RBAI came of age at Ravenhill yesterday, collecting their 26th Ulster Schools' Cup in convincing fashion.
Conor Fee's first-half try proved the key to unlocking the door of Ballymena Academy's defence. Fee's 17th-minute touchdown gave RBAI a commanding lead and they never relinquished that advantage, although the outstanding play of Ballymena's Ian Humphreys, brother of Ulster captain David, threatened to spoil the Belfast side's day.
Ballymena played some exceptional rugby in the first half but the balance swung in the Belfast school's favour when Conor Fee scored against the run of play rounding off an excellent move by his captain Michael Rainey.
Fee's try ensured RBAI went into half-time leading 10-3, Ballymena's only points coming from a Humphreys penalty.
Rainey and winger Andrew Maxwell exploded into action in the second half as RBAI made their dominance pay dividends.
The Belfast school increased their half-time lead when Maxwell scored an excellent individual try. The speedy winger left the Ballymena defence for dead as he burst through to score in the corner.
There was still hope for Ballymena as Humphreys scored the second of his two penalties with just over 10 minutes left but a second try from Maxwell put the game beyond their reach.
Mounting pressure on the Ballymena line eventually paid off as Maxwell was at the end of a brilliantly-rehearsed move to score under the posts.
For eight of the Ballymena players this was their second consecutive schools' cup defeat.
RBAI: C Gibson; C Fee, R McKeown, T Telford, A Maxwell; M Rainey (Capt), P Bennett; G Kendrick, J Craig, M Stokes, C Sweeney, A Telford, R McKibben, M Lyttle, R Wilson. Replace- ments: I Keith for Gibson (52 mins); A Hamlin for G Telford (66 mins).
BALLYMENA ACADEMY: C Coulter; J Harper, S Goodrich, J O'Kane, A Harper; I Humphreys, B McCullough; D Campbell, M Stevenson, A Hall, J Adair, J Smyth, S McKinney, A Flack, M McCullough (Capt). Replacements: A Carson for Campbell (27 mins); D Harris for Hall (40 mins); G O'Donnell for J Harper (63 mins).
Referee: S McDowell (Belfast Harlequins).
