Academy entertained Coleraine in a Championship 2 match at Roughfort on Saturday.
Report and images by Nick Murray.
From the kickoff, early pressure from Coleraine sees the ball go into touch at about 10 metres out. A strong lineout and Coleraine grab the first score as Jamie Crowe goes over near the corner. A fine conversion from the near the touchline by Bruce Kirkpatrick gives the visitors the early 7 point lead.
Academy are immediately on the front foot, with all the pressure in the next 10 minutes, eventually rewarded for their efforts as Stewart Martin goes over, and Academy captain David Kenny levels the scores at 7 – 7
After some excellent scrum work, a penalty about 5 metres inside the Coleraine half sees Kenny give Academy the lead. 10 – 7
A more disciplined Academy side win another penalty with Coleraine not staying on their feet, in much the same spot as the first one, with another fine kick from Kenny stretching the lead to 6 points. 13 – 7.
Some excellent scrums from Academy are the stand-out feature of the first half, but Coleraine round off the scoring in the first period, with a penalty from Kirkpatrick to get Coleraine within 3 at half-time.
With Coleraine under pressure inside their own 22, some excellent tackling saw them win the penalty and clear to the Academy half. Academy continued to press, but again come out with the ball and clear to touch near the halfway to get some respite.
After another couple of excellent scrums from Academy, all the pressure finally paid off at the end of the third quarter when Kenny stretched out an arm to touch down right beside the posts, with a simple conversion from him to take his personal tally for the day to 15 points with an impressive captain’s performance. 20 – 10.
Coleraine weren’t out of it and had their moments, but a try by Conor Bond gave Academy a bit if breathing space at 25 – 10 with only 5 minutes remaining.
The notable feature of the day, as I said, were the Academy scrums, and despite a valiant effort by Coleraine, a third successive put-in for Academy inside Coleraine 5 metre line, with the scrum going forward, led the ref to award a penalty try right on the whistle.
Academy deserved winners, and the number of scrums won immediately before many of the scores made the difference. 32 – 10.
