Banbridge Academy held their annual Rugby awards ceremony last week to mark the end of their season and honour the teams and standout players for all seven rugby teams in the school. The awards dinner took place in the Belmont Hotel on Wed 22^nd March with 115 players and rugby staff gathering to celebrate the schools’ successes.

The special guest for the evening was the Ulster & Ireland player Eric O’Sullivan. Eric is a dynamic ball-carrying Prop who has 100 Ulster Caps and was voted onto the Pro 14 Dream Team for the 2020-21 season. Eric congratulated all of the players on their efforts and encouraged those not fortunate enough to have received an award to keep working hard on their game and keep improving.

Headmaster Mr Robin McLoughlin also spoke to congratulate the players and coaches alike. He commended the players on their hard work throughout the season and congratulated them on another fine year in terms of results and performances. He also commented on the commitment of the coaching staff, namely the school staff of Brian Leslie, Brian O’Shaughnessy, Tim Baxter, Jonny Erskine, Chris Beacom, Jonathan Reaney & Jamie Macartney. He also thanked the outside coaches who come into school to help coach; Robbie Ervine, Charlie Farrell, Jemma Farrell, Arthur Allen, Brian Livingstone, Joel Good and the Athletic Development coaches of Ben Bradshaw and Marcus Graham. He paid tribute to all their hard work in coaching, refereeing and organisation of teams.

The school would also like to thank their many sponsors this season without whom it would be very difficult to provide the best experience for the players; Little & Company (Mr Andy Little), Wheatfield Decorative Stone (Mr Mark McCrum), JMK Solicitors (Ms Maurice Hutchinson), Mr & Mrs Matthews, Senior Parental group (Mr Terry Magee, Mr Guy Charman, Mr Ivan Hutchinson) & Houston’s Banbridge (Mr John Houston).

Individually the Academy also had a number of players who represented or trained with Ulster age group squads; Connor Magee Ulster U18 Clubs & Schools, Ryan Hanna Ulster U17 & U18 Clubs & Schools Training Squad, Noah Bell & Andrew Jackson Ulster U17, Matthew Morrison Ulster U17 training squad, Noah Haughey, Arturs Jonuss, Fynn Niblock, Leo O’Neill, Patrick McElroy, Conor Comiskey & Syd Moore Ulster Regional U16 training squad.

The performance of all the teams was commended and with five teams playing each Saturday and two Under 12 teams playing each Friday, the numbers playing the game are certainly on the rise. The two highlights of the season were the fantastic performance of our 1^st XV to win the Schools Bowl for the first time in the school’s history and also the Medallion XV winning the Medallion Trophy competition. Two bits of silverware in the trophy cabinet is never a bad year!

Headmaster Mr Robin McLoughlin, Mr Brian O’Shaughnessy, Noah Haughey Medallion XV Captain – winners of the Medallion Trophy, Ryan Matthews 1st XV Captain – Winners of the Schools’ Bowl, Mr Brian Leslie, Special Guest Ulster’s Eric O’Sullivan

Headmaster Mr Robin McLoughlin, Fynn Niblock Medallion XV, Ethan Houston U14 XV, Noah Bell Yr 12, Gareth Elliott U12B, Connor Magee 1st XV, Jack Agnew U12 A, Zach WatsonU12 A, Adam Logan 2nd XV, Dawson Knox U13 XV, Noah Myles Yr 14, Special Guest Ulster’s Eric O’Sullivan

Headmaster Mr Robin McLoughlin, Thomas Williamson 1st XV most improved, Jonathan Neill Medallion XV most improved, Ryan Matthews 1st XV Team of the year, Luke Wills U14XV most improved, Harry Wan 1st XV Clubman, Matthew Macauley U13 XV most improved, Adam Jones 2nd XV most improved, Special Guest Ulster’s Eric O’Sullivan

Headmaster Mr Robin McLoughlin, Patrick McElroy U14 XV, Henry Knox 2nd XV, Ryan Matthews 1st XV, Charlie Geoghegan U13 XV, Noah Haughey Med XV, Special Guest Ulster’s Eric O’Sullivan

A full breakdown of the individual award winners is below:

U12 ‘A’ XV          

Player of Year:

Jack Agnew

Zach Watson

Daniel Cairns

Isaac McCrum

U12 ‘B’ XV

Player of Year:

Gareth Elliott

Jacob Anderson

U13 ‘A’ XV          

Captain:                  Charlie Geoghegan

Player of Year:     Dawson Knox

Most Improved:   Matthew Macauley

U14 ‘A’ XV          

Captain:                   Patrick McElroy

Player of Year:     Ethan Houston

Most Improved:   Luke Wills

Medallion XV      

Captain:                   Noah Haughey

Player of Year:     Fynn Niblock

Most Improved:   Jonathan Neill

2^nd XV                    

Captain:                  Henry Knox

Player of Year:     Adam Logan

Most Improved:   Adam Jones

1^st XV

Captain:                  Ryan Matthews

Top Try Scorer:   Connor Magee

Overall P.O.Y.:     Connor Magee

U6 P.O.Y. :              Noah Myles

L6 P.O.Y.:                Connor Magee

Yr 12 P.O.Y.:           Noah Bell

Most Improved:   Thomas Williamson

Clubman:                 Harry Wan

Team of the year

1st XV – Bowl winners & best playing record