Mark Henderson Reports: Friends School Medallion I XV v Rainey Endowed Medallion I XV: Report

Friends School Lisburn bow out of Medallion (image from a previous game)

Friends Medallion travelled to Rainey Endowed to play their Quarter Final match of the Bowl competition after their defeat in the third round of the Shield to Belfast High School last Saturday.

This was the fifth consecutive week of Medallion competition for this young side bolstered by five U14 players due to injuries received over the past five weeks, but the squad were looking forward to playing against a side who were in top condition and who they had not come up against before.

The game started at blistering speed and the home side soon took possession of the ball and within 3 minutes of kick off had scored a fine try with their speedy backline. 5-0

Friends were shocked at Raineys pace but not deterred and from the restart applied good pressure on the home side keeping them pinned down in their half. This settled Friends and the half was to play out with both sides failing to breach the others defence. Friends rucking and tackling was ferocious but the home sides backs were faster at reacting and these talents cancelled out each other so no side got the upper hand.

The half ended on a controversial decision by the match official at the scrum which saw Rainey being awarded a try out wide. 10-0

The second half was to be no different to the first with both sides matching the other in set pieces although Friends seemed to win the collision areas but their slow ball enabled Raineys defence to close them down.

Rainey managed to retain possession for most of the second half but could not convert it to points but as the time wound down there was less time for the visitors to score and with ten minutes to go Rainey were awarded a lineout within fifteen metres of Friends line, their throw in was not straight and went to Friends side of the lineout but the ball was knocked on and the match official decreed that advantage was over and the scrum would be to Rainey. This gave them possession to attack and they quickly moved the ball across the pitch but good defending by Friends kept them off the line, however they kept the ball alive and at the same time Friends outhalf was injured leaving a space in defence, an unseen forward pass put Rainey in for a try under the posts.

Friends did not give up, the players were enjoying the contest and for the final minutes of the game put pressure on the home side but could not breach their defence.

This was a very exciting match to watch and certainly all the players involved worked hard for their sides, both sides were equal and maybe the score did not reflect the match played out on the pitch although Rainey were the worthy winners and Friends wish them luck in the Semi-Final.