A regular and prestigious event in the secondary schools' calendar, the Pollock Cup is the first chance for young rugby players in the Under 16 age group to show off their skills ahead of the serious business of the High Schools' Trophy, which gets under way later in the school year.

The Pollock Cup took the form of a 'Blitz' style competition and began with local area qualifiers earlier in the month, and culminated with the Grand Finals day on Wednesday 22nd October.

This year's area qualifiers took place at Letterkenny, Ballymoney, Ballynahinch and Omagh, and entries once again indicated that more secondary schools than ever are participating in regular competition; demonstrating once again the success of the province's team of Development Officers.

Despite the terrible weather conditions during the first few weeks of October, pupils from across the province took to the field in a bid to secure a place in the finals. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of all the young rugby players, their teachers and development staff, 15 teams made it through to the finals day, which was played at Ballymena RFC on Wednesday 22nd October.

On what turned out to be an unseasonably sunny day, the pool stages kicked off with some exceptionally strong competition with all of the pre-tournament favourites being pushed to their very limits by the ever- improving standard of competition. Results from the various Pool stages were as follows:

Pool A
Banbridge HS 14 - 0 Craigavon Senior HS
Cookstown HS 10 - 7 Sperrin Integrated
Banbridge HS 8 - 0 Cookstown HS
Craigavon Senior HS 14 - 0 Sperrin Integrated
Banbridge HS 0 - 7 Sperrin Integrated
Craigavon Senior HS 19 - 0 Cookstown Hs

Craigavon SHS progressed to semi finals as pool winners

Pool B
Dromore HS 5 - 10 Ballymoney HS
Kilkeel HS 5 - 19 Carrickfergus College
Ballymoney HS 19 - 7 Kilkeel HS
Dromore HS 7 - 0 Carrickfergus College
Ballymoney HS 14 - 0 Carrickfergus College
Dromore HS 29 - 0 Kilkeel HS

Dromore HS progressed to semi finals as Pool winners

Pool C
Slemish Int 0 - 0 HS Ballynahinch
St Columba's College 0 - 12 Downshire HS
Slemish Int 0 - 12 Downshire HS
HS Ballynahinch 24 - 0 St Columba's College
Slemish Int 22 - 0 St Columba's College
HS Ballynahinch 0 - 19 Downshire HS

Downshire HS progressed to semi finals as Pool winners

Pool D
Fort Hill College 0 - 0 Our Lady & St Patrick's College
Fivemiletown HS 34 - 0 Fort Hill College
Fivemiletown HS 0 - 12 Our Lady & St Patrick's College

Our Lady & St Patrick's College progressed to semi finals as Pool winners

After some hard fought competition in all of the pools, Craigavon Senior HS, Dromore HS, Downshire HS and Our Lady and St Patrick's College advanced to the semi-finals; an achievement which was of particular significance for Our Lady and St. Patrick's College, who had never before taken part in the competition. The semi finals proved both tight and nervous affairs, as Dromore HS faced Craigavon SHS and Downshire HS took on Our Lady and St Patrick's. Following extra time in both matches, Dromore HS and Downshire HS made it through to the final.

The final match opened in a frantic manner, as both teams took early opportunities to get their hands on the ball. As the first half looked to be reaching a scoreless conclusion, it was the Dromore side who made the first vital breakthrough.

Following a delightful break from the team's lively scrumhalf, the Dromore team linked superbly to create an opening for the team's winger, which was finished excellently in the right hand corner. Although the conversion was missed, this would undoubtedly be the pivotal moment in the game, as a talented but exhausted Downshire team was unable to recover to mount a serious challenge for the Cup.

A second, and equally fluid attacking move from the County Down team ensured that once again, the Pollock Cup would take up residency within the walls of Dromore High School.

Speaking after the event, IRFU Ulster Branch Youth Development Manager, Barry Willis commented: "Dromore High School have worked hard to establish themselves as the leading light in High Schools' rugby, and this was once again made evident with today's victory. I'm sure the team would agree, however, that as more and more secondary schools are entering the competition, the task becomes ever harder each year."

The IRFU Ulster Branch and High Schools' Committee would like to extend their thanks to all the venues that kindly provided their facilities for the Pollock Cup qualifiers and finals. Both parties would also like to commend the hard work of all the teachers across the province who play a vital role in continuing to develop and grow the game of rugby.

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