Ballyclare students suffer narrow defeat in Tag Rugby Cup final

The team, conetesting in the final for the second consecutive year, lost out to Royal School Cavan 2-1.

The Rashee Road pupils progressed to the showpiece after a 4-0 win over Down High, a 1-1 draw with Grosvenor and a 3-1 win over Larne in the group stages.

They enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Victoria College Belfast at the quarter-final stage before triumphing 3-0 over Loreto in the last four.

Despite the final defeat, the players remained upbeat.

"It was so fun much, I really enjoyed the festival style event and shorter matches against lots of schools" explained Lucy Logan, who is also currently involved with Ulster U16 at regional training sessions and is hopeful to be selected for Ulster U16 sevens and 15s.

Penny McWhirter added: “It was brilliant and I am so happy to have given it a try.”

Praising the team, coach Mike Orchin-McKeever, said: “Penny has energy and enthusiasm that I never witnessed before and with only being in Year 10 I hope she continues to play for future years.

"Players’ player of the season and captain, Abigail Barr, was regularly on the scoresheet and most improved player of the season, Ellie Wasson, was a lively spark throughout.

"To lose only one game out of 12 from regionals and finals is a super achievement by the girls.”

Meanwhile, Ballyclare High pupil, Tom McAllister, recently represented Ireland U18 School and club side in a fixture V Italy, at Ashbourne RFC, in which the Irish U18 side lost by two points.

He said: “It was amazing, I loved every minute of the experience. I made some great friends from it and learnt what the environment is like within the professional and international environment. We trained at the IRFU High Performance centre which was fun.

"We had two camps with overnight stays and the second camp was from Thursday - Sunday with the game on Sunday.”

Praising Tom’s efforts, Mike Orchin-McKeever stated: “Tom made a strong impact to the game winning a scrum penalty, strong work rate in defence making tackles and hungry to carry ball. Tom was only one of three players from Ulster to represent Ireland at Under 18 age level."