On Thursday 21st March two teams travelled to Hillsborough to take part in Downshire Primary School’s Rugby Blitz which included many of the top teams like Campbell, Inch Marlo, Downshire and lots of other schools from the surrounding area. It is fair to say that both teams started a little shakily with both the ‘Lions’ and the ‘Cheetahs’ nearly losing their second matches had it not been for excellent play from Josh Watts and Iaith Hanash respectively. Thankfully though, both teams gradually eased their way into the matches and managed to work the long bus journey out of their legs.
The Cheetahs began to play some excellent, expansive rugby led by Adam Osborne, Nathan Watson and Louis Campbell. The boys looked increasingly comfortable in defence and attack. Special mention should go to some of the P6s who played out of their socks and will benefit from this experience next year. Ethan Howe-Joyce and Reuben Dornan were consistent all afternoon and have both developed their skillset tremendously throughout the year. It was great to see the entire Cheetah’s Squad playing with such enthusiasm and heart. Their performances grew alongside their confidence and very soon the squad became difficult to live with and they enjoyed success against schools such as Friends Prep, Ballymacash and Moneyrea. Out of their 5 matches they won four and drew one scoring 21 tries and only conceding 2 which was a great reflection of the strength in depth that we have here in Strandtown.
The Lions found themselves in uncharted territory at the start of the afternoon as they struggled to find their rhythm. They did very well to come back in the final seconds of the game to score a try to win a very tight game against Meadowbridge Primary. It was certainly a good wake up call for the lads! After this result the boys managed to really step it up a level in their games against Campbell and Downshire. Spirited performances by Harry Johnston, Raanan Potter and Matthew McGonigle dragged the boys into these close encounters and the return of Zak Cooley began to shore up a ruck which had creaked in the previous few matches. The penultimate game was against Pond Park which was a resounding success. This win set up a final game against Inch Marlo who the boys had narrowly beaten in a very tight contest less than a week before. Both teams were not prepared to give an inch but the boys defended stoically and put the Inch Marlo lads under a lot of pressure. This pressure resulted in Iaith running the length of the pitch to score a breakaway try. However, this try only seemed to spur on Inch Marlo further and they attacked our line for the remainder of the match. They were able to score a well-worked try in the corner in the last play of the game to equalise the score. The boys were gutted but a draw would seem like a fair reflection of the game considering the ability and skill of the opposition. This result left the Strandtown Lions with a record of five wins and one draw. Although it was severely tested by a number of teams, the unbeaten streak continues!
Thank you again to all the parents who turned up to support and help our boys! The lads were a credit to themselves and the school, as they have continued to be all year!
Well done again boys, next up is the East Down tournament in 3 weeks time.
Menu
