U16s End Year Unbeaten With Win Away To Clogher Valley RFC
New Years Eve saw the U16s on the road for their last game of 2016 with an away fixture v Clogher Valley. Without a game for three weeks, and with reduced training over the festive period, the fear was that the turkey and Christmas pudding would lie heavy on the players, and so it was to prove.
A bright start saw plenty of ball going wide to test the home defence, who in the main coped well with the threat. It was a strike through the middle though that was to break the deadlock with a strong run from Aaron Kierans putting Virginia in front. If the visitors thought they would have it all their own way they were soon put right, with Clogher bringing the game to Virginia, and soon touching down themselves to bring the gap back to two points. This seemed to wake up the Cavan team, and they pressed the hosts for much of the rest of the half. They again proved comfortable on their own scrums with John Smyth, Evan Charters, and Jamie Osbourne not giving an inch, and Rioghan Smith, Robert Lochaden, and Adrian Lynch managing the breakdown well. Virginia opened up the gap with Michael McKeon-Boyle crashing over for a try, before the wings were finally unlocked. Quick ball through half backs Jason Henderson and Adam Charters, and outside centre Mark Gilsenan put Martin O’Connell into space, and his powerful burst saw him touchdown in the corner. Two conversions from Martin meant the visitors now led 19-5, a lead they kept up until the break.
The second half again saw a bright start for Virginia, despite being briefly down to 14 men after an indiscretion from Jamie made him see yellow. Paddy Gordon was introduced off the bench and added his usual threatening runs to things that Clogher Valley needed to worry about. The visitors pressed hard, with what looked a good try from Cai Walker being ruled out as held up, before Michael added to his tally with a great burst off the back of a scrum. Clogher were a strong side though and despite being under pressure worked a great move of their own to score under the posts and close the gap to 12 points. This was a crux moment for Virginia, but instead of heads dropping they showed great determination to push on. Adam Sherriff added pace to the attack at scrum half, and Ibykan Ajetummobi added line out options to the pack. Killian Collins, David Gibney, and Callum Caswell all added fresh legs against a tiring Clogher team, but it was Niall Carolans addition into the Centre that closed the game out for Virginia with some great running, and two perfectly timed offloads to Jamie Davidson to add to his seasons try tally. Additional conversions from Aaron Mannion and Michael made the final score 38-12.
That’s now 11 wins from 11 for the U16s as they head into 2017 looking to cement their place at the top the Ulster League South Section, and book a home QF in the League Play Offs. Next week they welcome Donegal RFC to the Deerpark.
