Nutty Krust U18 Tournament Clogher Valley v Rainey Old Boys 18th February 2015
The second of the Nutty Krust 2014/15 U18 floodlit games took place at Chamber’s Park when Clogher Valley U18’s played Rainey Old Boys’ U18’s on Wednesday 18th February.
In a high scoring game the Rainey team had built up a 15-0 lead by half time before going on to win the game by 46-5. Both teams were committed to playing the game with the ball in hand with the Rainey team looking particularly effective. Their half back combination of Cameron Fulton and Niall Keenan managed the game effectively for the Magherafelt team and kept their team on the front foot for long periods of the game. The Rainey team made their intentions clear by attacking from the kick off. The created a number of potential scoring opportunities early in the game but failed to convert these chances into points. That was until the sixth minute of the game when the continual pressure eventually paid off. A good interchange of play, involving both forwards and backs, presented Odhran Islas with the opportunity to run in for an unconverted try and give his Rainey team a 5-0 lead. Clogher Valley responded positively and will have been disappointed not to have put points on the board when the opportunities arose. The Rainey team doubled their lead to 10-0 on twenty three minutes when a prolonged period of controlling both territory and possession was rewarded when Ronan Mulhern touched down for an unconverted try. Back came the Clogher Valley team but they could find no way past a resolute Rainey defence. Just before the break Cameron Fulton put the Rainey team into a 15-0 lead when he took advantage of some good work from the Rainey backs to touch down for an unconverted try.
The Rainey team started the second half strongly and took a 20-0 lead when Daniel O’Neill scored an unconverted try after just a couple of minutes played. Five minutes later Cameron Fulton and David Johnston played leading roles in a Rainey attack which finished with an unconverted try from Adrian Walker to give his team a 25-0 lead. Then Fintan Quinn took possession of the ball from a turnover and finished off with a try. Cameron Fulton added the extras to put the Rainey team into a 32-0 lead. The Clogher Valley team displayed great commitment throughout the game and got some reward for their endeavours when Dale Hall finished off a flowing attack with an unconverted try to reduce the arrears to 32-5. The Clogher Valley team had a couple of chances, at this stage of the game, to score more points only to be let down by a couple of final passes or poor decision making. It was the Rainey team that finished the stronger of the two teams. David Johnston and Declan McCusker touched down for one try each. Cameron Fulton converted both tries to ensure a 46-5 victory for the Rainey RFC U18 team.
At the post match reception the “Man of the Match” Award was presented to the Rainey U18 outhalf, Niall Keenan. Niall received his award from Jonny Gillespie, the recently appointed Ulster Rugby Talent ID Manager. Jonny hopes to attend many of the remaining Nutty Krust games in his role as Ulster Rugby Talent ID Manager.
The third game in the first round of the Nutty Krust U18 Tournament will take place on Wednesday 25th February when Omagh RFC U18’s will play Banbridge RFC U18’s. This game is scheduled to kick off at 7-45pm and the organisers would be delighted to welcome a large crowd of supporters to this game.
Following this game the draw for the quarter-finals of the Nutty Krust U18 Tournament will take place. The three winners of the Round 1 games will be joined by teams from Ballynahinch RFC, Dromore RFC, Malone RFC, Portadown RFC and Randalstown RFC in the quarter-final draw.
