Ulster Rugby Annual Report 2016-17

to their squad, managed to retain senior status in 2C. They will be joined by Omagh, the second Ulster side to be promoted to the UBL in successive seasons. Although losing to Malahide in the first match of their round-robin series, they clinched the runner-up spot with victories over Ballina and Clonmel, before travelling to Boyne, where they secured promotion with a very impressive 29-9 win. Omagh’s achievement is all the greater considering that they were only promoted from Qualifying Two in 2014/2015. In the Ulster Bank All Ireland Senior Cup, Ballynahinch lost to Division 1A side Old Belvedere, but Ulster teams continued to make an impact in the All Ireland Junior Cup, with Clogher Valley making it through to the semi- final. In a tense match, Clogher were just overhauled by their hosts Ashbourne, going down by the narrowest of margins 20-19. Ashbourne then went on to win the competition. Domestic League Competitions Armagh made history by winning the inaugural SONI Ulster Premiership (formerly Ulster Senior League) Division One, securing a bonus point victory over Ballymena to take the title. Malone won Division Two without losing a match. In the Kukri Ulster Championship (formerly Qualifying) Division One there was a tantalising end of season three-way battle between Omagh, Instonians and Ballyclare. In the end, Omagh’s 18-6 victory over Carrickfergus on the last Saturday of the league was enough to secure the title. Their subsequent promotion to the UBL means that Instonians, Ballyclare and Portadown will now be joined by Enniskillen in next season’s All-Ireland Junior Cup. Coleraine returned to the top flight by winning Championship Two, with just one defeat. Ballymoney won twenty one of their twenty two matches in C3 to claim the title and automatic promotion to C2. Civil Service, as the top ranked first XV in the Provincial League were promoted to Championship 3. At the other end of the table, Ards, Donaghadee and Ophir were automatically relegated from C1, 2 and 3 respectively. A nerve-jangling playoff saw Dromore remain in C1 with a 10-9 victory over CIYMS. UUC were also relegated from C2 after being defeated in a playoff with the second placed team in C3, PSNI. Monaghan retained their place in C3 by defeating the second ranked first XV in the Provincial league, Donegal. Despite the results of the promotion/ relegation play-offs, the success of Omagh in qualifying for the AIL means that CIYMS and UUC will play in C1 and C2 respectively next season. Ballynahinch won Conference One, to secure the Past Players Cup, while Coleraine topped Conference Two. In the Second Fifteen League Ballynahinch Seconds retained the title, finishing clear of their nearest challengers Armagh Seconds. The improvement in the number of fixtures played in the 2nd XV league is noteworthy with five cancelled compared to the previous season. Indeed, Ballynahinch Seconds could justifiably lay claim to being the most successful team in Ulster club rugby, only being defeated once (by Ballyclare in a Conference league fixture) and claiming two league and two cup titles.

DOMESTIC RUGBY COMPETITIONS Competitions Overview One hundred and thirty nine teams entered Ulster Branch adult male competitions, one fewer than last season. This included two new team entries in Virginia 2 and PSNI 3. An additional Ulster team, Bangor, had gained promotion to the Ulster Bank All Ireland League (UBL). As well as re-branded league competitions, there was a trial of new structures for the lowest tier of rugby in the Regional (formerly Minor) League and changes to regulations to provide flexibility across competitions, such as providing for replacements at Conference level. At a time when we are acutely aware of the need to be pro-active in supporting Domestic Rugby, several cup finals were also combined on the same day. This initiative was undertaken to provide a shop window to help promote the Domestic Game. By the season end we had witnessed the highest number of completed adult fixtures in recent times. Helped to a significant extent by benign weather throughout the season we also had the lowest number of cancelled fixture in over five years. It is worthy of note that there were no match cancellations in Championship One, Conference One or Championship Two. The number of postponements was dramatically down from three hundred and two in 2015/16 to one hundred and forty five this season. As has been the case in previous seasons, six teams had to withdraw from competition. While there were undoubtedly some clubs and teams which continued to have a disproportionate level of success, it was nevertheless encouraging to see evidence of competitive leagues and cup fixtures right down to the closing stages of competitions across all levels from SONI Premiership One right down to Regional League Section East Two. The impact of bonus points across all league competitions also ensured that there was competition right until the end of across all leagues in order to avoid relegation or gain promotion. The competitive nature of the cup competitions was also demonstrated by the fact that both the River Rock Towns Cup and Crawford Cup finals went to extra time. Ulster Bank All Ireland Competitions Bucking the trend of recent seasons, the performance of Ulster clubs in the UBL was extremely encouraging, with a nett three promotions achieved. While Ballynahinch and Ballymena had challenging seasons, in the end they both secured their status in 1B, where they will be joined by 2A champions Banbridge, who made no mistakes this time, having just fallen short after putting themselves in a great position the previous season. Belfast Harlequins were relegated to 2B. Armagh won sixteen of its eighteen matches in 2B but lost out to Greystones, who had won the same number of games but had secured one more bonus point, in the title race. However, in the playoff matches, wins against Wanderers and Old Crescent secured a well-deserved promotion to 2A. Also promoted via the play-offs were Rainey OB, following two fine victories against Sligo and Tullamore. They will join near neighbours City of Derry and Dungannon in 2B next season. Bangor, after a tough first year back in the UBL, blighted by injuries

IRFU ULSTER BRANCH ANNUAL REPORT & STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2016/17

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