Dromore High School created their own piece of rugby history on Saturday morning with a 12 – 15 win against Regent House in what was Dromore’s first official senior 1st XV fixture.
As the FRU were recording history that day we called in at Regent in Newtownards on our way to the U18’s Women’s match in Dublin.
Unfortunately we were delayed somewhat by the closure of the M3 that morning and we arrived after Dromore had raced to a 12 point lead following tries from Oliver Beattie and Richard Dickson with Ben Martin adding a conversion.
However we’d scarcely time to get our camera out before Regent crossed for an unconverted try of their own and, with their tails up, they crossed again before the break, this time for a converted try, to take the half time score to 12 – 12.
The second half was a cagey affair, but Dromore took the early advantage with a penalty from Martin.
Regent certainly had their chances, but their desire to make a statement by scoring a third try, despite a few comparitively easy penalty chances, ultimately cost them the game.
Dromore’s defence held firm, their scrummaging was good and their lineouts were competitive and they just about deserved the nod in a tense finish.
Final score: Regent House 12 Dromore High School 15.
Dromore High: Luke Fitzsimons, Oliver Beattie, Aaron Lyttle, Jake Boyd, Richard Dickson, Conor Heasley, Matthew Pepper, Peter O’Connor, Rhys Dale, Reuben Cobb, Thomas Priestley, Aaron Atkinson, Ben Davis, Caleb Harper, Ben Martin (c), James Boyd.
We’ll be hanging our Schools coverage on Dromore this season as we follow their journey as they compete in the Ulster Senior Schools Cup for the first time.
