90+ Teams were in action on Saturday in the leagues with teams from all over Ulster competing across the U18, U16, U14, U12 and mini age groups. This community of players are excelling across the core skills of passing of both hands, off loads, line breaks, lineout plays, scrum plays and training their bodies and minds to think and work as teams developing wolf pack mentalities as they dismantle defences and action unreal defencesssss. These teams are scoring tries left right and centre 5 pointers are rolling in everywhere! Scores a rolling in even against post protectors from pick and drives under the posts. Saturday was a whirlwind of youth rugby and below is a round up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( full list of scores games and essential reading reports below)
In U18 Letterkenny played Ballyclare in alively encounter whcih LEtterkenny won 17 points to nil, in U18 ladies a close fought game between Ballymoney & Bangor girls ended with 5+ tries and a 17-20 scoreline! Hinch played Lisburn and after a high scoring start to the season this was a tighter game and ended 14 – 10 to the Hinch, Ballymoney U18s registered a big score of 57 points on the accomplished Clogher Valley boyz. At U16s Ballymena played Armagh with Armagh scoring 47 unanswered points another high scroring game! Donegal Town once again have a well supported youth system and on Saturday the U16s scored 45 points to Portadowns 7, while in Belfast at Malone RFC the Enniskillen U16s scored 45 v 24 against Malone, City of Derry RFC v Newry was a closer game, tight fought the final score was 19-12 to Newry. Omagh registered a solid win in Ballyshannon. At girls U15 level Dungannon hosted Virginia.The Virginia girls put a big score on the Gannon girls. In the U14 competitions again Omagh won against Shannon U14s although according to Shannon they were missing a number of players and fielded mostly under 13s, nevertheless the Omagh U14s were dangerous and scored throughout from good footwork and camararderie, a massive upset was recorded when Virginia U14s won against the current Ulster cup holders Randalstown, while again the NEwry v City of Derry U14s was a very close game!
A number of reports are below compiled by club officials and below that a full list of scores available.
IMPRESSIVE RESULT FROM BALLYMONEY RFC UNDER 18s. Report by Uel McDowell
BALLYMONEY RFC U18s 57 v CLOGHER VALLEY RFC U18s 13
On Saturday, Ballymoney Under 18s played Clogher Valley RFC at home and in an outstanding performance won 57 -13.
From the outset, in excellent conditions, the Town forwards really took on the big Clogher pack and, after six minutes, scored an excellent try when quick ball was moved at loose play to be collected by hooker Ben Graham who crashed through four tacklers to score an unconverted try.
This spurred on the Clogher Valley team to attack the Ballymoney line incessantly for the next 15 minutes, but the under 18s’ defence held firm, and from a long touchline kick they moved back into Clogher territory. Second row Tommy Lee McMullan won the line out ball which was quickly moved to the midfield and an infringement by Clogher handed the Town a penalty. Tommy Lee then received a quick pass and ran strongly at the Clogher line, ably supported by Chris Campbell, Graham and Jack Kane who offloaded superbly to Andrew Young to score a good try which was converted by Gary Pattison.
Immediately on resumption of play , Aaron Brown sent a long pass to winger Ciaran Neill, who was making his first full debut for the team. Receiving the ball, he shook off the first Clogher tackler and rounded the second tackler to score a brilliant unconverted try by running in from seventy meters out.
Six minutes before halftime, an infringement at a ruck presented Clogher with a penalty which was converted. Just on the whistle Matthew Bell scored another well -worked unconverted try from a ruck, after some sterling work by Campbell and the forwards, leaving the halftime score 22-3 in favour of the Town.
Straight from the kickoff, the Town lads resumed where they had left off by running the ball wide at every opportunity and this paid dividends when fullback Pattison scored two quick tries in succession, which he converted. Ballymoney eased off the pedal at this point and this proved detrimental to them as it allowed Clogher to hit back and score an unconverted try. The Town immediately retaliated and, from overturned ball in the Clogher half, scrumhalf Bell released the backline and was on hand to take an inside pass, cutting through the Clogher defence to score another highly skilful try, converted by Pattison.
Praise must go to the Clogher team who never gave up and battled to breach the Town defence, but good defensive work by Brown, Kane and Reece McKendry kept them at bay. From an overturned Clogher ruck, the ball was released to Neill and the nippy winger ran 30 metres to score a try which the referee upgraded to a penalty try, as he was tackled high, diving for the line. This was again converted by the boot of Pattison.
Ten minutes before the final whistle, Clogher scored another unconverted try following a penalty.
