Campbell took a major step towards ending their eight-year wait to bring the Schools’ Cup back to east Belfast by beating Regent House 35-8 for semi-final progress.

Ritchie McMaster’s side will face Belfast rivals Methody in the last four – a tie with extra spice thanks to family ties.

“It will be a really special one for the Wells family first of all, obviously with Nicky coaching Methody and also then James and Harry, his two sons, on the first XV at Campbell,” said McMaster. “The last time we played each other in cup competition was the 2023 semi-final, then the Subsidiary Shield final last year at Ravenhill so, yes, really looking forward to that one.”

McMaster felt the scoreline against Regent wasn’t as one-sided as it would suggest, especially across the first 35 minutes.

placeholder image — Wallace's Alex Stevenson and James Curran tackle Connor Patton in the Schools' Cup clash with RBAI. (Photo by Stephen Davison/Pacemaker)

“I'll be honest, the first five to 10 minutes it was really tight, just your typical cup game, Regent really took it to us in the first half,” he said. “Russ Lovo finished a lovely crossfield from Jack Best and then we scored with about two minutes to go before half-time, a good team score so that gave us a 14-3 lead at the half and then we were able to kick on a wee bit in the second.

“In the second half I thought we looked after the ball a wee bit better than them, we knew they were going to come at us...overall, I thought our boys stuck the task well and physically stood up.”

After exiting the competition at the first hurdle in the previous two years, McMaster believes Campbell are getting fully emerged in the cup across this current campaign.

“They had that little monkey on their backs of getting past the first round and it was just great for them to get through,” he said. “I felt in the last quarter we looked pretty comfortable.

"And our boys were really starting to express themselves.

"I was really pleased with the outcome on Saturday.”

Last year none of the Belfast big three schools – Campbell, Methody and RBAI – reached the semi-finals but this time around they are all in the last four.

“It's actually quite an interesting stat, we hadn't talked about it too much in the build-up to the cup this year,” said McMaster. “I suppose it was a wee bit unusual that there were none of the Belfast big three teams in the last four last year.

“Definitely having the three big Belfast schools in the semis, alongside Ballymena, whets the appetite that bit more as well which is great for us, being one of the four.”

Methody enjoyed a 24-10 win in Magherafelt against Rainey Endowed.

RBAI gained revenge for last season by knocking out holders Wallace.

Jamie Kirk’s side ran out 20-0 winners in Lisburn while Ballymena Academy overcame Sullivan Upper 22-10.

The Danske Bank Schools' Cup semi-finals are as follows:

Semi-final one (Monday, March 2; Affidea Stadium, kick-off 2.30pm): Campbell College v Methodist College

Semi-final two (Wednesday, March 4; Affidea Stadium, kick-off 2.30pm): RBAI v Ballymena Academy