Many of the youth leagues began this weekend in seasonal above average conditions as sun shone on most of Ulster on Saturday the 4th of October whilst others used the opportunity to test themselves with friendly games.
CARRICKFERGUS RFC played Civil Service RFC away on Saturday. The Carrick youth teams are once again sponsored by NK Ltd and prepared for next weeks start to their league campaign against Rainey RFC with these friendly fixtures away to Civil Service Youth. At U14s level Carrick rotated a squad of 25 players in recording a comprehensive 61-12 victory. Special mention to new recruits Robert and Matthew Hamilton who both had excellent debuts for the side. Carrick U16, who also travelled with a large squad of players, continued their encouraging start to the season with a 71-0 victory. After the match team coach Richard Higgins commented that the most pleasing aspect of the win was the strong defensive display by his side. Carrick U18s 
rounded of a clean sweep of results with a clinical 80-0 victory . Despite losing 2nd row forward dangerous Dan Mcburney with a dislocated finger Carrick produced a fine display of running rugby with both a number of forwards and backs contributing to the tally. Next week Carrick Youth host Rainey Youth in the league. Kick off is 11.00am at the Tom Simms Memorial Park.
Randalstown U18s ran out a late win against Banbridge in a 12-19 scoreline
On a perfect pitch, in perfect conditions Randalstown kicked off and immediately took the game to their hosts. Time and again the visitors attempted to break down the well organised Banbridge defence only to be thwarted by turn overs at the ruck. Banbridge scored a converted try before the end of the first half.
The second half started with Banbridge on the offensive and the ‘town quickly conceded another try to find themselves 12-0 in arrears. As the match entered the final quarter Joshua Henry picked up the ball just outside his 22m line. With the hosts expecting a clearance kick the Randalstown winger stepped his opposite number and accelerated away from the cover defence to sprint the length of the pitch to score under the posts. The winger, fresh back from playing for the Ulster u18 Club team in the recent interprovincial series, doubled his try tally shortly after when he popped up on the other wing following great work by O’Connell. The conversion was successful putting Randalstown in the lead with five minutes remaining. It was a brilliant kick from scrum half McCaw which turned the hosts and forced them to play from deep in their own 22 that set up our final score of the day. A poor clearance found the ball in the hands of our talented outhalf Michael O’Connell, who with six defenders closing rapidly, used all his power, pace and skill to glide over the try line untouched. The conversion was missed and the hosts had time for one last attempt at salvaging the draw. As Banbridge looked like gaining some momentum the Randalstown full back Mason stepped out of the line to crunch the big Banbridge ball carrier in a perfectly timed man and ball tackle. The ball was lost forward and the referee’s whistle sounded shortly after. Special mention must go to the Banbridge Associate Referee who stepped into officiate this match at short notice and did so with a very sensible and assured performance.Next fixture, home to Lurgan in the league 11/10/14 at 11am. All support welcome.
RANDALSTOWN U14S put in a Sterling performance against Banbridge. The match started well for Randalstown. After putting Banbridge defence under pressure from the kick off, Randalstown took possession of the ball and wing Jack Johnson scored the opening try in the corner. Oran Gilbert missed the difficult conversion into a crosswind. Randalstown maintained pressure on the Banbridge team from the restart; receiving the ball at the restart with their back line attacking from their twenty two. Fly half Peter Cullen scored Randalstown’s second try after four minutes of play. Oran Gilbert converted the try. Wing Matthew Luke and centre Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle scored two further tries in quick succession. Any forward momentum Bandbridge got was stunted by the Randalstown defence. Inside centre Con McGee ripped ball in a maul, which was offloaded to centre Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle who went on a solo run from the half way line. Randalstown’s final score of the half came from the forwards. After a number of phases of play flanker Dominic O’Connor carried the ball into contact and almost made the line. He off loaded to hooker Eoin McDonald who forced his way over the line to score. Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle missed the conversion.First Half ended 36 – 0 to Randalstown. From the restart Randalstown took the ball into contact and pushed Banbridge back into their twenty two. After some lovely off loading play, hooker Eoin McDonald scored beside the posts. Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle tried another conversion kick but missed. Randalstown continued to attack and were awarded a five-yard scrum after being held up over the try line. After wining the scrum number eight, Ciaran O’Neill, picked up at the back of the scrum and forced his way over the line to score. Oran Gilbert missed the difficult conversion into a crosswind. Randalstown’s final tries came from fly half Peter Cullen and centre Stefhan Gabbidon-Lyttle. Peter Cullen’s try was another solo run from the twenty-two after receiving a kick from the Banbridge full back. Oran Gilbert missed both conversions. The match finished 56 – 0 to Randalstown.
