Sullivan Upper coach Adam Craig challenges players to make history by winning Schools Cup

The win over Methody was the first time the Holywood school had beaten one of the Belfast big three in the competition and they now face Ballymena Academy (Wednesday, 2:30pm, Kingspan Stadium) in the last four as they continue their quest to win the trophy that has so far eluded Sullivan.

“It is a great buzz and we are very much looking forward to it, it has been a while since we have been there,” Craig said.

“I think the whole school have got behind the boys really well and we are really excited about going and putting ourselves in a good position to get into the final.

“Methody’s history speaks for itself in the competition, so to go over there and beat them was a great feat and I think it has set us up well for a pretty physical encounter against Ballymena.

“I think in my last eight years here the only teams to have knocked us out were the so-called top three, so it is nice to get over that hurdle and it has set us up very well for going into Ballymena,” he added.

“The boys in fairness to them have knuckled down over the last while and have really set their sights on trying to make the final, so this is another step for us.”

Sullivan had to dig deep in the 10-5 victory, defending their try line for long periods of the second-half, impressing Craig with their character.

“That is there in abundance, they are a great group of boys,” he said. “They have worked hard throughout their time in junior rugby and senior rugby.

“They are very passionate about representing the school and putting Sullivan rugby on the map and I think that really came out in the second half against Methody in that defensive effort.

“There is a lot of the technical stuff, but a lot of defence is emotional – I think the boys really tapped into that and put themselves in a good position to get into the final.

“We’d probably like to do a bit more in attack but at the end of the day we know we can rely on our D (defence) and back it up,” he added.

“We pinpointed a couple of key moments where we kicked the ball away and should have held onto it and built a bit of pressure with ball in hand, but it is hard to replicate those moments in a game during training, but we have tried to do that the last couple of weeks.”

Craig knows Ballymena will pose a huge challenge.

“We are excited to go out and attack against Ballymena,” he continued. “They have got a very good defence so it will really test us in that area. They are pretty physical up front so we’ll need to take them on there.

“They have a big pack and a good maul; they have a few boys involved in Ulster Schools and they rely on them.

“As long as we can play our game and try to impose ourselves on the game, hopefully we’ll put ourselves in a good position to be in the final.”

Many of the players in Sullivan team’s will be experiencing playing at the Kingspan Stadium for the first time.

“We are going to try and embrace it, we are excited to be there,” Craig said.

"We have final got past our quarter-final curse – we have been knocked out there the last few years.

“The boys are really excited to get to Kingspan Stadium and get a run out at the home of Ulster Rugby.

“For a lot of the boys it will be a real highlight and we are just hoping we can do that more than once.”