In recognition of the support from club sponsors the Stove Yard the team was called the 'Yardies' and made up of current Ards senior and youth players and potential Ards players from the Regent House school leavers.

The Yardies were drawn in a tough group that included Lisburn, Queens and Ballymena, both of the latter teams were littered with former Ulster or Irish schools players and Ulster academy players.

In their first match Ards defeated Lisburn with tries from Nathan Graham, Paddy Bond and Danny Patton.

Ards then faced back to back matches against Ballymena then Queens. A poor first half by Ards against Ballymena saw Ballymena score 4 unanswered tries, a better performance in the second half saw Ards pressure the Ballymena line but the Ballymena defence held out, Ballymena then scored two breakaway tries in the final minutes.

It was the reverse for Ards against Queens putting in a good first half performance but conceding 2 breakaway tries in the final minutes of the half, the second half saw Queens score a further 3 tries against a tiring Ards squad.

Queens and Ballymena went on to compete in the final of the competition with Queens victorious 10 -3.

Ards Director of Rugby Stephen Nutt was proud of the 'Yardies' performance despite having a depleted squad, the players stuck to the task, integrated well and were led well by Jonny Harris, Paddy Bond and Taylor Nutt in the respective matches.

Thanks go to Instonians on the invite to the tournament and to the management team of Alan McHugh, Ricky Sadler and Colin McLean.

Ards Yardies - D McCullough, T Donnan, P Bond, M Patton, E Dodge, D Patton, R Jackson, J Harris, A Curry, T Nutt, R McCarroll, D Jameson, N Graham, A Carroll, O Glenn, A Bittles, B Orr, M Bell