Ballyclare High School Vs Sullivan Upper School Medallion Shield 4th Round
On Tuesday 4 February 2014 Sullivan Upper Medallions took on Ballyclare High Medallions at Hollinger Park in Ballyclare, after the game had been postponed the previous Saturday. Both teams had won their 3rd round matches narrowly two weeks beforehand.
Sullivan started the game off in the ascendency. In the first minute, they won a scrum against the head and the ball was fed out to Connor Scollan who beat the Ballyclare winger and ran down the touchline and the ball ended up in the Ballyclare 22. The away side quickly consolidated some good field position but were wasteful with their chances due to silly handling errors and poor execution. The game became more open and it was end-to-end stuff. Both sides weren’t capitalising on mistakes or field position, and so it looked like a penalty kick would be the first points on the board. Ballyclare were awarded a penalty just past the 10 metre line but the out half narrowly missed so the score stayed at 0-0. Shortly after, Sullivan were awarded a penalty within kicking range. However, unfortunately for the Holywood side, their kicker Rory Jemphrey narrowly missed. Ballyclare finished the first half slightly stronger but again failed to put points on the board so the half time score was 0-0.
The second half started and the game continued to be quite open. Neither team got into try scoring positions and looked likely to score. Ballyclare then got good field position and the home side were awarded a penalty just outside the 22. The out half made no mistake this time and he slotted the ball over. This proved to be a catalyst for the Sullivan team and they came straight back at Ballyclare. One felt the next score would be vital. Sullivan were awarded a penalty just outside the 22 in front of the posts. However the kick was missed but Sullivan kept persevering and looked the more likely team to score. Then, with about 15 minutes to go, Sullivan finally capitalised on good field position. They made some good ground and Stephen Brush was tackled about a metre out but quick recycled ball allowed Adam McKenna to squeeze over in the corner to the delight of the away side supporters and players alike. The difficult conversion was missed so the score was 5-3 to Sullivan
The clock ticked on and the Sullivan defence stood firm. Good tactical kicking from the backs meant pressure was relieved and even when Ballyclare retaliated, Sullivan’s defence was excellentand the home side could not score.
The final whistle sounded. Sullivan had won 5-3 and the away side were in jubilation after a deserved win. They have progressed into the quarter finals were they will play Wallace at home.