DOWN High bowed out of the Schools’ Cup on Saturday at the hands of a young, but skilful Enniskillen Royal side.
The storms of Friday night had abated by the time the Mount Crescent men arrived in Fermanagh, but they were forced to weather plenty of pressure from the Erne men in the opening half.
In the first 15 minutes most of the play took place in the Down half and they will have considered themselves pleased that their defensive play limited Enniskillen to only one converted try at the end of this quarter.
As the half progressed, Down began to restore the balance in play with some breaks from Christly Lindsay and Andrew McCoubrey catching the eye.
On the 20 minute mark Greg Hutley had a chance to chip away at the deficit with a penalty attempt, but the kick drifted wide of the uprights. Hutley was given another chance around 25 minutes and this time took full advantage after Enniskillen had been deemed to be offside on the back of a break from Down scrum half, Chris Gibson.
For the remainder of the first half, and indeed for 20 minutes in the second half, the score remained at 7-3 with both teams trading blows, but neither were able to alter their account on the scoreboard.
Down did have their chances to take the lead, but lacked the finesse in handling that they had shown against their rivals from Carrick and Omagh in previous rounds.
As the game entered the final quarter, Enniskillen managed to extend their lead, scoring a try by barging over from short range following a well won line-out.
With Enniskillen now in possession of a 12 point lead, Down were left with no alternative but to chase the game. Again, they created some opportunities and applied pressure in Enniskillen territory with some great carries from Josh Hanlon, Conor Moag and Joe Charles, but the dogged defence of the locals held out and with it, Down frustration grew which made putting quality attacking play together even harder.
In the closing minutes and with the outcome of the fixture already beyond doubt, Enniskillen added a final unconverted try confirming them as the team who would progress to the quarter-finals.
The final whistle brought bitter disappointment to the hard-working Down squad who knew they hadn’t been at their best on this occasion.
The side now enter the Subsidiary Shield competition and they have drawn Royal School Dungannon at home in a quarter-final game to be played on Saturday, February, 23, at 11am.
Having been finalists in this competition for four consecutive years and winners in 2017, everyone at Down High knows there is plenty left to play for this season.