ULSTER SCHOOLS' CUP FINAL/Methodist College 36 Regent House 0:METHODIST COLLEGE made light work of increasing their record number of Ulster Schools Cup wins with a one-sided romp at Ravenhill yesterday.
Tries by Michael Allen (two), captain Adam Macklin, Rory Morris and Patrick Robinson sealed victory for the Belfast school to take their total of outright wins to 31, two ahead of their fierce rivals Royal Belfast Academical Institution.
With absolute dominance in the set-piece and classy runners behind, Methody simply posed Regent too many questions, though the Newtownards school never stopped battling the odds.
In glorious sunshine, Methody laid the foundations for victory with an impressive first-half effort against a stiff breeze: a try by the hugely impressive Allen, recently called into the Ireland under-18 schools squad, and the powerhouse number eight Macklin and a penalty by Robinson established a 15-point advantage at the break.
And with the wind behind them thereafter, they finished off the job in style, Allen ghosting over for a second and Morris adding to Regent's misery by sniping over from the blindside for his side's fourth before Robinson, who scored 18 points, barged over for a fifth touchdown at the death.
Robinson opened the scoring with a sixth-minute penalty.
The Belfast school tightened their grip in the 16th minute, when Allen put his fullback, Seán Conway, in the clear before the centre himself showed superb pace to finish in the corner for the game's opening try, Robinson adding the extras.
The Regent centre Paul Johnston lifted the siege when he intercepted a pass by Allen and hacked ahead twice to force Conway to concede the five-metre scrum.
But with Regent's lineout malfunctioning, their opponents were able to clear their lines.
Once again Methody cranked up the pressure, and it took a desperate double tackle by Johnston and Neil Armstrong to prevent Morris from finishing a counter-attack by Conway from a loose Regent clearance kick.
Methody continued to press, but with their forwards perhaps taking too much out of the ball, a couple of handling errors disrupted their efforts to build on their lead at a time when another score could have proved decisive.
Regent were able to mount one last rally of the half after winning a midfield penalty, but once again their lineout let them down and Methody cleared the danger.
And the Belfast school's killer blow was struck in first-half injury-time when Macklin barged over from a well-crafted rolling maul after Jackson had kicked a penalty to the corner.
That made it 15-nil at the break, and if Regent were to have any chance of winning it was crucial they secured at least a foothold by scoring next. So Methody, with the wind now on their backs, quickly moved to snuff out all hopes of such a revival.
Another superb backline move put Allen into the clear and the centre again showed his class by racing past the Regent defence to score his second try, in the 41st minute.
The prolific Robinson again posted the conversion to put the game beyond Regent's grasp.
The contest was now in danger of becoming a rout and that fear was underscored in the 48th minute when the Methody left wing Rory Morris finished off a blindside move from a messy scrum to touch down for his side's fourth try, Robinson adding another superb conversion.
A clever chip and chase by the outside centre Johnston brought Regent within a metre of a consolation try but Methody completed the rout when Robinson barged over in the final minute.
METHODIST COLLEGE: S Conway; R Stewart, M Allen, P Robinson, R Morris; P Jackson, M Heaney; R Gilmore, N Annett, C Carey; M Elwood, R Murphy; S Leckey, F La Roche, A Macklin. Replacements: B McIlroy for Heaney (55 mins), (C Minnis for Elwood (63 mins).
REGENT HOUSE: N Armstrong; C Woods, P Johnston, R Mayne, R Garnham; J Patterson, A Lockhart; P Henderson, P Hamilton, D Keys; J Anderson, S Hutchinson; C McCoy, M Whiteside, N Cahoon. Replacement: M Gibson for Woods (17 mins).
Referee: S McDowell