Meanwhile at Coleraine RFC the U18S, U16S & U14S were in action against Donegal Town RFC In the U18s Coleraine 28 Donegal 14 from start Donegal took the game to Coleraine and early pressure resulted in scores for the visitors with Coleraine trailing by 7 pts. Coleraine defended for much of first quarter and Donegal failed to add to their score. The game began to swing in Coleraine’s favour when they seemed to wake up and take the game into Donegal territory which more or less set the tone for the rest of the match with a dominant Coleraine gradually pulling ahead of their visitors and despite a second try from Donegal, Coleraine finished the worthy winners.
The under U16s Coleraine 5 Donegal 15 From the off both sides displayed healthy aggression and the battle of the packs marked the game as a tough encounter, slightly marred by the absence of a Branch referee and the penalty count slowly crept up against Coleraine to an alarming 12 to 1 in favour of the visitors. With nothing going for them Coleraine had to dig deep to stay in the game. Both half backs did their best to create fast ball but early first up tackling from strong forward tackling limited progress to wings and the game remained close to the the middle of the park. Strong runs from Donegal’s full back opened up Coleraine a few times but last minute tackling prevented a bigger tally for Donegal. The game ended in favour of Donegal but did little to reflect a closer battle from two emerging talented sides.
While the over at the U14s game (Coleraine 17 Donegal 19) it was a close affair with two young sides wanting to play fast running rugby. Coleraine found themselves two tries down before finding their rhythm and running in 3 of their own but it was Donegal who pipped them to the post in a very close and entertaining match. Much to look forward to in the league from these two sides.
Meanwhile in the Ulster U14 Premier League Virginia played Armagh. A beautiful day meant perfect conditions to play in, and Virginia started intensity. In the early stages they dominated both territory and possession, and were duly rewarded when Nial Preston barged through the home defence for the first try of the day. Armagh soon showed why they held the upper hand last season. A powerful move off the back of a ruck, and a missed tackle soon saw the scores levelled at 5-5. Virginia regrouped, and were dominant at most set pieces given a solid platform in the scrum from Aaron Hawthorne, Evan Charters and Jake Sullivan, and some excellent line out throwing from Rioghan Smith. Despite great defence from Armagh a quick pass from Daniel McConnan put Jamie Davidson in space and a fantastic sidestep saw him dart in under the posts. A conversion from Martin O’Connell meant Virginia led 12-5. Armagh responded in the second half, and an intercept try from a defensive Virginia scrum saw them pull back within two points. Virginia gained the upper hand in the loose, with some great tackling and mauling from Cai Walker and Adrian Lynch, and also started to spread the ball wide with Aaron Kierans, Jack O’Brien and Finn Lotscher all eager to run at the Armagh defence. Nial added a second after another powerful run, duly converted by Martin, and Michael McKeon-Boyle forced his way over for a deserved try to extend the lead to 24-10. Despite great work by replacements Robert Lochaden and Jack Vaughan, Armagh scored again to pull it back to 24-15, and towards the end if it wasn’t for a last ditch try saving tackle by Jamie it would have been closer. Ulster U14 Qualifying League: Virginia ‘A’ v Cavan ‘A’ Perfect conditions at the Deerpark saw an evenly matched Virginia U14 ‘A’ side take on their Cavan ‘A’ counterparts on Saturday morning. Cavan scored the opening try and they held on to that lead for the opening 15 minutes. Virginia soon settled down and after some good running by the backs who were marshalled by Jason Henderson and Adam Charters, they scored their 1st try courtesy of Jaco Engelbrecht, which was converted by Niall Carolan. Centre John Dolan scored another try for Virginia who led 12-5 before the break, managing to break several tackles to touchdown. The second half was fiercely contested between the forwards with some great play by Ibykan Ajetummobi, Ryan Shiels and Jamie Osborne at the breakdown. The Virginia scrum was put under great pressure by Cavan despite the great efforts of the Virginia front row of Jaco, Killian Collins and James Smith. Scrum-Half Jason increased the lead for the hosts after a darting run from the half way saw him shake several tackles to score under the posts, making for an easy conversion for Niall. The Virginia back line continued to pressure the visitors, and Adam Sherriff was instrumental in getting the ball continually out to Niall Carolan who scored three tries in the second half, converting all 3 of them. Despite a strong attacking effort from Cavan, the Virginia defence held strong and some good interplay from Cormac Brown and Alex Perry ensured the Virginia try line wasn’t breached in the second half. Full time score at the Deerpark was 33-5. Under 15 & 18 Girls Blitz Following on from a successful blitz in Dungannon last weekend in which Virginia under 15 girls topped their group winning all four of their games, and the under 18 girls also coming top of their group winning all three of their matches. Well done to all the girls, especially all the newcomers who got a chance to show their skills on the day. This coming weekend sees Virginia host the second blitz of the season, so come along on Sunday 12th October @ 1pm to support the girls.
