Belfast Royal Academy coach DJ Creighton was delighted with the attitude his side showed by booking their place in the Schools’ Cup quarter-finals with a 43-26 victory over cross-city rivals Methody at Pirrie Park.

The Cliftonville Road school trailed by four points at the break and held a slender lead going in the final few minutes before scoring two late tries to put the result beyond doubt.

Creighton said: “I’m so proud of our lads. It was a serious performance and another good step for us.

“It was tough going but I thought the character of our guys came through. The game was in the balance for a long time and the wind was probably a factor.

placeholder image — Belfast Royal Academy coach DJ Creighton hailed his side's Schools' Cup win over Methody

“It was a good game and that is a good Methody side, but we just maybe got away a wee bit at the end.

“We knew Methody were always going to stay in the fight. It is a hard a place to come and when they get you in they squeeze you but credit to our guys at the tail end, we started to deal with it and we got a couple of scores,” he added.

“I’m so pleased for the group, they deserve it, and they have done really well to come here and get that.”

Methody led 19-15 at the interval when Creighton highlighted the need for improved discipline after the break.

“Our big thing at half-time was our discipline wasn’t brilliant,” he said. “If you give Methody penalties they will get in and they will punish you, and they did that; we found that quite frustrating, but we got our discipline sorted in the second half.

“Our half-backs played in the right areas with that wind in the second half and we took our chances, so really pleased and ready for whatever is coming next.

“To be honest I think it was probably tighter than what the scoreline reflects but we took and chances really well and it was a nice way to finish it off.”

Creighton felt having three group games under their belt helped BRA on Saturday.

“I think [it helped] to an extent for the magnitude of that game. Our group stage was good and we had a couple of pretty convincing wins, but that was a different beast altogether against Methody,” he said.

“We enjoyed the group stage in terms of our preparation and process and it showed us what we need to do to be ready.”

BRA crashed out of the competition after narrow defeats in the last two years, making the win at Methody that bit sweeter.

“The past couple of years have been so tight and a lot of the guys have learned from them past experiences, and they have hung tough,” Creighton said.

“So, really pleasing and it will be a really good boost for us going into the next round coming here and getting the win.”

Out-half Frank Davis claimed the final of BRA’s six tries and their reward for beating Methody is a trip to the winner of the Banbridge versus Sullivan clash.

The eye-catching tie of the quarter-finals will be in Lisburn as Wallace host defending champions RBAI.

Wallace produced a strong second-half performance at Enniskillen Grammar.

The sides were tied at 7-7 going into the break but Derek Suffern’s team scored 24 unanswered points to run out 31-7 winners.

Inst lead 19-3 against Belfast rivals Campbell before the home side scored two converted tries, but the holders prevailed 19-17.

Royal School Armagh will host Regent House while Rainey Endowed will face the winners of the Dalriada versus Ballymena Academy replay after the sides drew 14-14 in Ballymoney.