Man of the match Peter Doran soars high to secure lineout ball

Congratulations to the 1st XV who have, for the second year running, made it to the final of the 1st XV Trophy.They booked their place in style with a convincing 50-0 home win over Larne Grammar.  RSD will defend the trophy against Lurgan College, who beat Friends in the other semi.  The final, scheduled for Wednesday 25 February, will be played at Banbridge Academy.

Full match report below.  Photos by Hugo Ho.

RS Dungannon 50
Larne GS 0

The match was played in ideal conditions and RSD had territorial advantage in the first 15 minutes, driving several lineout catches, but basic errors assisted the Larne defence in keeping their line intact. Just after the quarter hour a lineout steal by Patrick Forster set up a strong run by Peter Doran. The number 8 forced a penalty that was kicked to the right corner for an RSD lineout which set up a maul from which the opening try came. Hooker David Cooper grounded the score which was superbly converted from the right hand side by RSD captain John Buckley.

John Buckley lands a difficult conversion to add the extra two points to David Cooper’s try

RSD doubled their lead immediately when Peter Doran gathered the restart kick and broke away on a 50m charge down the pitch beating several defenders, and when the ball was moved wide from a ruck, centre Archie Hanna raced in for the try with out-half John Buckley adding the conversion.

After 23 minutes, a break by John Buckley was carried on by David Cooper and when Jim Meng was held up just short of the line, scrum-half Adam Cranston dived over the top of the ruck to claim the try with John Buckley again adding the conversion to leave the score 21 – 0 at the interval.

In the opening minutes of the second half good handling put full back Aaron McCammon clear on the left and he beat a couple of defenders to score in the left corner with John Buckley again adding another wide conversion.

Another John Buckley break carried on by Peter Doran and second row Thomas Downing saw RSD force a lineout in the right corner which was driven over the line with open side flanker Joshua McKee scoring the unconverted try.

A period of Larne pressure when their pack successfully picked and drove deep into the RSD 22m area saw one of their forwards go clear, but when he thought he was through to score, the retreating Adam Cranston knocked the ball out of his hands to keep the home line intact.

A period of sustained RSD pressure brought a second try for Aaron McCammon which went unconverted and similar pressure and several drives saw Peter Doran pop up in midfield to claim his first try under the posts with John Buckley adding the conversion.

RSD took the opportunity to use all the players from the bench and they continued to keep the Larne side under pressure and forced them back into their 22m area. From a scrum near the Larne line Peter Doran completed the score when he picked up and scored in the right corner.

RSD Team: (15-9) Aaron McCammon, Philip Wilson, Archie Hanna, Aaron Perry, Matthew Smyth, John Buckley (Captain), Adam Cranston, (1-8) Jonathan Black, David Cooper, Jim Meng, Patrick Forster, Thomas Downing, Joshua Patton, Joshua McKee (vice-captain), Peter Doran.
Replacements: Timothy Davidson, Matthew Magowan, Matthew Stockdale, Matthew Clarke, Joseph Cashel, Richard Kennedy, Angus Mok, Adam Cooper.