Portora Medallion 24

Coleraine Medallion 10

Two years ago when these sides met aged Under 13, Coleraine won 34-0, at Portora. Last year Portora had to come back from 17 to nil down to scrape a close win. This year, despite a lapse in concentration in the middle of the first half, preceded by the loss of their number 8, John Allan, to concussion, Portora never looked like losing.

That is not to say it wasn’t a hard earned win. Coleraine were very competitive. They have a solid, well rounded team with an excellent number 8 and a very quick back three. However, the home forwards were just too strong and too aggressive when it came to the rucks and mauls. They harried and hounded the opposition with Chris Balfour, John Fitzpatrick and the ubiquitous Sam Frazier all making their presence felt. Excellent rucking by all eight forwards and good control by half backs Matthew McConkey and Mark Crawford allowed Portora to escape when under pressure and attack the open spaces when they appeared.

The first try came from the home side when Crawford gave Ben Donaldson a well timed pass on the blind side just outside the visitors 22. Donaldson raced for the corner and was just about to dive for the line when the Coleraine winger caught him with a high tackle. The referee had little option other than to award a penalty try which Craig Johnston converted. Portora were clearly the stronger side but they very quickly paid the penalty for letting themselves believe that the game was won. Very shortly after the try Coleraine spun the ball out to their right wing, he linked with his full back to make an overlap which allowed them a simple score.

Portora came back, consistently running strong pods and working their way towards the visitor’s line. Any attempt to break back by Coleraine was quickly closed down mostly due to the outstanding tackling of Alexander Parke, well supported by his centre partner, Curtis Coalter. Relieving kicks were competently fielded by Portora full back, Johnston who has, thankfully, stopped letting the ball bounce before trying to secure it. He counter-attacked where possible, making good ground and keeping the pressure on Coleraine. That pressure eventually led to another Portora try, this time by Frasier who broke through three tackles to score.

Once again the home side’s concentration slipped during the excitement that followed their score. The visitor’s full back received the ball in what seemed an unpromising position but managed to jink and twist his way through a slack Portora defence to bring his side back into the game at 12 points to 10. The conversion attempt failed by the narrowest of margins.

The loss of Allan in the back row should have weakened the Portora team but the emergence of Fitzpatrick as a credible hooker and a fearsome combatant allowed the mobile William Dowson to move to number 8, a position he seems very comfortable in. When Allan returns in a month’s time he will combine with Dowson, Frasier and Aly Jones to give Portora strength and depth in perhaps the three most influential positions in the modern game.

Portora dominated the second half allowing the visitors just a single, unproductive incursion into their 22. Balfour bullied his way over the line at the front of a marauding pack to score a try that was just reward for the disruption his hard work had caused in the opposition ranks throughout the game. Harry Dane, learning from an early moment of madness when he decided to kick and chase a ball that just needed to be picked up and passed for a score, dived on a similar loose ball, rolled onto his feet and sidestepped two Coleraine defenders to score the last try of the match. Johnston converted to leave the final score at 24 to 10 in favour of Portora. This, despite the weather conditions, was probably the Medallion’s best outing of the season.