There was plenty of action in the Cup this morning as a number of teams survived through tight matches while others scored a bagful of points; in the game between Down HS and Coleraine AI we even had both:

1stXV Cup, Round 3 – Sat 7th Feb
 Ballyclare HS 17-5 Bangor GS 
 Ballymena Academy 10-18 Methodist College 
 Carrickfergus GS 7-26 Omagh Academy 
 Down HS 28-34 Coleraine AI 
 Limavady GS 12-14 RS Armagh 
 Portora RS 0-30 Wallace HS 
 RBAI 36-0 Regent House 
 Sullivan Upper 0-13 Campbell College 

Limavady GS very nearly pulled off another great win this morning, but were just pipped by RS Armagh in what was the tightest game of the round, while Wallace HS and RBAI look in good form after easing home to their respective victories.

Later in the day, the draw for the Cup & Plate Quarterfinals was made by Ulster Branch and panned out as follows:

1stXV Cup, QF – Sat 21st Feb
 Ballyclare HS v  Wallace HS
 Campbell College v  Methodist College
 Coleraine AI v  Omagh Academy
 RBAI v  RS Armagh

1stXV Plate, QF – Sat 21st Feb
 Down HS v  Bangor GS
 Limavady GS v  Portora RS
 Regent House v  Carrickfergus GS
 Sullivan Upper v  Ballymena Academy

Old rivals Campbell College and Methodist College meet in a Cup QF once again, in what is probably the tie of the round while an intriguing fixture between Coleraine AI and Omagh Academy means that one is guaranteed to go through to the semis and provide the competition with a ‘dark-horse’ in the closing stages.

The respective quarterfinals and semifinals of the Bowl and Trophy competitions also took place this morning, Larne GS featuring in the latter after winning a midweek replay 42-11 against Antrim GS:

1stXV Bowl, QF – Sat 7th Feb
 Banbridge Academy 19-9 Portadown College 
 Dalriada 17-12 Grosvenor GS 
 Foyle College 19-14 Belfast HS 
 Rainey ES 30-10 BRA  

1stXV Trophy, SF – Sat 7th Feb
 Friends’ SL 7-10 Lurgan College   
 RS Dungannon 50-0 Larne GS 

These results mean that the 1stXV competitions have their first final of the year, with Lurgan College to play RS Dungannon in the Trophy decider, the date and venue of which is yet to be announced.

The draw for the Bowl was also made this morning, the semifinals coming out as follows:

1stXV Bowl, QF – Sat 21st Feb
 Dalriada v  Banbridge Academy
 Rainey ES v  Foyle College

These semifinal fixtures are due to take place in two weeks time or some time close to then.