Sullivan U13s vs Dalriada
On Saturday 12 October 2013 Sullivan played against Dalriada Grammar School making this their seventh game of the season. Sullivan beat the visitors 27-0, despite not playing up to their usual standards.
Dalriada kicked the match off and for the first ten minutes or so both teams were very quiet and there was not a lot of action. Occasionally, Sullivan made some good breaks and at points were looking good. The Dalriada defence were on top form during the first half and were able to keep Sullivan from scoring early on in the game. Throughout the entire first half, Sullivan were pressing to score the first try of the game. They were very close at some points to scoring but once they had completed the hard part of the plays, they unfortunately were unable to finish the move up by scoring the try. Sullivan were committing too many careless mistakes that led to them not scoring. There wasn’t going to be to long left of the first half and Sullivan were desperate to score a try. Thankfully they did and Sol Harper was the first name on the score sheet. Sullivan had a scrum just outside Dalriada’s five-metre line. Sullivan won the scrum and Sol got the ball at the back of the it and with his incredible speed ran around three defenders while also handing each of them off. He stormed through and over the try line to grab the first points of the game. William Hamilton unfortunately missed the kick from a very tough position. Five minutes later the first half ended and Sullivan narrowly led 5-0.
With a convincing half time talk from their coach at the back of their heads, Sullivan kicked the second half off. Immediately Sullivan were playing better than they were in the first half. There were in Dalriada’s half and were pushing to score their second try of the game. Dalriada were giving it all they had to stop Sullivan from getting a second try. After about ten minutes through the second half, Sullivan got their second try of the game through Ben Holley. The ruck was formed just inside the five-metre line and Conor McKee gave the ball to Ben Holley who narrowly got through the defence to score. Conor McKee added the extra points with a good kick and Sullivan had increased their lead to 12-0. Dalriada restarted the game quickly and the kick fell to William Hamilton who made an incredible run dodging and stepping past the Dalriada defence. He made about thirty metres of ground for Sullivan and he got passed at least six defenders. Unfortunately he was unable to make the whole way to the try line but that didn’t matter because Sullivan got their third try through this play. William Hamilton was tackled and Conor McKee passed the ball out towards the backs. The backs gave the ball out to one another and the space in the defence opened up for Jack McFerran who scored easily. This try was unconverted but Sullivan now led 17-0. During the second half, Sullivan made sure that Dalriada wouldn’t score against them and they were able to do a good job of that. Sullivan were on the attack and had been for quite a while. The forwards were charging through the defence and slowly Sullivan were making ground. Eventually after a lot of ground making, Henry Redpath-Woolley scored Sullivan’s fourth try after he picked the ball from the back of the ruck from close range and rammed through the defenders. This conversion was also missed but it wasn’t an easy kick. Sullivan came close to scoring again not long after that when Finlay Greer was through to score but unfortunately knocked the ball on just over the try line. There was only about five minutes left and Sullivan had done well to keep Dalriada from scoring at all during the match. There was to be one more try before the end of the match and this was to be Sullivan’s fifth try. This try came through Oliver Faith. Sullivan had the ball on roughly the half way line and Rory Houston (who had been playing very well for Sullivan for the whole match) received the ball and made a good run up inside the Dalriada 22 metre line. The Sullivan forwards were picking and driving the ball and they had made it to the five-metre line. Oliver Faith picked the ball from the back of the ruck and ran through the Dalriada defence. This try was very similar to some of the previous tries for Sullivan. The conversion was missed and the final whistle blew, leaving the final score at 27-0. It wasn’t as good a performance as some in recent weeks, but Sullivan were nonetheless relieved to have recorded their fifth victory in a row.
By Peter Casement