City of Derry's Killene Thornton grabs brace as Ulster Juniors win historic Judges Road fixture

Ulster Juniors 47, Connacht 12

An historic first interprovincial fixture at City of Derry's Judges Road saw a very familiar face among the Ulster scorers as home favourite Killene Thornton marked his junior interprovincial debut with two tries in a highly impressive victory over Connacht.

Mike Orchin-McKeever's team had the game all but wrapped up at half-time having secured their four try bonus point as early as the 33rd minute en route to a commanding 33-0 interval advantage. It was a lead that was never threatened in the second half despite Connacht grabbing two late tries.

Indeed Thornton - Derry's 'Player of the Year' after a superb season for the 'Green and Black' - wasn't the only local representation with Stephen Corr and Davy Graham among the substitutes, while former Derry Head Coach Coach, Richard McCarter, is the backs coach on Orchin-McKeever's Ulster management team.

And he couldn't have been anything other than delighted with this opening round win, orchestrated early on by some superb kicking from Enniskillen out-half Eddie Keys behind a dominant forward display. A pack backboned by Championship One champions Ballyclare was on top all day, accounting for three of Ulster's five first half tries. And when they provided quick ball there was plenty of threat along a talented back line in which full-back Michael Orr from Portadown was excellent throughout.

With match conditions perfect and a big crowd in Judges Road, Thornton's eighth minute try got things off to the perfect start but if the Derry flyer pulled the trigger it was Keys who was loading the ammunition with a sublime cross field kick which completely took out Connacht's scrambling cover. It left Thornton the simple task of running in around the back to give Keys a straightforward conversion.

Only seven minutes later a good start become a great one when Portadown second row James Wright found himself in acres of space after breaking one tackle 10 yards from the line as Connacht switched off. He wasn't about to pass up the opportunity and again Keys converted for a 14-0 lead.

It remained one way traffic as far as the home side were concerned and next on the Ulster scoresheet was Ballymoney flanker Curtis Pollock. This time Thornton turned provider, his break on the left pulling in the Connacht defence to allow a quick switch right where Pollock was the man over to score in the corner. A challenging kick was made to look easy by Keys who would finish his day with 12 points.

If the writing wasn't already on the wall for Connacht, the message was loud and clear 33 minutes in as Ulster wrapped up their bonus point with an unconverted try from Ballyclare's Matthew Coulter following a great drive from a well worked line-out drill.

Ulster's best of score of the half was saved for last as the home backline started to throw the ball about, Dean Dillon finding Keys to feed further right where Ballyclare's Joel McBride did brilliantly to take a difficult pass at pace and break through. Conversion made, Ulster went into half-time 33 points to the good.

Understandably the game lost a level of intensity after the break, due in part to a much improved Connacht display which was coupled by the Ulster players knowing the job had been done in the opening 40 odd minutes.

But if the game needed lifting, Orr provided the spark with a superb break from deep that carried him close to the Connacht '22'. He was eventually held up but the Ulster support arrived in time to see play switched right where Thornton was waiting to provide another example of his huge potential as he ducked inside the Connacht cover to score.

Despite the score, the second half wasn't the one way traffic the opening half had been and Alan Bane's visitors finally got themselves on the scoreboard midway through the half when Ethan Griffiths crossed the whitewash.

At 40-7, there was never any danger of a fightback, a fact emphasised by Ulster's seventh try of the day which arrived thanks to great work at the line-out from Ballymoney's Scott Gamble who had come off the bench to score.

Both sides had run their respective chances by this stage, the home crowd giving both Corr and 'DG' a rousing reception but it was Connacht who had the final say of an entertaining afternoon when Louis McVitty grabbed a late, but deserved consolation that was only ever going to be a footnote on Ulster's day.

A winning start, seven tries and free flowing expansive rugby – with Munster up next the manner of the victory gives plenty of cause for optimism.

Ulster: Adam Hanna (Dromore), Matthew Coulter (Ballyclare), Matthew Graham (Enniskillen), David Gillespie (Ballyclare), James Wright (Portadown), Aaron Playfair (Ballyclare), Curtis Pollock, Jack Gamble (Ballyclare), Ryan Flavelle (Cooke), Eddie Keys (Enniskillen), Mark Jackson (Ballyclare), Dean Dillon (Dromore), Joel McBride (Ballyclare), Killene Thornton (City of Derry), Michael Orr (Portadown). (Replacements) Niall Keenan (Enniskillen), Dean Jones (Ballyclare), Scott Gamble (Ballymoney), David Brown (Ballymoney), Stephen Corr (City of Derry), Ryan McIlwaine (Ballyclare), Marty Irwin (Ballymoney), Davy Graham (City of Derry).

Connacht: Aidan Healy, Ben Hynes, Martin Staunton, Ciaran Cummins, Sean Connolly, Brian Diffley, Tommy Mullen, Fintan Crawley, Zach Wright, Shane Purcell, Ian Murphy, Eoghan Coyle, Barry Walsh, Ethan Griffiths, Mark Purcell. (Replacements) Ross Bourke, Eoghan Cahill, Ronan Ipek, Michael Jordan, Ryan Cummins, Evan Flynn, Louis McVitty, Ross Murphy.