In the dying minutes the Town pushed Clogher back into their own half, and were rewarded for their efforts when the ball was passed quickly from a maul and fed along the line, only to be stopped on the Clogher 10 metre line. The ball then was transferred, at speed, through twelve Ballymoney players to the supporting Brown, who ran strongly through the Clogher defence to score another excellently executed try which was converted by Pattison, leaving the final score 57-13 in favour of the Town.
This was an excellent performance of skillful ball handling, support play and ball distribution by all of the Town lads, especially by those in the backline, where Young, Brown and new centre, Kane, gave a masterful performance and really demonstrated how good decision-making and swift passing can pay dividends.
Man of the Match was Matthew Bell, who put in an excellent shift at scrumhalf throughout the game.
Donegal U18 v Portadown U18 – Saturday 25th October 2014
Grant double seals win
Portadown U18 made the long journey to Donegal on Saturday and came away with a 5 try win. The match was played in very difficult conditions with a gale force wind blowing of the North Atlantic.
A sweeping backline move saw Rory Quinn break through the Donegal defence for Portadowns’ first try, the conversion being missed by William Holden. A second try came just before half time. The ball made its way out to Josh Grant on the right wing who tore through the Donegal defence to touch down underneath the posts. Ben Jameson was successful with the conversion. To make it 12 – 0 at half time.
However early in the second half Portadown suffered an injury blow when winger Cameron Swift sustained a serious knee injury which delayed the match by 45 minutes whilst he received treatment.
On the restart Portadown totally dominated the match with the forwards providing a superb platform for 3 further tries by Captain Michael Gill, Taylor Tweedie and a second for Grant with one further conversion added to make the final score 29 – 0.
Stand out performances on the day by Josh Grant and Rory Quinn in the backs with James Wright the pick of an excellent set of forwards.
VIRGINIA RFC U14s triumph over current Ulster Cup holders
Virginia Rfc U14s traveled to Randalstown this morning to face last years Ulster Cup winners in their third league game of the season. They knew they were up against a good outfit, and started the game with a good intensity. Playing much of the game in their opponents half thanks to the forwards retention of possession Virginia dominated the opening stages. The scrum was solid thanks to great work by the front row of Evan Charters, Ronan McKeown and Aaron Hawthorne, and the running of Rioghan Smith from No 8 was a constant threat to the hosts. The deadlock was broken when Cai Walker ghosted wide of the defence to touchdown, and Martin O’Connell converted to make it 7-0. Virginia were soon on the attack again, and in the loose Ryan Shiels and Adrian Lynch rucked and mauled superbly to retain the ball. A great pass by Daniel McConnan off the back of a ruck put Jamie Davidson in space, who stepped his marker to go in under the posts. Martins second conversion made the half time score 14-0.
Randalstown are a class outfit though, and came out in the second half on a mission. Sustained pressure by the hosts was met with great defence from the visitors. Aaron Kierans, Paddy Gordon, and Adam Charters were immense in keeping Randalstown at bay. The continued pressure told in the end though, with Randalstown scoring two trys and one conversion to bring them back within two points of Virginia. For the second week running Virginia were in danger of squandering an early lead, and need to ensure they keep their heads when the pressure comes on. The visitors freshened up their scrum with the introduction of Michael McKeon-Boyle and Jake Sullivan from the bench, and this saw them work their way back into Randalstown half. Martin O’Connell and Nial Preston both made searing runs, and from a penalty on the hosts 5m line Nial played a captains role and sealed the game with Virginias third try, again converted by Martin. Adam Sherriff came on for Martin towards the end of the second half, and great credit to John Dolan, Robert Lochaden, Niall Branagan, Jack O’Brien, and Killian Collins who supported their teammates admirably despite not getting a run on this occasion.
Final score was 21-12 to Virginia. Next week sees the Qualifying League team face off against their Premier teammates, and the week after the the Premier League team welcome Ballymena, whilst the Q Team travel to Instonians in Belfast.
Virginia Under 15 Girls have comprehensive win in their first league match of the season
On Sunday 26th the under 15 girls travelled to Dungannon to kick off their league season. The game started at a fast pace and continued for the duration of the match with Virginia dominating from the start. Eimear Mc Enroe scored the first try of the match which was easily converted by Lisa Mullen. The Virginia girls kept the pressure on and by half time the scoreline was 33 – 0 in their favour with a further try added by Eimear, two from Lisa Mullen and one from Ruth Gilsenan, with all but one converted by Lisa.
The second half seen the pattern continue and Amber Redmond went over for well placed try immediately, followed in quick succession with two tries from Eimear and two from Lisa, all once again successfully converted from the trusty boot of Lisa Mullen.
