Armagh under 13s maintained their excellent season by hammering Newry 62-nil
in the second round stages of the Cup. Playing a lovely brand of running
rugby, they are a joy to watch and some of their back play is of such a high
standard, that older [players should come down and see for themselves the
passing and movement. There are a few stars in this team but it is unfair to
single out anyone in particular. They have a very aggressive pack which
scrummage and ruck very well and the lines of running in the backs is
excellent. They scored some magnificent tries especially the scores from
Tiernan O.Neil who has only recently taken up rugby and the control of the
half-backs Nathan Rodgers and Rory Hughes always has the team going forward.
The backs and forwards combined perfectly to score 10 tries, five of which
were converted by Rory Hughes, Armagh have now qualified for the quarter
finals but their opponents are not yet known.
The 15s also bounced back from their defeat last week against Banbridge to
also win 62-0 against a Newry side that has only been beaten once this
season. Coach Anton Finn was very disappointed last week and also was
slightly surprised at the low numbers at training last week and had stern
words for the side which obviously motivated them to their best win of the
season. Star finishers were Sam Odour with 4 tries and Chris Lowry with 3
tries but the whole side played well as a unit to allow them to participate
in the shield competition. It is also very pleasing to record that 2
players Kyle Maguire and Chris Lowry are in the South Region under 16 squad
and 7 players Neill McGuiness, Pearce Lennon, Cormac Fox, Pat Quigley, Paul
Mullan, Barry Finn and Jordan Falloon are still in the South Regional Squad
for under 15s especially when they are not from traditional rugby playing
schools.
The 17s have surprised everyone recently by winning their two cup games to
qualify for the premier cup competition and they too won 39-5 against a big
Newry side at the Palace. For the first time this season the boys seem to
be playing for each other and they are really gelling as a unit. Their half
backs Aaron Fox and Cillian Harney are really combining well now and
controlling the possession from the forwards to allow their strong running
backs Robbie Gazeck and Rauiri Quinn to punch holes for tries. Credit for
turning the fortunes of this side around should be given to Mark Riddle,
coaches Gareth Warnock and Dougie. Manager Philip Agnew deserves great
praise for getting the side out each week and these boys are starting to
really pull together. They are looking forward to a good draw in the
quarter finals.
