Wallace High School hosted Bangor Grammar School in a very physical and abrasive encounter at the Magheralave Road venue.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES FORM THIS GAME COURTESY OF KEN BEST
In front of a good crowd of supporters from both schools it was the Wallace team that took the lead with a well struck penalty from David Scott to give his team a 3-0 lead. The Bangor team responded almost immediately when Stuart McCloskey kicked a penalty to take the score to 3-3. Shortly after this the home team was reduced to fourteen players when the referee had occasion to use his red card! However, the loss of a player did not seem to impact on the Wallace team as they took the lead once again when Chris Taylor powered his way over the Bangor line following a well-controlled driven maul from the Wallace forwards. David Scott was successful with the conversion attempt to put his team into a 10-3 lead. The Bangor team upped the tempo of the game and took play into Wallace territory. The Wallace High School defence was well organised and disciplined.
Cal McIlwaine and Daniel Henry got through a lot of work to ensure the score remained 10-3 until the half time whistle. Wallace High School started the second half strongly but their only reward was a David Scott penalty to increase their lead to 13-3. Bangor Grammar School realised they would need to lift their game or the Wallace High School team could start to run away from them. The Bangor pack started to put pressure on the Wallace pack and deprived the home team of possession from a number of scrums and lineouts. This pressure paid off when an opportunity was created which enabled Nico Espana to touch down for a try. Stuart McCloskey added the conversion to reduce the arrears to 13-10. Another David Scott penalty alongside two Stuart McCloskey penalties took the score to 16-16 with fifteen minutes remaining. Following a free flowing Wallace High School attack, David Scott scored an unconverted try in the corner to increase the Wallace lead to 21-16. With time running out the Bangor team took play deep into Wallace territory. Their off-loading game, involving both forwards and backs, paved the way for Stuart McCloskey to run in for a try. Stuart was unsuccessful with the conversion but the scoreline now read 21-21. There was one last opportunity for the home team to register a victory but David Scott was unsuccessful with an injury time penalty attempt which ensured the two teams will meet again on Saturday 12th March at the Ballymacormick Road venue in the replay of the semi-final of the Northern Bank Ulster Schools’ Subsidiary Shield game.
