The Affidea Stadium was the destination for all of Ards Rugby on Saturday. This was Ards 1sts’ second visit this calendar year to Ulster Rugby’s HQ for the Junior Shield Final. On this occasion it was to face Championship 1 side Randalstown RFC, who were appearing in their first ever final at the Ulster Rugby HQ. The experience of a narrow loss to Carrick in the previous final helped steel the Ardsmen to find what was needed and secure a glorious return to Hamilton Park with the Shield.

On a near-perfect day for rugby, Ards kicked off, won possession and came close to a score. With less than 10 minutes played, a kickable penalty was earned and goaled by Joel De'Pledge for the opening points, the score Ards 3 – 0 Randalstown.

Receiving the kick-off, Ards’ clearing kick was chased well, with Sam McClements’ tackle pinning Randalstown in their half and forcing a turnover. A quick break by winger Ethan Bell saw him chip through and earn a five-metre scrum. The ensuing phases saw Ards suck in the Randalstown defence, then go wide to a large overlap, from which Bell scored Ards’ opening try. The touchline conversion from De'Pledge was good to make it Ards 10 – 0 Randalstown.

Randalstown had extended possession from the restart and their hefty pack asked questions of the Ards defence, who proved equal to the task, with forwards Matthew Kane and Tom-Arthur Donnan featuring. With the first quarter closing, and following a hit to the head, flanker Robbie Grant was retired and replaced by Matthew Bell.

Ards had good possession soon after, as the backline’s slick work was interlaced with hard carries from the pack, led by Danny McCullough and Luke Megarity. In a similar vein to the first try, Ards created an overlap to the right, finished by skipper Robbie Johnston. De'Pledge added the extras, making the score Ards 17 – 0 Randalstown.

From the restart, Randalstown pressured well in attack, earning a five-metre scrum. Getting the drive, the referee was quick to award a penalty try and a yellow card for McCullough that brought Randalstown onto the scoreboard, Ards 17 – 7 Randalstown.

Soon after, Randalstown slowly built possession and took advantage of the numerical advantage to score their opening try, which was unconverted, now Ards 17 – 12 Randalstown.

Ards, though, finished the half well with their numbers restored and were unfortunate not to add further tries, with Ethan Bell and Rory Christie just falling short as the half-time whistle was blown.

From the start of the second half, Ards’ tempo and backline speed were clearly the better, with quick ruck ball the result. Pressing hard in the 22, a penalty was earned and goaled by De'Pledge to make it Ards 20 – 12 Randalstown.

Soon after, good lineout ball saw a midfield break by Aaron May gaining 40 metres. Quick carries by the pack allowed Johnston and Christie to feed winger Ryan Upritchard to finish well in the corner. The touchline conversion from De'Pledge was successful, the score now Ards 27 – 12 Randalstown.

Ards remained on the attack, with the backline shining as they made line breaks and big gains almost at will. As the third quarter was closing, another kickable penalty was earned in front of the posts, which De'Pledge duly converted, stretching the lead to Ards 30 – 12 Randalstown.

The tempo remained high for Ards and a further line break by Christie brought a 50-metre gain as the chance to score slipped away. Possession was exchanged with the clock ticking down and a series of penalties for Randalstown led to an unconverted try, Ards 30 – 17 Randalstown.

Immediately on the attack from the restart, Ards piled on more pressure and gained a foothold in the Randalstown 22. A clever chip over the top from Johnston was collected by May to score under the posts following De'Pledge’s successful conversion. The Randalstown restart was gathered and the ball sent off the field for referee Stuart Campbell to blow the final whistle, signalling Ards Rugby 1st XV’s first silverware in 22 years. The final score being Ards 37 – 17 Randalstown.

This was a superb performance by the twenty players on the day and the other players who lost out on selection for the final but played in the previous rounds to get the team there. It was with immense pride and satisfaction that Head Coach Palmer Eccles and his coaching team looked on proudly as skipper Robbie Johnston lifted the Junior Shield to the cheers of the large travelling Ards support.

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