There were 160 teams in action across Ulster on Saturday the 11th of October playing across U14 / U16 / U18 age grades. There were league, friendly and qualifying games. With the season very much up and running the core skills of passing of both hands, off loads, maul, lineout, scrum, drift defence and attack formations with backs and forwards practicing all the skills in a friendly structured environment were a delight to anyone watching. A full list of teams and available scores are at the bottom of this article.
At U18 level in the qualifying league Civil Service played Larne in an entertaining game while Malone travelled to Instonians. In the U18 league section 1 Ballymena played Banbridge and Carrickfergus played Rainey Ob. In Section 2 Letterkenny played Coleraine while Omagh vs Portadown,
Donegal Town played Dromore and Enniskillen vs Ballyclare. In the U18 Section Cavan played Ballynahinch with City Of Derry vs Ards and Ballymoney vs Lisburn.
Details have emerged of several U18 games.
Enniskillen Under 18s vrs Ballyclare 13 young Fermanagh men faced a large and combative Ballyclare team on sat and were not intimidated holding the Antrim team in their own half for the first 20 minutes, with the reduced pack carrying ball well and showing great enthusiasm. But the consequence of three injuries meant that although still willing the boys had to concede the game. With the remaining game time allowing Ballyclare to use some of their less experienced players.
Ballynahinch made the log journey to Cavan and found themselves on the receiving end of consistent pressure on their line early in the first half resulting in a try to Cavan, but the extra points were not added after the try, from the restart the men in green still didn’t seem to have woken up missing tackles and letting the big pack of Cavan run through. This showed as Cavan received a penalty just outside the 22 which resulted in 3 points, leaving the game 8-0 to the home side.The Ballynahinch team needed some motivation to get back into the game, however this didn’t happen after the restart, when the Cavan scrum half scored under the posts after a great break from the blind side flanker who popped up the ball for the No.9 to have an easy run under the posts where the outhalf had an easy kick to go 15-0 up. This seemed to spur the Hinch into action and the pack, spurred on by influential number 8 Morisi-Mcgoon James (their Ulster Under 18 Representative), began to make ground against Cavan, Expert line breaks from Ben Cullen also helped and the constant pressure on the Cavan team resulted in a try scored by winger Isaac Gibson, who crossed over in the corner. At half-time, the score was Cavan 15 – Ballynahinch 5. In the second half, Ballynahinch where now fired up for the game and seemed like a different team with the back 3 of Bailey McGoldrick, Aaron Lattus and Isaac Gibson working well together. A turnover at the ruck from Ballynahinch lead to Morisi crossing over in the corner after Ben Cullen and Adam Montgomery linked up with a great offload to set up a ruck where Morisi ran round the winger to score. The conversion was missed, leaving the game at 15-10 to the home side. The Hinch men needed to get back down into the Cavan half to keep the pressure on and they did so with the strong running from Adam Montgomery, Conor Sharkey and Desmond Maxwell. Good meters were made into the Cavan half, but they came up short by giving away penalties, allowing Cavan to clear their lines. With the last play of the game, Bailey McGoldrick kept the ball in play and managed to pass the ball to the ever-present Aaron Latus, who moved the ball to James Miller who made a break into the 22. Quick ball was needed for the back line and Philip Armstrong passed a great ball to flyhalf Corey Davey, who shipped it onto James Aiken who made for under the posts, but he found himself held up. The forwards got around him and recycled the ball for Callum Foreman to crash the line for the try. This left the game 15 all, with the conversion to come. The kick was in front of the sticks and Corey Davey slotted it through for the game winning kick of what was a hard fought game for Ballynahinch RFC U18s. Scott Magowan was very pleased as the injured captain who had to sit this match out with a shoulder injury. Congratulations to Hinch’s acting Captain Jamie Aiken.
BALLYMONEY RFC U18s scored 47 points against Lisburn U18s who scored 7 in a game that pleased the Ballymoney coaches very much.
