{"id":37572,"date":"2012-12-06T18:05:29","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T18:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/?p=37572"},"modified":"2012-12-06T18:05:29","modified_gmt":"2012-12-06T18:05:29","slug":"official-report-graeme-cousins-reports-from-pollock-park-on-st-michaels-gs-v-lurgan-c-the-st-michaels-boys-showed-an-unbelievable-level-of-appreciation-of-the-sport-and-at-times-had-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/official-report-graeme-cousins-reports-from-pollock-park-on-st-michaels-gs-v-lurgan-c-the-st-michaels-boys-showed-an-unbelievable-level-of-appreciation-of-the-sport-and-at-times-had-the\/","title":{"rendered":"Official Report: Graeme Cousins Reports From Pollock Park On St Michaels GS v Lurgan C – “the St Michael\u2019s boys showed an unbelievable level of appreciation of the sport and at times had the well-drilled College outfit on the back foot.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE inaugural rugby match between the town\u2019s two grammar schools proved to be a resounding success.
\nLurgan College emerged victorious from the encounter with St Michael\u2019s, though the Catholic grammar school have a lot to be proud of.
\nIn a very open encounter, played at the home of Lurgan Rugby, St Michael\u2019s didn\u2019t disgrace themselves, crossing the line for three tries in reply to the seven scores from the College, who are unbeaten at Medallion level this season. CLICK HERE<\/a> for 400+ Action Shots from Rab Irwin
\nSt Michael\u2019s had only started training for this game in September with the vast majority of their team having no rugby experience.
\nCoached by Director of Lurgan RFCC and Youth Development Officer, Graeme Hunter, the St Michael\u2019s boys showed an unbelievable level of appreciation of the sport and at times had the well-drilled College outfit on the back foot.
\nHere is an interview with Graeme
\n[youtube wo0OvhnCrtE]
\nTwo of the St Michael\u2019s team – Niall Greene and Mark McCafferty – play for Lurgan Under 17s and both scored tries at the rugby ground they call home.
\nBut the biggest cheer of the day went up for St Michael\u2019s full back Daire Haughey, playing his first competitive rugby match, who touched down for a try at the end of the first half.
\nAfter the game Daire told the \u2018MAIL\u2019: \u201cIt was a brilliant game and brilliant to get our first try.
\n\u201cI\u2019d definitely like to do it again. It would encourage me to come up here and play for Lurgan.\u201d
\nFellow try scorer Niall Greene added: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot more contact in rugby than in gaelic. You get to know your team very well.\u201d
\nNiall\u2019s team mate at St Michael\u2019s and Lurgan U17s, Mark McCafferty, commented: \u201cA lot of the skills are transferable between rugby and gaelic. I really enjoy both sports. Graeme has been a great coach. He makes everything very simple.\u201d
\nGraeme, son of former British Lion Ray Hunter, said: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to believe these boys have only been playing rugby since September. It was a great game. The boys from St Michael\u2019s can hold their heads high. They should be really proud of themselves. With the talent Lurgan College have to score three tries was an excellent achievement.\u201d
\nLurgan College Coach Brian Hanna said: \u201cIt was great to be involved in this match. St Michael\u2019s have some very promising players.
\n\u201cThis current group we have at Lurgan College are the best I think I\u2019ve ever worked with. It\u2019s credit to the mini rugby system at Lurgan that we\u2019ve inherited a collection of great rugby players who already gel as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below are TV clips of moments in the game including a try or two!<\/strong><\/p>\n

[youtube x1Was2Il8TU]
\n[youtube 58bX_8HtvkI]
\n[youtube E-hX706FMp4]
\n[youtube rh9JvHWyM24]
\n[youtube xsKe1SSwrIE]
\n [youtube GrM0eDep7cM]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE inaugural rugby match between the town\u2019s two grammar schools proved to be a resounding success. Lurgan College emerged victorious from the encounter with St Michael\u2019s, though the Catholic grammar school have a lot to be proud of. In a very open encounter, played at the home of Lurgan Rugby, St Michael\u2019s didn\u2019t disgrace themselves, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3713,3715],"tags":[5780,17311,11360,3959,5778],"class_list":["post-37572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lurgan-college","category-st-michaels","tag-college","tag-lurgan","tag-michaels","tag-rugby","tag-st"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37574,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37572\/revisions\/37574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}