Sullivan Upper School Vs Wallace High School Medallion Shield Quarter Final
On Saturday 15 February 2014 Sullivan Upper School played host to Wallace High School in the quarter-finals of the Medallion Shield. There was large support for both teams but the Sullivan fans were louder and cheered their team to what was a very impressive victory against a good Wallace team that had thrashed Sullivan earlier in the season.
The home side started very brightly, like they had done in their two previous Medallion Shield games against Friends and Ballyclare. However on those occasions Sullivan did not get any points on the board but this time it was different. The pack were dominant and this allowed the Sullivan backs like Rory Kirkpatrick down the middle and Conor Scollan down the wing to make good ground as well as Jonny McCrossan to put the home side in the right areas. A penalty was missed but that didn’t matter as this pressure finally paid off for Sullivan who scored 10 minutes from the interval after good work from the forwards saw scrum half Ruairi Meharg spot a gap and power through to score a converted try by Rory Jemphrey. The score at half time remained 7-0.
Unsurprisingly Wallace came out fighting in the second half. Sullivan’s defence was excellent with the back row and outside centre Matthew Moran putting in some excellent tackles. The next score would be vital. Good wingplay down the left along with good tactical kicking, powerful running by the centres and a dominant forward pack, gained Sullivan good territory in the Wallace 22. Wallace’s defence was firm for a while but eventually Sullivan got their second try when number 8 Alex Aston saw a small gap and scored under the posts. The try was converted to make the score 14-0.
Straight from the restart Wallace propelled themselves at the Sullivan line. Wallace twice came very close to scoring but the Sullivan defence, especially along side the ruck, was superb. However this pressure finally paid off for the away side when they scored a converted try from five metres out.
Sullivan did not let this hinder them as they again gained good territory in the opposition 22. Wallace had a scrum right on their line and fantastic pressure from blindside flanker Adam McKenna saw the ball spill out to Rory Kirkpatrick who went over for another converted try. The score now was 21-7.
This really sealed the victory for Sullivan but to Wallace’s credit they came back strong and scored a converted try with the last play of the game.
It didn’t matter though as Sullivan had won! The home team and supporters alike were in jubilation after a fantastic result. Sullivan now move on to play RBAI on Saturday 1 March at Pirrie Park in the semi-final.