Gary Clarke Memorial Cup 2010

 

Following a morning of heavy rain the fourth Gary Clarke Memorial Cup kicked off in mild conditions with a dramatic red sunset as a back-drop.

 

The event, in its fourth year, welcomed back the best local talent from Lurgan College, Banbridge Academy, Friends and Portadown College. Originally conceived as a sixth form ‘leavers’ competition Lurgan RFC hope to attract the students into adult rugby at the club. 

 

The tournament was played in a ‘round-robin’ format, with games of 15minutes each. First up were Lurgan College and Banbridge Academy and a fast pace was set by both teams as a crowd of spectators gathered to cheer them on. Banbridge scored twice to win 10–0. The second fixture was a tighter affair with Friends and Portadown drawing 5 –5.

 

In a rerun of last year’s final the Academy then played Friends, and the Lisburn boys extended their recent run of form to win 12-5. Lurgan College then lost to their Portadown rivals by a similar margin.

 

Next up Lurgan College held Friends to a draw when Greg Lyness, playing at

scrum-half, broke from the halfway line to score the try of the tournament. Even Isaac

Boss, watching on from the sidelines, had to clap the number 9 home despite his

allegiance to the Friends team.

 

Sitting on 3 points after a win and a draw Portadown only needed a draw against

Banbridge Academy to reach the final. However the Academy boys engineered a late

try to claim a place in the final for the fourth successive year.

 

Friends School claimed the other spot and went into the final as favourites after their win over the Academy in the group. However Banbridge had other ideas and were keen to engrave their name on the silverware for the fourth time.

 

The game was a tense affair and the first half ended scoreless. After the break a well worked try from the Academy scrumhalf, Hugo Harbinson, was enough to return the cup to Banbridge.

 

 

During the presentations Lurgan’s Youth Convenor, Andrew Davis, paid tribute to the players  and their coaches. He was also pleased to see a number of former Lurgan Tigers representing three out of the four teams. Lurgan’s Head Coach, Chris Stevenson, singled out David McGuigan from Friends for the player of the tournament award. Finally the Gary Clarke

Memorial Cup was presented to the winning captain, Kallan Martin by Richard Clarke.