Rainey ES 1st XV defeat RBAI
On Wednesday 14th October the ’P Keenan Road Surfacing’ sponsored Rainey ES 1st XV welcomed the current Danske Bank Schools Cup holders. In beautiful conditions RBAI started strongly putting Rainey under a lot of early pressure. Rainey were finding it very hard to get their hands on the ball and with only a few minutes on the clock RBAI scored to make the score 0-5. They continued to press but some excellent tackling from Richard Winder and Wallace Bruce prevented further tries. As the half progressed Rainey began to get a ‘foothold’ in the game. A promising attack, which resulted in a good break by Adam Hunter was stopped illegally by RBAI. Lorcan Quinn stepped up and kicked the penalty to make the score 3-5. The visitors struck back immediately and when Rainey were caught offside, RBAI kicked the penalty to make it 3-8.
The home side then put together a long period of excellent rugby which had the visitors defending desperately. Up front Cameron Stewart and Neal Hastings were breaking the gain line and putting Rainey in good attacking positions. When the ball was spun wide to the backs, Matthew Mulholland and Mark Mulholland were both unfortunate with half breaks. Lorcan Quinn was also playing with super vision, pinning the visitors back. But if given a half chance RBAI normally take it. An error from Rainey was punished with RBAI scoring their second try to make it 3-15.
The second half saw the Magherafelt boys start in a determined fashion. Andrew Hawe made excellent ground. From the resulting ruck RBAI were penalised and Lorcan Quinn kicked the penalty to make it 6-15. Rainey were on a ‘bit of a roll’ and Adam Currie broke several tackles before being stopped illegally. Lorcan Quinn kicked his third penalty to narrow the gap to 9-15.
Rainey now had their tails up. David Atkinson was mixing his game intelligently which kept the visitors guessing. A well worked back move put Michael Lynn into space and with the try line at his mercy a number of RBAI defenders stopped him and prevented him from grounding the ball. From the resulting Rainey scrum Anton Lupari picked up and showed both good footwork and power to beat a number of tacklers on his way to the line. Lorcan Quinn held his nerve to kick the conversion and give Rainey a 16-15 lead.
In the closing stages of the game RBAI threw everything at Rainey. Every Rainey player played their part in the defensive effort, but Matthew Gordon put in a couple of crucial tackles. The local boys displayed some great maturity while defending, by keeping their composure. The final whistle sounded with Rainey again on the attack. This gave Rainey a famous victory against one of the strongest schools sides in Ulster.
This was an outstanding performance, in both attack and defence, from all the Rainey players. This performance should give them the belief they need to go on and make this a really successful season.
On Saturday 17th October Rainey fielded 7 teams against RBAI. So in total this week Rainey fielded 8 teams which is a fantastic achievement for a small school. All coaches and players deserve credit for this feat.
All sides put up a tremendous effort against one of the power house schools in Ulster Schools rugby. The ‘Quinn Coach Hire’ sponsored 2nd XV lost 15-5 with a try by Michael McIvor-New. The 3rd XV lost 13-5 with a try and conversion by Matthew Smyth. The ‘James Reid Building Contractor (Maghera)’ sponsored Medallion A lost 28-0 and the Medallion B won 17-7 with tries from Rory Bradley, Ben Aspell and Callum Bolton. Jonathan Drennan kicked one conversion. The U14s won 31-7 with tries from Abban McCloy (2), Jonathan Davis (2) and Ross Speers. Ross Speers also kicked 3 conversions. The U13As lost 46-0 and the U13Bs lost 24-14. Both tries were scored by Leon Martin and Jamie Cotton kicked both conversions.
This week’s fixtures are against Limavady GS. The Medallion are at home on Tuesday 20th October with a 3pm kick off. The 1st XV and 2nd XV play Limavady GS at Rainey OBRFC and Meadowbank Arena on Friday 23rd October with a 4.15pm kick off. The U14s, the U13As and U13Bs play Limavady GS on Saturday 24th October at school with a 10.00am kick off. All support welcome.
Rainey Medallion Vs RBAI – Photos by D Hall
