Randalstown U 17XV Progress to League Semifinals
Randalstown made the long journey to Donegal Town to play the quarter final of the Under 17VX League Cup. Three days of rain in the west of Ireland resulted in the pitch being just about playable with over 30% of the playing surface very soft.
With conditions under foot difficult an open running game was not an option. Donegal took full advantage of the conditions and any ball was kicked into the Randalstown 22. With territorial advantage Donegal sent wave after wave of forward drives towards the Randalstown line and eventually the pressure told and the big Donegal second row crashed over to score the opening try with 15 minutes played. The conversion was unsuccessful.
Randalstown then gathered themselves and managed to drive their way through several powerful runs by James Clyde into the Donegal 22. Donegal were judged to have come into the ruck from the side and Randalstown were awarded a penalty 10 meters from the Donegal line. Clyde took the crash ball and the Randalstown forwards won the ruck 5 meters from the Donegal line. Crilly went blind and although he had John Carson in support had sufficient guile and strength to drive over and score an unconverted try.
Half Time Donegal 5 Randalstown 5
The second half saw Randalstown have the best of a hard fought opening 20 minutes with a relentless contest between the 2 sets of forwards. With Donegal defending Crilly managed to get his back line moving and Cross looped round to take the ball at 2nd centre and went in for a try to the left of the uprights. Crilly converted the difficult conversion.
Donegal had not won their section of the league for nothing and responded with fantastic spirit. Their forwards must be congratulated on a never say die attitude and with the Randalstown boys tiring the Donegal forwards were rewarded with a try in the corner. They missed the conversion that would have leveled the scores.
Randalstown held out for the final minutes of the game to secure a hard fought victory in very trying conditions.
Randalstown now face a semi-final against Portadown next week. Donegal played with great passion in the spirit of the game and made the Randalstown boys dig deep for a hard fought victory.
Randalstown Squad: James Clyde, Jack Gilbert, Scott Trelford , Tim Burns, Shane McLaughlin , John Carson, Joe Cross (Captain) , Joey O’Hare, Conor Crilly, Bryan Gourley , Conor Murray, Thomas Devlin, Keelan Doherty, Jason Wallace, Coby Mason , Johnny Donnelly, Adam McBurney, Daire McGivern, Matthew McCaw
Carrick IV XV v 33 Randalstown III XV 23
Despite going down 33-23 away to Carrick 5s Randalstown 3s turned in their best performance of the season to date, in what was a very entertaining game despite some very wet and muddy conditions underfoot.
Against a strong Carrick side who are riding high in the league the ‘Town side put in a spirited performance. They started brightly and opened the scoring after 10 minutes when forwards and backs combined well to work themselves into the Carrick 10m zone. Scrum half Dave Asquith threw the killer pass which let debutant Matty Boyd burst over for the try.
Carrick came straight back and their heavy pack rumbled over to bring the scores level. It was clear to ‘Town that their best chance of getting a result was to keep the ball moving well away from the big Carrick forwards. This was getting harder and harder to do as the pitch gradually deteriorated but the pacey backline was still making inroads with limited possession, and it was from one such surge that a penalty was awarded. Peter McCann slotted over the 3 points from just outside the 10m line to nudge ‘Town deservedly ahead.
With half time now approaching ‘Town moved further ahead. After a great steal from the combative Asquith on half way the forwards took the ball on through a couple of phases before it was popped to Paul Morriss who hit a great line at centre and beat 3 Carrick defenders to go over beside the posts. McCann added the extras.
The final minutes of the half saw the visitors take a pounding from the home side, and despite some good defence they coughed up 2 tries to see Carrick go to the interval 19 – 15 ahead.
Carrick started the second half with the bulk of possession and territory, but it was ‘Town who were first to put points on the board. Adam Boyd put up a lovely kick which was well chased by McCann and Phil McLean to keep possession and McLean and Asquith took the ball on forcing Carrick to concede a penalty which McCann converted.
It is fair to say that for the remainder of the game ‘Town had their backs to the wall as Carrick started to get on top, but some superb tackling with Scot McClenaghan catching the eye in this aspect in particular, and Carrick mistakes combined to keep their line intact for some time. The value of McCann’s powerful boot cannot be undervalued as countless times he cleared the lines to give his team some breathing space.
Eventually with about 8 minutes remaining Carrick broke off the back of a line out on the 10 metres and crashed through the tiring Randalstown defence for a converted score. Within 5 minutes they added another having pressurised the ‘Town line until a gap opened up.
A defiant ‘town side however hit back at the death to complete the scoring. A great burst by Smyth through the middle brought ‘Town midway into the Carrick half and McCann joined the line making several yards before he was halted. He did manage a great offload to Thom on his shoulder and the ‘Vet’ slid in for a well deserved score.
Despite the defeat manager McCann was upbeat about the performance. In a disjointed and disappointing season so far this showed a marked improvement in spirit and performance and it is hoped this will continue for the remainder of the season.
A number of players stood out in what was essentially a great team performance. Phil McLean seemed to revel in the muck and tackled himself to a standstill. Debutants Boyd and Gary Payne put in encouraging performances while the Asquith brothers added experience, grit and steel to the side.
Team: P McCann, L Young, V Thom, P Morriss, M Boyd, A Boyd, D Asquith, M Reeves, J Pedlow, G Payne, M Asquith, S McClenaghan, A Sloane, P McLean, S Clyde.
Next Saturday the 1st XV are due to travel to Lurgan in the Quarter Final of the Gordon West Cup while the 3rds entertain Bangor at Neillsbrook. The U17s will take on Portadown in their Cup semi-final.
