Finally an end to the drought of training and playing! With waterlogged pitches and freezing
weather, the optics for a game this weekend weren’t good. Never mind white line fever, good old
cabin fever was starting to set in on saturday mornings! In stepped Strabane Academy, and a
friendly fixture was arranged, so the under-fifteens assembled gladly at nine-fifteen.
The game kicked off punctually at eleven, and with the home side scoring a try within ninety
seconds, it felt like Letterkenny might be looking at a very long morning. From the kick off,
Letterkenny knocked on (no blame here – it was a cold morning and everyone’s hands were cold)
and from the resulting midfield scrum, Strabane fed smartly out to the left and crossed the line
before much of the field were aware the ball was out. Well played!
The Letterkenny boys were rattled, but from the re-start there was distinctly more wide awake feel
to the game. A second and ominous surge from the Strabane boys was held up by some fine tackling
by Ben Kavia, and the ensuing ruck saw Brendan Haley arrive with customary promptness and
accuracy. Dermot Dunleavy also made it his business to ensure there would be no repeat of the easy
route up the centre field. Recovering now from the early set-back Letterkenny began to push deeper
into the Strabane twenty-two. A number of attacks were stopped in their tracks. Two promising
attempts out wide on the left-hand side saw winger Oisin Rafferty run twice in a solid defence that
was up immediately the ball moved out the line. Reverting to the centre, Daniel Faulkner receiving
a feed from a ruck just outside the five metre line went on a charge that saw him cross the line
almost under the posts. The game was seventeen minutes old and the sides had a converted try
apiece. It was starting to turn into a good game of rugby.
CLICK HERE then click on match report FOR MORE PICTURES
The rest of the first half saw the two sides see-saw into each others halves, but largely staying out of
the twenty-two, except when, agonisingly close to the line, Strabane were perceived to have
handled (or held on?) in the ruck and lost possession at the last minute. Letterkenny cleared their
line and brought play back to the other end of the field. A surge by Eoin Ferry almost saw him over,
and laying the ball back from a try-saving tackle, Ben Kavia picked up gratefully and crashed over
for the half’s third try. Ben Mortimer made no mistake from in front of the posts.
