Athletics
Athletics takes place in the summer season and we currently have
a large number of atheletes who participate in local, Ulster and
Irish competitions.
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Cricket
Cricket takes place in the summer season and we currently have
four teams who participate in local competitions.
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Cross Country
Cross country club meets during the autum and spring terms.
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Golf
Golf continues to flourish in the school with many talented older
players and much potential in our younger players. Teams compete
in the Winter League, the Ulster School Boys Championship and the
NEEBSA Golf Championship. This year we look forward to further developing
the talent of our younger players in the school.
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Hockey
There is a long tradition of hockey being played in Dalriada and
the club has enjoyed some success in the Ulster Cup competitions
which they enter every year. The 1st XI have battled through to
the final of the Senior Cup on 4 occasions and emerged as winners
in 1993. The school have also had other successes in the McDowell
Cup and the Junior Cup as well as being winners of the Derry and
Antrim Leagues at the various age levels.
A most notable claim to fame for the hockey club was achieved last
year when no less than 3 ex pupils took to the field to play for
Ireland. The skill and dedication of Lynsey McVicker (Captain),
Angela Platt and Briget McKeever has been well documented and the
school are justly proud of their “Old Girls”!
This year for the first time 3 teams have been entered in the Mc
Dowell Cup competition, which is aimed at 2nd XIs.
Matches have been arranged for all teams, mostly on Saturdays, but
also mid-week, and the players would welcome support from friends
and family.
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Netball
Six teams participate in the Ballymoney and District Netball Tournament
and the Coleraine and District Netball League.
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Rugby
Rugby is the main boys’ sport in the school and is played
at all levels. To find out more about the individual teams and their
achievements visit the PE
Department website.
Dalriada First XV Report for 2008-2009 Rugby Season
The season kicked off at home with an air of expectation due to
the fact that a new First XV coaching team was in position. Head
Coach, Tony McWhirter (Ulster & Ireland A) ably assisted by
Ricky Hunter (Irish Schools) as backs Coach and Ricky Millar (Ulster
u18) as Forwards coach led out the team for an expected first win
against Wellington College. The boys duly obliged with a comfortable
53-0 victory with a notable performance from Cormac McCartney who
bagged a hatrick of tries. Another more difficult match followed
at home the following week against Grosvenor Grammar School who
had accounted for Dalriada in the same fixture in the previous season
by 40-10. A new exciting style of Rugby started to emerge in this
game with the backs being encouraged to run at the opposition at
every opportunity. An early Grosvenor try and conversion were pegged
back by a Lee Ballantine try to give Grosvenor a 7-5 half-time lead,
which they barely deserved as Dalriada ran them ragged for large
parts of the half but missed good opportunities to go in at halftime
with the lead. Dalriada again started the second half with quick
ball through the hands and had Grosvenor pegged back into their
own 25 for much of the half, but struggled to put them away, until
the dying moments when Lee Ballantine again went over for a try,
which he duly converted to give Dalriada a famous 12-7 victory.
Dalriada’s penultimate match in September saw them travel
to Magherafelt to take on Rainey Endowed School in the annual Arthur
Topping Trophy of which Dalriada, were the holders. Again the Dalriada
brand of running rugby triumphed and Dalriada captain, TJ McCaw
lifted the Trophy again after an emphatic 30-5 win. The final match
of September saw Dalriada run out convincing winners again when
they defeated a strong Cambridge House team at home by 30-13.
Dalriada finally tasted defeat in their first match of October
when a midweek fixture away against a Ballymena Academy side resulted
in the Ballymoney boys going down to a very physical side by 23-3
after an early penalty had given Dalriada the lead. On the following
Saturday, Dalriada returned to winning form with a comfortable and
expected home win over Antrim Grammar School by 50-0. Next up was
an away fixture against Sullivan Upper which saw Dalriada slip to
defeat again against a much more physical side. Final score was
27-10 in favour of the home side. The following Saturday, 18th October,
Dalriada travelled to Foyle & Londonderry for what was expected
to be another tough encounter. Foyle dominated the first half to
go in at the interval 12-0 ahead, but a spirited second-half fightback
saw Dalriada come away 19-12 winners. The final match on the last
Saturday of October was a visit to Cambridge House. Dalriada were
missing a few key players, but with Cambridge House out for revenge
after the September defeat and with poor weather conditions negating
the Dalriada running game, Cambridge House kept the ball tight and
played a narrow game through the forwards denying the Dalriada backs
the chance to dominate as they had in the earlier encounter. Cambridge
House eventually won 32-3, but Dalriada had spurned some early chances
which might have made it a different encounter.
November started with the midweek visit of Belfast High School,
where Dalriada got back to winning ways with a fine 23-0 victory.
Next up was a trip to Limavady on Saturday 8th November for what
is usually a tough encounter. A beautiful day however favoured the
Dalriada running game and with the forwards controlling matters
in the pack, the platform was established that allowed the Dalriada
backs to run riot in what turned out to be the most exciting match
of the season, as Dalriada came away easy 32-0 winners. On the following
Wednesday Dalriada travelled to Belfast with morale sky high and
hoping to give good account of themselves against one of the big
Belfast schools, Belfast Royal Academy. Dalriada where barely off
the bus when the match was up and running. With not even time for
a warm up the Ballymoney boys were soon 2 tries adrift, but another
second half fightback soon got under way as Dalriada launched wave
after wave of attacks against the wavering BRA defence. With the
match 15-15, and with 5 minutes to go, scrum half Brendan Parke
scored what looked like a perfectly good try only for it to be disallowed
and the match to be ended five minutes prematurely by the referee,
when only one team looked like winning. The followed Saturday Dalriada
travelled to Larne for a tough encounter against a team who had
defeated them twice in the previous season. Larne Grammar fielded
a large, very physical team, and it was obvious that they had done
their homework as they kept the game very narrow, working it through
the forwards to starve the Dalriada backs of ball. Larne eventually
came away 33-12 winners. It was a creditable performance as Larne
went on to reach the quarter-finals of the 2009 Schools Cup. Dalriada
then travelled to Carrickfergus to take on the local Grammar School
running out 31-16 winners in game that was closer than the score
suggests. Next up was Ballyclare High School who were semi-finalists
in the 2008 Schools Cup and went on to repeat the feat in the 2009
event. An early TJ McCaw try gave Dalriada the lead, but this only
spurred Ballyclare into action and they pressed the Dalriada line
for long periods in the first half eventually being rewarded with
a try to make the game 5-5 at half time. Dalriada came out in the
second half and attacked Ballyclare at every opportunity adding
a further 2 tries for a memorable 15-5 win.
