1st xv Report

Poor game overall played out by 2 teams who never got going. Very scrappy 1st half
with neither team dominating nor asserting their authority. Portadown's set piece
misfired all match with too many line outs lost & scrums disrupted. Clogher had a
short period of possession & territorial domination at the end of the first half which
resulted in a pushover scrum. Halftime 5-0. Second half much the same. Neither team
settling into their game and too many mistakes made. Clogher got 2 further tries from
set piece mauls and converted one leaving the full time score at 17-0. Ports must up
their game as the same opposition travel to Chambers park this Saturday for qf of the
Junior Cup. Best on the day was captain James Carleton
3rd xv Report
Missed opportunities against a strong Armagh side
Portadown 3s rued their missed opportunities in the first half against a strong Armagh
3s team. Armagh started the brighter of the two sides scoring in the first few minutes
of the first half due to a lack of concentration from a high hopeful kick that Portadown
allowed to bounce and let Armagh through under the posts. Portadown then rallied
and came within inches of scoring, but were only able to register 3 points in the form
of a penalty by Stan Hamilton.
Portadown were playing all the rugby, and again came close to scoring on 3 further
occasions, at one stage the referee actually had is arm up to confirm a score, but then
changed his mind! Armagh kicked a penalty to finish the half 10 3 up leaving
Portadown thinking how they were behind in the game.
Armagh again started the half stronger scoring early on and increasing their lead,
Portadown rallied and finally scored a try of their own following constant pressure
with Jordan Elliott driving over, Stan Hamilton converting. Armagh then upped their
game and scored a couple of tries in quick succession. The Blues defence faded badly
and started dropping off more and more tackles and Armagh capitalised, running in
another couple of tries to put a gloss on the score line in the last 20 minutes.
Portadown 3s 10 40 Armagh 3s
2nd xv Report
Portadown seconds got back to winning ways on Saturday when they hosted Rainey
and came away with a 69 points to 7 win. Portadown were on the score board within
minutes of the first whistle, when Calvin Chambers got the ball on the wing and had
too much pace for the Rainey defence and raced clear to score the first of his five
tries. The Portadown forwards starved Rainey of any ball from set piece by driving
them off their own ball at the scrums and stealing their lineouts. It was from a lineout
and a training park move that Portadown got their next score. The fowards set up a
driving maul from a lineout with Rodney Blair controlling at the back and he dotted
down for his score. David Whitten also had a great performance and was rewarded
with three tries of his own. Ruairi Quinn also got on the score sheet with a try. Big
Rodney then showed his pace with a shimmy of the hips he broke through the Rainey

defence and dived over the line for his second score. Calvin wrapped things up as he
sprinted the length of the pitch for the last of his five tries. Graeme Currie had a good
day at Outhalf and converted seven of Portadown's tries. Jonny Burns was awarded
man of the match for his all round performance.
4th xv Report
23-3 harlequins victory
Portadown 4xv travelled to Belfast to take on Belfast Harlequins in great conditions.
The youthful side fresh from the first win last week took the field against a "Quinn's"
side that had won 4 of their 5 games. The young blues showed no fear as they began
on the front foot. Kicking off and immediately forcing Quinn's into an error that saw
the ball turned over. For the opening 10 minutes the blues attack continued to press in
the Quinn's half. Credit to the experience of the Belfast team the defence held strong
against some hard running from the forwards and backs. During a rare foray for the
Quinn's into the blue 22 number 13, Craig Johnson jarred his ankle in the turf and was
replaced by Josh Gillespie. A shuffle of the team saw John Leckey move to 12, Simon
Lappin push out to 13 with Gillespie now at 8. It was during this reshaping period that
Quinn's made it over the line in the corner. Totally against the run of the play. The try
remained unconverted.
The blues then regrouped and again the forwards made great inroads to the Quinn's
territory. Keiran Gribben, Scruff Stevenson, Michael Gill and new number 8 josh
Gillespie making telling breaks. The scrum and line out both proving fruitful too.
Young William Craig was faultless at hooker with Andrew Gilpin and Sam Close
imperious in the front row turning over scrums, and rucks all day long. It was during
one of his breaks that Keiran Gribben took the ball into contact and an opposition
player falling on his outstretched leg caused what was later confirmed to be a broken
leg. A devastating end for Gribben who had promised a man if the match
performance. Now sadly we will never know.
The blues now with 14 players and no replacements had to refocus. Still finishing the
half strongly. 5-0 half time.
The second half saw the blues make an uncharacteristic error from a clearing kick and
in the defensive struggle allowed Quinn's to take 3 points from a penalty. The blues
response was immediate. Strong running from full back Tyler Beattie and the support
from Chris Phun on the wing forced Quinn's into their 22 before an error on the
Quinn's side allowed Jamie Matthews to score a penalty.
From the restart Portadown continued to press looking for a winner. With the game
opening up there was some terrific tackling on both sides of the ball. The blues
continued to press but with a man done, fatigue began to set in. A Quinn's penalty plus
two late tries did not reflect the dominance on the field. However points win games
and on this occasion the blues pressure wasn't converted.
An all round terrific performance and grounds for optimism as this team will win
games.
Scorer
Jamie Matthews 3pts (pen)
Man of the match
Andy Gilpin.