The final score 68 – 0 demonstrated the results of their hard training with excellent play from both the backs and the forwards.
Team: Ciara Byers, Edel Campbell, Sarah Drumm, Ava Fannin, Ruth Gilsenan, Sorcha Higgins, Emma Lochaden, Sorcha McCormack, Eimear McEnroe, Rachael McEnroe, Lisa Mullen, Amber Redmond, Rebecca Snell.
Next weekend sees the girls travel to Ravenhill to play at the half time interval against Dungannon at the Guinness Pro 12 Ulster v Newport Gwent Dragons.
Randalstown Rugby Club – Youth Rugby Under 14 Team
Randalstown U14 vs Virginia U14 25th October 2014
Randalstown Under 14 & 16 youth teams hosted Virginia Rugby Club from County Cavan at Neilsbrook playing fields for their next premier league on a dry autumn morning and for another Saturday morning perfect conditions for the game of rugby.
UNDER 14 MATCH
First Half
Randalstown, today captained by abrasive blindside flanker Brandon McAllister having won the coin toss chose to receive the kick off and immediately tried to take on the much larger Virginia forwards by attacking straight up the middle of the pitch. The larger opposition forwards were more than prepared to match the physicality and from the off were able to hold the charging Randalstown pack up to form a mall which collapsed to give Virginia useful attacking ball just outside Randalstown’s 22. The Virginia scrum held and they set about the town defence eager to make their possession count. It’s a credit to Randalstown’s defensive organisation that their line held and forced a turnover and immediately set off on the offensive via the livewire scrum-half Matthew Luke. On making it to the 10m line a wayward kick gifted possession back to the visitors who immediately ran straight back into Randalstown territory. Despite some robust defending particularly from no8 Eoin McDonald and promising loosehead Joel McCavana Virginia were able to retain possession and unfortunately after a number of phases of play Virginia scored their opening try between the posts which was duly converted.
Randalstown full back Cormac Devlin was injured in the defence of his line and though he showed tremendous bravery and character to take the field again his stay was short lived and he had to leave the field of play. This proved to be a big loss Randalstown as they had just sixteen players against Virginia’s full squad of twenty two, and so a defensive re-shuffle was required with openside flanker Adam McClean moving to full-back where he acquitted himself fantastically well with some powerful carries as well as sterling and aggressive work in defence.
Randalstown restarted and tried their best to get the better of the Virginia defence. The teams exchanged possession a number of times in a hard fought contest at the breakdown in the middle of the pitch. McAllister, Swann and Ciaran O’Neill proving particularly problematic for their opponents. Randalstown off loaded and moved the ball about the pitch but in their eagerness to offload the passes proved inaccurate and forced and as such Virginia were able to intercept passes and turnover too much ball at the Randalstown rucks.
After a period of play in the middle of the pitch the Virginia pack managed to intercept another wayward kick, providing their lively backline with the ball and who after a series of missed tackles by the Randalstown defence scored another try. The try was converted.
Randalstown could not overcome Virginia’s tight defence and through their desire to create space only served to cough up easy possession and the half ended without further score.
First Half ended 14 – 0 to Virginia.
Second Half
After some straight talking from the coaches, Randalstown were determined to take the game to Virginia. Simple tactical switches meant that the game was FAR from over especially given the talent and determination this group of players have in their possession. The performances in the first half of McDonald, Luke, McGee, McCavana and Gabbidon-Lyttle in particular deserved more than the nil scoreline. After just three minutes of the second half Randalstown had pushed Virginia back into their 22 thanks to some simple ball retention and accurate passing not to mention the rejuvinated pack rucking their counterparts off the ball. With Luke and McGee now being provided with clean ball the pass went out to the ¾ line who wisely went wide and centre Dylan McClean, following a neat wrap-around with a fired-up Jack Johnson was able to score Randalstown first try in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed by Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle.
Virginia came right back at Randalstown and after a number of missed tackles of a very large Virginia forward the visitors were nearing the Randalstown try line. The Virginia ball carrier was held up in the tackle and a maul formed. Despite some textbook work from the forwards holding up Virginia’s trundle towards the line despite some of their forwards being in an offside position. The referee somewhat harshly gave a penalty to Virginia for collapsing the maul and after a tap and go the same large forward barged his way over the line to score Virginia’s third try despite the heroic attempts of McAllister, McDonald and O’Neill. The try was converted.
