Sports reports

Note: most of this information is taken from the school magazine. Thanks are given to all those concerned.

Rugby

Overall

Our major successes occurred in the provincial cup campaigns, the Renault Schools' Cup being the most prominent, and the team were one victory away from reaching quarter-final status. However the College's Cup was when the team came to perform at their best. The first round saw us beating a strong St. Columb's side whom we had not defeated in three years. Then Limavady Grammar were brushed aside as we gained a twenty-two point advantage over them. With East Antrim failing to field, the team found themselves in a second Ravenhill final in three years.

Our opponents were the Causeway Institute who were appearing there for their third week in succession. Strabane, having put in the majorityof attacking play, were narrowly defeated by only one try.

This year's team was relatively unchanged from the previous season and this was a major reason for this being one of our most successful seasons. Last year's winning drought was overcome and the team notched up a pretty impressive eleven wins out of sixteen.

Medallian XV

We had an all round good season. We started the season away to Sligo in mid-October and we narrowly lost 12 - 17 despite an excellent performance by the team. We only won two of our four league games, beating Limavady Grammar and Cambridge House, Ballymena.

Our next match in November was a friendly at home to Castlederg High and we defeated them 21 - 7.

The Medallion Shield was next on the agenda and we were away to Larne Grammar for our first match. We had a narrow victory winning 17 - 12. This was undoubtedly the best performance by the team. We met Omagh Academy in the second round and were beaten 32 - 5. This was the last match of the season.

U13 XV

This year the Under 13 team played just three matches and were unlucky not to win at least one of them. The first was against Portora Royal School where we lost 33-0. We came close to scoring a few times but the Enniskillen team proved a very strong defence.

Our second game was played away to Limavady Grammar and we went to this match with a somewhat depleted team of just eleven players. The score in this game had no real importance.

In our last game we took another trip to Limavady this time to play Limavady High School. This match was our closest yet and we were narrowly beaten with a try scored in the last five minutes. The final score in this match was 15 - 12 to our opponents.

U14 XV

We started our season at home to Portora Royal in Lifford. We lost but we were facing very strong opposition. Conor McGettigan scored our try and Lee Edgar made the conversion. The final score was 21-7 which was a much better result then last year's defeat when they won 57-0!

We did not enjoy a particularly successful season in terms of League wins as we lost to Lurgan College, Sligo, Cambridge House and Limavady Grammar. However we did well in some competitions. At one near Londonderry we won three out of five matches to come third. We repeated similar success at Cambridge House winning two out of our four matches.

Hockey

First XI

This year was once again an eventful one for the team. Although we didn't win any matches the score lines didn't reflect the effort and determination the team put in to giving the opposing team a fight for the three points available.

We managed to get a couple of draws under our belt thanks to Lesley Marshall in goals pulling out some fine saves to keep us in those matches. We then lost Eve Blair, a good team player, due to injury. Her place in the team was hard to replace but we fought on playing well in the remaining games of the season.

2nd XI

Unfortunately the team's season was marred by the outbreak of the foot and mouth epidemic. Also, the number of matches actually played before this was limited as a result of grim and gloomy weather conditions! However, on the whole we have had a short but enjoyable season with a combination of wins, draws and a few defeats.

U16 XI

The team had mixed fortunes this season in our matches. We started well and, considering it was our first match, very few goals were conceded, as we drew, to our delight, 1 - 1 to Strabane High School.

Throughout the season the matches which followed were closely contested and we were narrowly beaten by one or two goals. However the team's spirit was high and we gave of our very best. We were not discouraged by any defeats and were always committed and ever eager to improve in training. This shone through on the pitch as developing skills and teamwork were evident.

Overall the season proved to be enjoyable and quite successful.

U14 XI

The hockey season this year was hard on the team. There were league games which brought tough opposition from schools such as Enniskillen Collegiate and Strabane High School. We only had one win which was against Thornhill College while the rest ended in scoreless draws or defeats. Even so, we enjoyed the challenge and learned a lot. While there was disappointment when we lost we were given more determination to try and win our next match, although it often didn't work out that way for us! Hopefully next year ... !

U13 XI

This season has been great as we have been playing a lot of friendly matches against different schools including Foyle, Castlederg High, Thornhill College, Strabane High and Limavady Grammar. Although we didn't win any of our matches it was enjoyable and we gained much experience. Next year we look forward to playing league matches.

Hockey Awards 2000-2001

Senior House Cup: Dunlop

Junior House Cup: Dunlop

Player of the year: Rhonda Young

Contribution to hockey: Samantha Bailey

Tennis

Intermediate team

Summer 2000 proved to be an enjoyable season for the team. With a lot of dedication and practice we were able to improve our standard of tennis.