After a sluggish start the Town found themselves trailing by 7-0 when the big Lisburn centre ran wide to score a converted try which spurred Ballymoney into action.With the forwards working cohesively in all phases of play, scrumhalf Bell provided good ball for the backs, enabling Young, Parkhill and Brown to test the visitors’ defence with strong runs. A try was soon to follow when winger Kane cut inside, ran through several tackles only to be grounded in front of the posts. From the resulting ruck, Bell passed to full back Pattison who beat the Lisburn defence by running wide to score an unconverted try in the corner. This provided the impetus for the remainder of the game.Scores followed from a Brown pass to McConaghy to score an excellent try which was converted by Pattison. The forwards, in particular Graham and Adams, working extremely hard to contain the big Lisburn pack, were rewarded for their endeavour when they turned over Lisburn ball inside their opponents’. Parkhill scored another try for Ballymoney just before the break. In the second half Ballymoney pressure caused a turnover which prop Adams scored from a maul again converted by Pattison. A further try came from Young who fed Pattison and the ever alert Bell was on hand to receive an inside pass from the fullback to run strongly between the posts, scoring another excellent try converted by Pattison. From a well- rehearsed line-out move on the Lisburn twenty two line, centre Parkhill was on hand to charge over the line to score another well-worked try to be converted by the confident boot of Pattison.
In the dying minutes a cross field kick from Young was caught by Brown, off-loading to Young who ran in from thirty metres out to score another superb try which presented Gary Pattison with his sixth conversion of the match. Prop forward Ben Adams who was named Man of the Match.
At U16s qualifying Civil Service played Ballymena 2 while Instonians played Malone & Ophir played Newry. In the leagues Carrickfergus played Rainey Ob, Monaghan played Armagh & Ballymena played Banbridge. In League Section 2 it was Donegal Town vs Dromore, Omagh vs Portadown, Letterkenny vs Coleraine and Enniskillen vs Ballyclare and in Section 3 City Of Derry played Ards, Ballymoney played Lisburn & Cavan played Ballynahinch. There was also an U16 Friendly between City Of Derry & Finn Valley. Details are below of a selection of these games.
Enniskillen Under 16s vrs Ballyclare from the start of this game this Enniskillen side showed the powerful nature of their game when from the kick off the ball was gathered in by the pack and quick ball from O’Hare allowed Tyler Millar to force his way over the line for the first points of the day the straight forward conversion from Jarlaith Maguire meant after 4 minutes Skins were 7 nil to the good. The next two scores were very similar when with the home pack really putting Ballyclare under great pressure and the strong running off back row trio Maguire Cleery and Kelly it allowed young Miller to strike again for two more converted tries leaving the Co Antrim lads 21 points down after 17 minutes of play.
Credit must be given to Ballyclare who kept trying and were rewarded when their winger sprinted over to score after 22 minutes the resulting conversion brought the scoreline to 21 to 7. The Relief was short lived though when in a devastating four minutes the combination of power and slick handling allowed young Millar to add a further two tries bringing the tally to 31 to 7. The second half was a more balanced period and although the scorers were not troubled it was still a good contest with both defences really getting stuck in and making great tackles The final score of 31 to 7 leaves the Under 16s in a commanding position at the top of the league.
Meanwhile the following detail has emerged from the Ballynahinch v Cavan game The Hinch boys scored their first try within minutes of the start. The forwards had worked hard picking and driving and Thomas Martin finished off to the right of the posts. Daniel Peters converted. A second try came a few minutes later with quick hands from the backs with James Rea finishing off under the posts. Again Daniel Peters converted leaving the score 14 – 0 to the visitors, with only 15 minutes of the game gone. The third try came from Conor Donnelly who slipped over the line after some very strong forward work, again Daniel converted leaving the score 21 – 0 to the County Down men. At this stage Cavan scored under the posts, which they converted to leave the half time score 21 – 7 to Hinch.
