Portora blow away frustrations to reach Schools' Plate semis

Editorial Department • Published 2 Feb 2012 13:00 0 Comments

Portora 36; Antrim Grammar 0;

Portora bounced back from the painful School's Cup defeat by Dalriada by thrashing Antrim Grammar School to reach the semi-final of the School's Plate, where they will face local rivals Omagh.

Portora coach Adrian Walker was delighted with his team's performance. "We really controlled the game from start to finish, and although they were dangerous in parts we quickly snuffed out any threat," he said. "It was a chance for us to express ourselves, and a chance for us to blow the cobwebs away and take away any frustrations from the Dalriada game. Ultimately at this stage of the season if you lose a game it all comes to a rather abrupt end, so it's very much about wanting to keep playing rugby, and we are getting the chance to do that."

Going into the home tie against Antrim, Portora were overwhelming favourites, but it was the visitors who applied the early pressure after Portora failed to gather the ball from the kick off. Eventually a strong tackle in midfield and powerful forward play turned the ball over, and the men in black worked their way through the Antrim defence and towards the try line. They thought they had opened the scoring with a try only for the referee to disallow the score, but it was a temporary reprieve for Antrim. With Joel Johnston receiving the ball from a ruck and Andrew Morrison helping him along, Johnston crossed the try line for Portora's first points of the day, with the conversion added by Patrick McCleery.

It wasn't long before Portora were back in Antrim territory, with the backs making decisive incisions into the Antrim defence, and the forwards giving their opposition no chance to steal ball. Play swung from left to right seamlessly and it was the ever laconic Andrew Morrison who crossed in the corner to bring the score to 12-0, before McCleery added the touchline conversion to make it 14-0.

There was time for the Portora side to add another before halftime, with a cheeky grubber from Connor Donaldson bouncing into the hands of James Ferguson who powered over the line to take his season's tally to 13 and the score to 19-0. McCleery's successful conversion attempt meant the score line read 21-0 in Portora's favour. With five minutes left of the half an injury stoppage meant the game could have been in jeopardy. The referee pulled up with a hamstring injury but luckily Johnny Gibson was in the crowd, and quickly threw on his kit and donned the whistle to take charge of the second half.

The second period was a continuation of the first as Portora dominated almost every facet of the game; their own line out was quick and guaranteed, the scrum was forceful and unyielding with Oliver Gamble excelling at number 8, the back play was fast and meaningful and the teams defence was ruthless and organised. After a prolonged period of time in the Antrim twenty-two Portora got a penalty taken quickly by Patrick McCleery who rounded the sleepy Antrim defence to touchdown in the corner. His attempt at the touchline conversion hit the bar and bounced out to deny the scrum half a tally of four from four.

With some time to go the Portora coaches decided to ring the changes.

James Stephenson had several kicks which left the Antrim side scrambling, Matthew McVitty combined well with wingers Forbes and Magwood to torment the ever tiring Antrim defence, Jordan Hylton made some strong tackles and good breaks, combining with Nathan Richmond who mirrored the strong centre play, with several crunching tackles of his own.

However it was John Clarke who made the most impact, scoring two tries from about twenty metres out, leaving what looked like the whole Antrim side, either on the ground or hanging off the young prop. Neither of his tries were converted, but the senior players on the pitch such as James Ferguson, Neil Henderson and Alex McElroy made sure to hold on to the great attitude for an impressive 36-0 win.

The Portora players and coaching staff would like to wish the Antrim scrum half a speedy recovery from a broken ankle, an injury which looked particularly nasty.

The Portora team go on to the semi-finals where they will play Omagh away on February 11. The semi-final matchup is a repeat of the 2011 final, in which Portora emerged victorious. That success against Omagh was one of a number in recent seasons, with the Fermanagh team having the edge over the Tyrone opponents.

"We have gone five games unbeaten against them now, but our most recent encounter was pretty tight, although we did finish on the winning side," said Adrian. "We have played them twice this season already and we played them in the final last year and won, but they have the home advantage and it's not going to be easy. Previous games mean nothing. It's a cup game and it away from home, so I'm expecting a tight encounter."

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 02 Feb 12

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