Following a quick team-talk under the posts a Randalstown side which felt hard done-by restarted and were determined not to give up on the game. After sustained pressure in the middle of the pitch, where Miguel and Marco Corriera really came into their own providing McGee with Runners off his shoulder and making gains with each and every carry ably assisted by Fionn Johnston. Randalstown pushed Virginia back to defend their 22. Randalstown were playing much more conservatively now, retaining more possession in the rucks and avoiding risky off loads and this was giving success against a well drilled defence. The ball was passed out to the backs and here the new partnership of Luke and McGee paid dividends with some intelligent exchanges between the pack and backline finally playing as one cohesive dangerous unit. Stefan Gabbidon-Lyttle’s aggressive carries and intelligent exchanges with winger Ethan Higgins created space for a superb offload to no8 McDonald who charged into Virginia territory beating defender after defender. With McAllister and McCAvana in support the ball was quickly recycled to Matthew Luke whose sniping run made more ground before finding McGee who somehow got Adam McClean into space enabling him to beat his opposing full-back to score in the corner. The difficult touchline conversion was spectacularly made by Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle who was very obviously up for the comeback.
Virginia restarted and Randalstown piled on the pressure again hoping to steal the match. Virginia held out, illegally gaining possession via handling in the ruck on their five yard line and kicking the ball out of play to end the game.
The match finished 12 – 21 to Virginia.
The entire squad of 16 had arguably their finest game in their jerseys in what was a near perfect performance in the second half despite the scoreline. Special mention must go to McCavana, O’Neill, Gabbidon-Lyttle as well as captain Brandon McAllister who lead admirably in the most trying of circumstances as well as Matthew Luke and Conn McGee whose promising half-back partnership gave their coaches great cause for celebration. However Randalstown’s MAN OF THE MATCH must go to Eoin McDonald for his efforts in the pack, his defensive leadership, massive tackling and huge contribution to Randalstown’s comeback. A phenomenal all-round performance.
Randalstown Under 14 Team – Adam McClean, Brandon McAllister, Eoin McDonald, Cormac Devlin, Con McGee, Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle, Joel McCavana, Jack Johnson, Ross Swan, Ciaran O’Neill, Ethan Higgins, Dylan McClean, Miguel Correia, Marco de Silva, Fionn Johnston and Matthew Luke.
Coaches – John Kennedy, Sean O’Connor and Ivan Millar
Qualifying U18 25/10/2014
Finn Valley vs Monaghan
Inishowen vs Omagh
Larne vs Instonians
U18 League Section 1 25/10/2014
Randalstown vs Virginia
Ballymena vs Armagh
Carrickfergus vs Lurgan
Rainey Ob vs Banbridge Billy O Gorman
U18 League Section 2 25/10/2014
Letterkenny 17 vs 0 Ballyclare
Coleraine vs Dromore
Donegal Town 0 vs 29 Portadown
U18 Ladies League
26/10/2014
Ballymoney 17 vs 20 Bangor Terence Cooke
U18 League Section 3 25/10/2014
Cavan vs Ards
Ballynahinch 14 vs 10 Lisburn
Ballymoney 57 vs 13 Clogher Valley John Adams
City Of Derry vs Newry Paul Clifford
Qualifying U16 25/10/2014
Finn Valley vs Monaghan
Ballymena 2 vs Instonians
Ballyshannon vs Omagh (win for Omagh)
U16 League Section 1 25/10/2014
Ballymena 0 vs 47 Armagh
Rainey Ob vs Banbridge
Randalstown vs Virginia
U16 League Section 2 25/10/2014
Donegal Town 45 vs 7 Portadown
Malone 24 vs 45 Enniskillen
Coleraine vs Dromore
Letterkenny vs Ballyclare
U16 League Section 3 25/10/2014
Ballymoney vs Clogher Valley
Ballynahinch vs Lisburn
Cavan vs Ards
City Of Derry 12 vs Newry 19
Girls U15 League Dungannon v Virginia (win for Virginia)
Qualifying U14 25/10/2014
Finn Valley vs Monaghan
Ophir vs Virginia
Ballyshannon vs Omagh (win for Omagh)
Dungannon vs Limavady
Larne vs Instonians
U14 League Section 1 25/10/2014
Rainey Ob vs Banbridge
Carrickfergus vs Lurgan Brian Banks
Ballymena vs Armagh
Randalstown 12 vs 21 Virginia
U14 League Section 2 25/10/2014
Coleraine vs Dromore
Donegal Town vs Portadown (win for Donegal Town)
Letterkenny vs Ballyclare
Malone vs Enniskillen (draw)
U14 League Section 3 25/10/2014
Cavan vs Ards
City Of Derry 17 vs 14 Newry
Ballymoney vs Clogher Valley
U12 Festival
24/10/2014
Lurgan vs TBC Gordon Taylor
Pollock Cup
23/10/2014
Ballymena 22 vs 0 TBC