Josh Hunter scored in the corner within minutes of the second half starting. Peters narrowly missed the conversion from the extreme left hand side of the pitch. Peters made up for the missed conversion with an excellent pass from the restart to send John Kirk galloping up the pitch to cross the whitewash to add another 5 pts to the total. Ciaran Cairns got the final try of the game with both forwards and backs working together and recycling the ball, they kept it live and with the Cavan defence well stretched Cairns took his chance and dived over the line to bring the full time score to 36 – 7 to Ballynahinch. Man of the match was Andrew Foster, who had worked very hard all match and he probably should have had several scores himself but through his skill decided to recycle the ball instead of going for personal glory.
Under 14 Qualifying saw Civil Service vs Larne, Finn Valley vs Limavady, Inishowen vs Strabane, Instonians vs Malone & Ophir vs Newry. While in the leagues U14 League Section 1 Ballymena played Banbridge, Carrickfergus vs Rainey Ob, Randalstown v Lurgan and Monaghan vs Armagh. In Section 2
Donegal Town played Dromore, Letterkenny v Coleraine, Enniskillen vs Ballyclare and Omagh vs Portadown. In section 3 Cavan played Ballynahinch
and City Of Derry played Ards. Below are some notes that have emerged from these games.
In the Randalstown U14’s v Lurgan tigers U14’s F rom the kick-off the Randalstown boys pre-match assertions that they were in for a game were proven correct as the Lurgan pack started to make their mark on the game felt. Ferocious in the tackle and at the breakdown they certainly brought an intensity to proceedings that has been lacking so far this season. Having said that it didn’t take this group of Randalstown Youth players to get into their stride and rather intelligently adapt their style of play. Sensing the need for change the creative axis of Oran Gilbert and Peter Cullen quickly called for quick ball from the breakdown and started marshalling their blossoming backline into the relatively few spaces the Tigers superbly orchestrated defence were leaving exposed. It was a wonderful looping exchange between fly-half Cullen and his inside centre Conn McGee that broke through their opposing line and released left wing Jack Johnson into space. Johnson’s pace would be a thorn in Lurgan’s side as the match developed and it was this first real run that made the yards into Lurgan’s 22 before he was dragged down by Lurgan’s 10. Quick and accurate work at the breakdown by chasing hooker Eoin McDonald allowed quick ball from Gilbert to Cullen who spotted the gap and released captain Stefan Gabbidon-Lyttle to step his opposite number and run in for the first try of the encounter out wide giving Gilbert a rather difficult conversion which was only narrowly missed. Lurgan were certainly in no mood to lie down and took the game right back to their Randalstown counterparts. Sensing the ability to make their size advantage tell they kept the ball in their sizable pack only really releasing their own livewire fly-half when gaps appeared in the Randalstown defence. Lurgan certainly were winning the breakdown battle turning over three Randalstown carries with some ferocious counter-rucking for which the home side seemed to have little answer. Such possession was always going to tell and it wasn’t long before the breaks were made and the Tigers found themselves encamped in Randalstown’s 22. Defence here was key and pack leader McDonald came into his own along with abrasive blindside flanker Brandon McAllister whose defensive efforts and first-up tackles saved the defensive line from being breached on several occasions. Indeed it was a bold pick-and-go from McDonald and offload to lock Ross Swann that finally relieved the pressure as Swann burst through 4 tackles to barge his way into Lurgans half. Great clearing from the ever-present McAllister allowed Gilbert quick-ball to release Cullen who’s side-step wrong-footed his opposition to burst through 2 tackles and dot the ball down under the posts giving Gilbert an easier task which he duly converted. As the half wore on it became clear that the referee wasn’t aware of the timing for an U14’s match as the clock crept well past the 25minute mark putting the fitness of these two sides to the test. The quality of the rugby certainly wasn’t affected as both sides exchanged some super phases and had it not been for the defensive efforts of McGee, wing Ethan Higgins and full-back Matthew Luke Lurgan would have finally crossed the white-wash which you could argue their play deserved. Following great work at the scrum their number 8 brushed off a couple of Randalstown tackles and it took a superb hit from Cullen with McGee backing him up to halt Lurgan’s progress. At this point Lurgan spent a sizable period in Randalstown’s 22 and it took some superb defence marshalled by McGee, Cullen and Gabbidon-Lyttle to keep the score at nil. Unfortunately it was at this juncture that Randalstown were reduced to 14-men after Matthew Luke was harshly adjudged to have made a high tackle. In virtually the final play of the half, clever work from Gilbert releasing McAllister into space allowed an offload to McDonald who made a searing break exchanging passes with Jack Johnson, Higgins, McGee and Gabbidon-Lyttle before a sublime pass from Gilbert again released Cullen to intelligently draw three would be tacklers who were shrugged off to allow a spectacular dive into the corner. Oran Gilbert was left with an incredibly challenging conversion and it is to his great credit that it bisected the posts for a super 7points. Cullen added another, his third of the game in quick succession before Gabbidon-Lyttle finished off the scoring for the half.