That was to be Dalriada’s last game of 2008. 2009 started
with a visit again to Carrickfergus Grammar School for the third
round of the School’s Cup on Saturday 10th January. Carrick
had defeated Dalriada 6-0 in the same round of the cup last year
at the same venue. Dalriada sensed that revenge was on the cards
and an early Michael Allen try seemed to confirm this. At half time
Dalriada turned round with a comfortable 15-0 lead and looked like
they could go on and trounce Carrick. However a lack of games, Dalriada
had not played any matches in December, took its toal against a
very fit Carrick side determined not to be humilitated in front
of their own supporters. Carrick dominated large parts of the second
half and pulled back one converted try but could not add to the
tally in the face of some valiant Dalriada defending. To try and
overcome the lack of matches Dalriada had a run out against the
Ballymoney Rugby Club u18 side the following Saturday and duly recorded
a 50-0 win. Saturday 24th January saw Dalriada travel to City of
Derry Rugby Club to take on Foyle & Londonderry in Round four
of the School’s Cup. Dalriada hoped to repeat the early season
victory, whilst Foyle were up for revenge. Foyle dominated proceedings
by again playing a tight game through the forwards and this combined
with some slack defending by Dalriada led to Foyle winning the game.
20-7. A Thomas Skelton 2nd half try, which was duly converted had
given Dalriada hope of another comeback but it failed to materialise.
Foyle proceeded to the next round of the cup while Dalriada drew
Limavady Grammar School in the Quarter-Final of the School’s
Bowl. Limavady made the trip to Ballymoney on Saturday 7th February
and came away 24-11 winners. It was a match which many Dalriada
players still can’t believe they lost, having come back from
early setbacks to lead narrowly at half time, they had begun to
again run all over Limavady, when a charge down on the Dalriada
line lead to a Limavady score. This seemed to change the momentum
of what was turning out to be a scrappy and sometimes ill-tempered
encounter. Credit to Limavady they dug deep to record a good win.
With the season drawing to a close Belfast Royal Academy were the
visitors to Ballymoney on Saturday 14th March. BRA had been quarter-finalists
in the Schools Cup and Dalriada knew another tough encounter awaited.
First blood fell to Dalriada with a try which meant they led 5-0
at half-time. A defensive mix up early in the second half allowed
BRA in for a very soft converted score, quickly followed by a penalty
which gave them a 10-5 lead. This spurred Dalriada into action and
the threw everything at BRA, it only looked like a matter of time
before they scored, but BRA defended well and hung on to the final
whistle. Again it was a feeling of “what could have been”
for the Dalriada boys. The season finished with a short tour to
Scotland and a notable 15-14 win over Hutchesons Grammar School
in Glasgow.
All in all it had to be said this was a much improved season on
the previous with some notable scalps taken and performances that
excited, but at times also frustrated. Many promising and exciting
players came through into Senior Rugby from fifth year, notably
Ben Henderson, Johnny McLaughlin, Rodger Bonnar, Johnny Mullan,
and Davy Campbell. The former three have representative honours
in various Ulster Schools Development Squads and so the future looks
bright for Dalriada Rugby in the years ahead, with the School having
found a greater degree of respect in Schools Rugby circles.
FIRST XV MATCH RECORD SEASON 2008-2009
Wellington College 06.09.08 Home W 53 0
Grovenor HS 13.09.08 Home W 12 7
Rainey Endowed 20.09.08 Away W 30 5
Cambridge House 27.09.08 Home W 30 13
Ballymeda Acam 01.10.08 Away L 3 23
Antrim GS 04.10.08 Home W 52 0
Sullivan Upper 11.10.08 Away L 10 27
Foyle & Londonderry 18.10.08 Away W 19 12
Cambridge House 25.10.08 Away L 3 32
Belfast High School 05.11.08 Home W 23 0
Limavady GS 08.11.08 Away W 32 0
BRA 12.11.08 Away D 15 15
Larne GS 15.11.08 Away L 12 33
Carrickfergus GS 22.11.08 Away W 31 16
Ballyclare HS 29.11.08 Home W 15 5
Carrickfergus GS (SC2) 10.01.09 Away W 15 7
Ballymoney RC U18 17.01.09 Home W 50 0
Foyle & Londonderry (SC3) 24.01.08 Away L 7 20
Limavady GS 07.02.09 Home L 11 24
BRA 14.03.09 Home L 5 10
Hutcheson Grammar School 21.03.09 Away W 15 14
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Soccer
Dalriada enters teams for competitive soccer leagues at every age
group – from year 8 to year 14.
A keen group of girls also compete in the local league.
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Tennis
Both boys and girls represent the school competitively and with
considerable success. For further information on their success,
visit the PE Department’s
web-site.
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