Schools' Finals/RBAI 12; Methodist College 10: Royal Belfast Academical Institution spoiled Methodist College Belfast coach David Wells's retirement party by claiming a hard-earned victory in the Ulster Schools' Cup final at Ravenhill yesterday.
Two second-half tries by Lewis Creighton and Michael Young were enough to edge out Methodist, whose coach Wells was seeking an 11th outright victory from 14 finals over a remarkable 30-year coaching tenure.
Arch Belfast rivals Institution, however, tore up the script, recovering from a 10-0 deficit at the break to close the game out in a frantic finish to land their 28th title.
Methodist, playing with the benefit of a stiff breeze, started the opening half with intent and came close to opening the score after a number of impressive drives and recycles created an opening for Owen McMurray. However, the right wing could not hold the pass as an overlap appeared.
He quickly made amends, though, by slotting a touchline penalty in the fifth minute.
A change of tactics would yield a rich reward for Methodist on 25 minutes. Kicking for territory, Wells's side recycled in midfield and some neat hands created some space for McMurray, who raced up the touchline.
Showing tremendous strength to beat the cover and offload to fullback Colin Fenton. Fenton then drew the cover and McMurray hit a superb line to race over for a try. McMurray then showed a cool head to bang over the conversion.
The second period started at a break-neck speed and strong driving play gave Institution their first chance of points but outhalf Lewis Creighton saw his penalty chance rebound wide off the upright.
Institution were soon back on the warpath with a huge kick by Creighton creating havoc under the Methodist posts. After the ball was held up, Creighton himself nipped over from a five-metre scrum in the 50th minute. His simple conversion sliced the lead to three points.
The tide now seemed unstoppable and Institution took the lead with a second try in the 57th minute when flanker Michael Young burst over after collecting a rebounded high ball.
A last-gasp drop-goal miss in front of the posts by Stuart Campbell saw Methodist's and Wells's dreams end in heartbreak.
SCORING SEQUENCE - 5mins: O McMurray pen, 0-3; 25: McMurray try, con, 0-10; 50: L Creighton try, con 7-10; 57: M Young try, 12-10.
ROYAL BELFAST ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION: J Scott; C Irwin, E Layard, D McCormick, R Fegan; L Creighton, D Drake; S McMullan, S Douglas, M Spratt; A Glass, R Lusk; M Young, A Watt (capt), J McCullough. Replacements: D Harris for Layard (10-19 mins), M Gallagher for McMullan (50 mins), A Bingham for M Spratt (50 mins), Harris for McCormick (54 mins), D Glover for Scott (61 mins).
METHODIST COLLEGE BELFAST: C Fenton; O McMurray, S Morrow, S Campbell, K Corrigan; R Blake-Knox, J Trotter; G Ferguson, P MacMahon, J Denny; J McMullan, D Annett; R Hamilton (capt), M Hashim, D Johnson. Replacements: M Robinson for Hashim (55 mins), J Graham for Fenton (59 mins), A Jackson for Annett (60 mins), Annett for McMullan (66 mins)
Referee: C Beverland (Ulster)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)