Our opponents consisted of Foyle and Londonderry College, Ballymena Academy, Coleraine High School and Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt. These teams often proved to be tough, but throughout our matches great enthusiasm and sportsmanship was shown. Our team consisted of Olivia Baird, Joanne Lyttle, Lesley Marshall, Lesley Anne Wallace and Sarah Chambers.

Senior team

The Senior Team consisting of Samantha Bailey, Eve Blair, Gill Davis, Anna Gillespie, with reserves Cathy Leitch, Lesley Marshall and Sarah Walls, played only three matches.

They lost their opening two matches against Ballymena Academy and Cambridge House, Ballymena but finished with a victory over Coleraine High School.

Despite the few matches played the team enjoyed the high level of tennis played and raised their own game accordingly.

Cricket

1st XI

For some of the I st XI team this was their last season and so they wanted a successful end to their school cricketing careers. This meant winning the most prestigious competition of all - the Ulster Bank Schools' Cup. An early exit from the competition in 1999 meant that this side had a lot to prove and prove it they did.

It all began with a low-key victory over Dalriada after the visitors were dismissed for only 15 runs. Brian Allen (3 for 3) and Jonathan Robinson (3-1) were the pick of the bowlers while on the batting front we lost 2 wickets before passing Dalriada's lowly 15 runs.

The draw for the next round took us to Campbell College and posed a bigger threat to our Cup ambitions. Campbell batted first and set an impressive total of 183. Our innings began well enough with Brian Allen (55) and William Porterfield (21) putting on 85 for the first wicket. Unfortunately the wickets then started falling at an alarming rate. We were 169 for 7 when the rain intervened and so the match was decided on run rate. Fortunately our run rate was slightly better than that of Campbell's and it was Strabane who sneaked through to the quarter-finals.

Our opposition here was Bangor Grammar, the side who had knocked us out the previous year. If the Campbell match was a nail-biter then this game was even more so. Bangor set us a target of 132 from their 40 which, to be honest, was not a huge score. But in keeping with tradition we made things hard for ourselves, and a knock of 35 from Brian Allen was the only notable score in the top order. Sitting at 108 for 7 and still needing 24 runs, the match was still very much in the balance. It was up to David Brownlee and young Jonathan Heywood to see it through and they did with six overs still to spare.

Awaiting us in the semi-final was Ballymena Academy and, for the first time in the competition, we batted first. Rain reduced play to 21 overs and it was no time before we were struggling at 36 for 5. Our Cup hopes were fading, before Boyd Rankin (47) with his younger brother Robert (27) turned things around as we posted a respectable total of 124. A superb fielding display was matched by our bowling, with David Brownlee (5-26) and Jordan McGonigle (4-20) taking 9 wickets between them.

We had now reached the final hurdle - only Wallace High School stood between us and a Schools' Cup victory. The final, played at North Cricket Club in Belfast, saw a large crowd of supporters, many of whom had travelled from Strabane. The absence of William Porterfield was a major loss for the final, not only to our batting line-up, but it meant that we had no reco nisable wicket-keeper. Credit must go to Richard Kee who filled both positions superbly.

Our fielding and bowling display could not have been better as we reduced Wallace to only 84. Chasing this modest total we got off to a fairly good start at 20 without loss. Remarkably though, three wickets fell with the score still on 20 and suddenly the pressure was on. However only another two wickets fell before the winning runs were hit thus setting off widespread celebration!

U15 XI

Our U15 team had a great season as we were unbeaten throughout. Last year saw some impressive individual performances with William Porterfield and Boyd Rankin scoring heavily with the bat. Boyd also demonstrated skilful bowling as did David Scanlon and Thomas Barr.

Our season culminated in winning the Ulster Bank's Under 15 Cup. We met RBAI in the final at Belfast. Strabane opened well with William Porterfield hitting a pleasing 49 before being dismissed. Then there was a mini- collapse but we still managed a defendable 109 for the loss of 5. RBAI also got off to a good start but with the introduction of Boyd Rankin and Thomas Barr to bowling attack, things began to swing our way. We kept the bowling and fielding very tight and, as we approached the last over, RBAI required 10 runs to win with 9 wickets down. David Scanlon was to bowl the last over. Due to some good fielding we increased the pressure and we ran the last batsman out. The top scorer for RBAI was J Watt with a reasonable 41 not out.

On the whole the U15 team had a very successful season and we hope to emulate the achievement next year.