With the second half absolutely guaranteed to be the regulation 25minutes it was certainly a much tighter affair. Randlastown knew they were playing against very tough opposition and again intelligently played to their strengths. With Lurgan’s ascendancy at the breakdown and with a slight advantage at scrum-time Randalstown reverted to a quick style of play with passing kept accurate. This half produced some very impressive phases of play from both sides. Gilbert and Cullen were inviting runners with substitute Cormac Devlin only too happy to break into the line and gain ground. McGee and Gabbidon-Lyttle were finding space and also gaining ground but Lurgan’s defence was holding tight. It was to take a little touch of magic from Cullen to release wing Jack Johnson on Lurgan’s 10m who still had an awful lot to do to step his man and sprint to the line for the try. The difficult conversion missed by Gabbidon-Lyttle. Lurgan may not have had the points on the board but they were certainly contributing a huge amount to this game with some fantastic play through their forwards but it was through their backline that they finally got the score their play deserved. Following some great phases with great ground being made producing some fine tackling by McDonald, McGee, Cullen and McAllister the pressure exerted finally took its toll when Lurgan’s 10 released his outside centre to dart home for the try which was duly converted. To Randalstown’s great credit the reply was instant and in what was essentially a re-run of the previous try Cullen and Johnson again combined to release Jack in space who again sprinted home and Oran Gilbert duly converted. Shortly after Randalstown were again reduced to 14-men following another yellow card this time for hooker Eoin McDonald. And in the last phase of the match Lurgan again crossed the whitewash and in fairness it was no less than their play deserved.
A great match of rugby between two good sides and the return fixture is sure to be a fantastic fixture especially considering the score-line doesn’t tell the story of just how tight this game really was. Credit must go to Eoin McDonald, Ross Swann and Brandon McAllister in the forwards for their tireless work, aggressive carries and superb scrummaging under pressure as well as Oran Gilbert, Peter Cullen and Jack Johnson in the backline whose intelligent play and running lines were a constant thorn in the Tigers side. Man of the match however must go to inside centre Conn McGee who was heroic in defence, aggressive and accurate in the tackle and whose intelligence and running in attack created space and time for his teammates as well as causing Lurgan no end of problems.
Meanwhile Enniskillen Under 14s played Ballyclare U14s The Enniskillen coaches have done a good deal of hard work has gone into combining last year’s U12s with the very successful U13 team from the 2013/14 season, but this match, against a strong team from Ballyclare, gave an indication that the work could prove to be very fruitful. Last year’s U13s constituted, by the end of the season, a very well balanced, well drilled side that had no equal in their particular division. The match was not more than 5 minutes old when Matthew Brown spun a quick ball to his out half, Jack O’Hare, who shimmied and side stepped before changing gear to leave the opposition trailing for a try under the posts. Captain, Aaron Clarke, converted. Enniskillen’s forwards were dominant in both loose and set plays and they supplied sufficiently consistent, quick ball to O’Hare, Flynn and Daire Hill in the backs to keep the visitors on the back foot. However, half way through the first half Enniskillen suffered a body blow when their outstanding captain, Aaron Clarke, dislocated his knee, a particularly painful injury. The loss of their athletic and dynamic No. 8 considerably reduced the team’s intensity of play and Ballyclare soon began to gain a greater percentage of the possession. Some strong running by their backs gave them a try before half-time and a 7 to 5 score at the break. Enniskillen settled to their task in the second half and O’Hare obliged with another converted try. This was answered by an excellent try by the Ballyclare right wing which was converted to bring the score to 14 to 12. Enniskillen kept their composure in the latter part of the second half and Conan Leonard muscled his way over to put the match beyond doubt just before the close of play. The final score of 19 to 12 puts Enniskillen at the top of the Under 14 league.
