friends, and family. Captains James Beattie and Ted McQuitty shared the lifting of the trophy which capped off a wonderful occasion for the school.

To have completed the “double” this year was a special moment for the players and coaching staff who played a real enterprising brand of rugby. With a large portion of the team returning to defend both titles next year, promising times are ahead.