Enniskillen Royal medallion rugby squad travelled up to Belfast looking to secure a competitive fixture ahead of their entry into the last 16 of the Ulster Schools Medallion Shield Competition. They found one in the form of a well drilled Campbell College side.
With an early kick off requested there was very little time for a warm up in the icy morning air and Enniskillen were perhaps fortunate to find themselves a try and a conversion ahead early on in the first half. A strong first scrum by front row Graham, Phair and White allowed for good distribution and saw the ball reach winger Balfour who broke the attempted tackle by his opposite number to run in and touch down under the posts.
Campbell’s good recent results indicate that they are not accustomed to finding themselves on the reverse side of a score at their home ground. However, they did not drop their heads and from the restart they worked the ball well between their forwards and backs gaining ground inside the Enniskillen half all the time. Strong tackles were made by centre pairing of Balfour and Haire and the commitment to the rucks by Keys, Gamble and Smyton soon forced a turnover.
Eddie Keys kicked Enniskillen clear of their 22 and Campbell soon found themselves under pressure on their five-metre line. Campbell showed their quality and defended well and so the game moved up and down the pitch. Campbell came very close to equalising at one stage but the danger was seen early by number nine Bothwell and the ball was held up. Enniskillen worked their way back up the field with strong running on the ball by Stinson and Brown. Phair and Graham also combined well to continually punch holes through the game line and Wilson provided good support around the breakdown.
Enniskillen Royal’s second try of the half came after a lineout on the Campbell five metre line. The initial maul was repelled but strong forward carries over a number of phases allowed Smyton to get across the broken Campbell defensive line.
The first half of rugby was non-stop and finished with more drama as in the final minutes Campbell nicked one try back and Enniskillen had the ball held up over the line from the restart.
The second half also saw an early try by Enniskillen Royal as Smyton broke the game line and ran in a noteworthy try to put Enniskillen 21-5 up. Campbell are a good side and they responded strongly , with three unanswered tries. With less 10 minutes to go Enniskillen found themselves 24-21 down and the momentum decidedly against them.
The Enniskillen boys held their nerve and focused on what was needed to reclaim the lead. A good kick-off was won in the air and then a powerful, tackle breaking run by White kept the pressure on the home team. The ball was moved wide and, with the defence drifting, Henry Keys stepped inside to make a clean break and then draw the last defender. He put Milligan into space just inside the Campbell half and the left wing showed great pace to out-strip the cover defence and touch down under the posts. Eddie Keys converted, to give Enniskillen the final word in what was a rollercoaster and really entertaining game of rugby for all watching.
Squad: White, Phair, Graham, Stinson, Wilson, Gamble, H.Keys, Smyton, M. Bothwell, E. Keys, Milligan,Stephen Balfour, Haire, Sam Balfour, Brown, Havers, J.Bothwell, Elliot, Davis, Sanderson, Breen.