The Ballynahinch U14s travelled on the long journey to Cavan on Saturday morning. Hinch were missing some key players from their line up, but they powered through for the win. Rory McMullan scored after just a few minutes, and this was to be the start of two quick tries for him. Another try from Callum Rice left the half time score 19 – 0 to the visitors. After half time another 2 tries came from Callum Rice, with single tries from Kyle Gill, Ben Ogle and Brandon Brechan. They were all scored after some excellent rucking and passing from the Hinch. Hinch continued the game and seemed to be able to score at will. Niall Rob and Callum Rice were working very well together in open play, but time was closing in. Hinch wanted another try and Rory McMullan came in for the last try of the game. Niall Rob kicked 5 out of his 7 conversions. Man of the match was Paul Tempany for his outstanding performance. Jack Ferris, Rory McMullan, Kyle Gill and Adam Morrison (his Debut Performance) all had very good games also.
Fianl Score: Cavan U14 0 Ballynahinch U14 50.
FIXTURES AND RESULTS FROM SATURDAY THE 11th of OCTOBER.
Qualifying U18 11/10/2014
Civil Service 14 vs 38 Larne
Instonians 0 vs 69 Malone
U18 League Section 1 11/10/2014
Ballymena vs Banbridge
Carrickfergus 17 vs 31 Rainey Ob
U18 League Section 2 11/10/2014
Letterkenny vs Coleraine
Omagh vs Portadown Marcus Malley
Donegal Town vs Dromore 21st test
Enniskillen vs Ballyclare Stephen Robinson
U18 League Section 3 11/10/2014
Cavan 15 vs 17 Ballynahinch
City Of Derry 19 vs 26 Ards
Ballymoney vs Lisburn
Qualifying U16 11/10/2014
Civil Service vs Ballymena 2
Instonians 10 vs 38 Malone
Ophir 5 vs 74 Newry
U16 League Section 1 11/10/2014
Carrickfergus 5 vs 31 Rainey Ob
Monaghan 0 vs 16 Armagh
Ballymena vs Banbridge
U16 League Section 2 11/10/2014
Donegal Town 0 vs 61 Dromore
Omagh vs Portadown
Letterkenny vs Coleraine
Enniskillen vs Ballyclare
U16 League Section 3 11/10/2014
City Of Derry vs Ards
Ballymoney vs Lisburn Ciaran McWilliams
Cavan vs Ballynahinch
U16 Friendly 11/10/2014
City Of Derry 36 vs 15 Finn Valley
Qualifying U14
Civil Service vs Larne Patrick McGrath
Finn Valley vs Limavady
Inishowen vs Strabane
Instonians vs Malone
Ophir vs Newry
Virginia vs
U14 League Section 1 11/10/2014
Ballymena 25 vs 22 Banbridge
Carrickfergus vs Rainey Ob
Randalstown 50 vs 12 Lurgan
Monaghan vs Armagh Brian Banks
U14 League Section 2 11/10/2014
Donegal Town vs Dromore
Letterkenny 10 vs 12 Coleraine
Enniskillen vs Ballyclare
Omagh vs Portadown
U14 League Section 3 11/10/2014
Cavan vs Ballynahinch
City Of Derry vs Ards
