Virginia RFC Youths Continue Progress in Donegal
U16s Gain Hard Fought Win
There can’t be a more picturesque setting to play rugby in than Donegal Town RFC, whose pitches nestle against the beach in Summerhill overlooking Donegal Bay. The forecast was grim, but when the U16s arrived the weather was fair and thankfully stayed that way. Virginia started strongly, the forwards retaining possession well, and despite strong resistance Nial Preston was soon making a characteristic strong run for the corner to open the scoring. The dominance of territory and possession continued, and the visitors were happy to spin the ball wide through the backs, finally putting Martin O’Connell in space for another score under the posts which he duly converted. Donegal however upped their intensity and began to challenge ferociously at the breakdown, denying Virginia the easy ball they were living on. A quick tap penalty in the Virginia twenty-two saw them open their account for the day, the conversion cutting the gap to five points. Virginia now knew they were in a game, and credit to them responded. Another move through the backs saw Mark Gilsenan touchdown, with Martins conversion giving them a 19-7 lead at the break.
A change of tactics for the second half saw the Virginia forwards concentrate on a quicker delivery of ball won to allow the backs more opportunity to test the home defence. It was the forwards however who would add the first score when Michael McKeon-Boyle crashed over for a try. From the restart Virginia took the game right back to their hosts, and a series of backline moves was crowned by a delightful line break from Adam Charters and a brilliant supporting run from Nial to add his second try of the day. Credit to Donegal, they would not fold, and having gained territory their forwards crashed the ball over for their second converted try. Virginia however would have the last say, when with the game drawing to a close, Mark capped a man of the match performance with his second try. Another excellent kicking performance from Martin where he converted five from six attempts made the final score 40-14 to Virginia.
U14s Make it Four Wins From Four
Our U14s also faced Donegal Town RFC today for round 4 of Ulster Carpets South Ulster League, and recorded another comfortable win with a full time score of 55-07. Virginia hit the ground running and never let up with everyone getting quality game time and playing some good running rugby. Two trys from Jake White-Duffy, and one apiece from Darren Kavanagh, Cormac Monaghan, Nathan Tobin, Ciaran Levy-Valensi, Kieran Duffy, Malachy Walker and Tyrone Tynan were added too by four conversions from Patrick Sheridan, and one from Jake. Mention as well to the rest of the travelling squad who contributed some fantastic rugby. James Tuite, Donal Maguire, Thomas Sheridan, Glen McCabe, Conan Fitzpatrick, Mark Gibney, Tiernan Walsh, Nathan Finane, Oscar Erikson, Ben Curren, Killian Smith, Cathal O’Reilly, and team captain Conor Nulty.
Our thanks to Donegal Town RFC for being such welcoming and excellent hosts. Both sides, along with our U18s welcome Enniskillen RFC next Saturday (22nd) to the Deerpark.
