We caught up with one of our featured schools on Saturday morning as Banbridge Academy competed in the Graham Cup, hosted and organised by Grosvenor Grammar School.
The competition featured four schools; Grosvenor Grammar, Antrim Grammar, Banbridge Academy and Rainey Endowed. The teams played each other in a round robin of 6 games with each team playing three 22 minute matches.
The two games in each round were played concurrently and we covered the games that Banbridge were involved in.
Round 1: Banbridge Academy 5 Rainey Endowed 0
This game could have gone either way. Rainey looked to have the bulk of territory and possession but, despite coming close on a couple of occasions, they were unable to break down the rugged Banbridge defence.
The Academy made the most of their opportunities with Noah Haughey picking up the only try of the game to give Banbridge a 5 – 0 win.
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Round 2: Banbridge Academy 21 Antrim Grammar 0
Banbridge Academy face Antrim Grammar in the second round match. Antrim enjoyed plenty of territory and possession in the game but they were unable to make their chances count with the Banbridge defence on top form.
Academy broke out for three tries with Darragh Knox, Jack Shaw and Harry Wan all crossing. Andrew Jackson, who kept Banbridge in the right area of the pitch with his kicks from hand also landed all three conversions to give Banbride a bonus point 21 – 0 win.
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Round 3:Grosvenor Grammar 0 Banbridge Academy 14
Once again banbridge relied on their well organised defence to see off early pressure from the host team.
After soaking up the pressure the Academy worked their way down field for fliers Joey Mackrell and Daniel Hutchinson to score almost identical tries, Hutchinson adding a bit of showbiz dazzle with his dive at the end.
Jackson converted both to give Banbridge a 0 – 14 win and having won all three matches they picked up the Graham Cup, with Rainey Endowed finishing second with 2 wins.
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The proceedings finished when Dr Frances Vassey, Principal of Grosvenor Grammar School, presented the Ian H Graham Trophy to Daniel Hutchinson, captain of the victorious Banbridge Academy team.
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