On Saturday Lurgan U14S hosted Monaghan RFC U14S on a beautiful morning for rugby. Monaghan took an early lead but Lurgan evened things up quickly with a score of their own, Lurgan were under pressure from good Monaghan play for much fo the game but scored on several more occassions, whilst Monaghan remained strong throughout. The game was a great advertisment for youth rugby.
Donegal Town Youth Section 53 players and 10 coaches/players made the journey to Coleraine on Saturday .Each game was highly competitive with u14s winning 19-17 ( Liam Doherty 2 tries and Brian Fegan 1 with 2 conversions from VJ Mitchell.u16s won 15-5 with a try apiece from Patrick Forde and Tom O’Grady and a penalty and conversion from Matthew McClay .u18s just lost out 24-14 with tries from Mark Gillespie and Conor Conneely and Aaron Mc Grory with 2 conversions.Great effort away from home by all concerned
Portadown Rugby Portadown U18’s kicked of their league campaign with a hard fought 5 – 3 win against Malone at Chambers Park. Malone took an early lead through a penalty awarded for an infringement at a ruck just outside the 22. In a very even contest the resilient Portadown defence was thoroughly tested by the Malone backline with Conor Megarity and Sam Odour outstanding in midfield. The Portadown pack were more than a match for their opposition both at the lineout and in open play. Stand out players Brad Greene and Ben Jameson were a constant threat to Malone, with both players making a number of rampaging runs. However it was a combination of plays from forwards and backs which laid the foundation for the only try of the match. The ever alert Harry Proctor linked with his forwards to set up a ruck close to the Malone line. Ulster U18 scrum half William Holden returning to the team following the Inter Pros spotted a gap and went over for the crucial score. Proctor missed the conversion and despite some late Malone pressure the home team took a deserved win. The U16s had a draw in their match the final result was result for under 16s prfc 27 v malone 27.
Ballymoney RFC Under 18s draw with formidable Ballynahinch 14 all. Ballymoney RFC Under 18s disapointed to draw against formidable Ballynahinch. After ten minutes play, good ruck ball was presented to scrumhalf Matthew Bell who passed skilfully to outhalf Andrew Young , enabling him to outpace the covering Hinch defence to score a try, converted by Gary Pattison. Five minutes later the Town scored another excellent try when Andrew Young set up Aaron Brown to score another well-worked try, again converted by Gary Pattison. Hinch retaliated by scoring a converted try. Hinch then took another opportunity which they seized upon to score their second converted try leaving the score at 14 all. Ballymoneys Man of the Match was Matthew Bell who had an excellent game in his new position at scrumhalf.
Fixtures And Scores Saturday 4th of October 2014
Qualifying U18 04/10/2014
Civil Service vs Carrickfergus
Instonians vs Larne
Letterkenny vs Ballyshannon
U18 League Section 1 04/10/2014
Rainey Ob 50 vs 7 Ballymena
U18 League Section 2 04/10/2014
Coleraine 28 vs 14 Donegal Town
Dromore vs Enniskillen
Portadown 5 vs 3 Malone
U18 League Section 3 04/10/2014
Lisburn 18 vs 24 City Of Derry
Ards vs Dungannon
Ballynahinch 14 vs 14 Ballymoney
Clogher Valley 22 vs 10 Newry
U18 Friendly 04/10/2014
Civil Service 0 vs 72 Carrickfergus
Qualifying U16 04/10/2014
Instonians vs Ballymena 2
Civil Service 0 vs 71 Carrickfergus
U16 League Section 1 04/10/2014
Armagh 17 vs 8 Virginia
Rainey Ob 22 vs 0 Ballymena
U16 League Section 2 04/10/2014
Portadown 27 vs 27 Malone
Ballyclare vs Omagh
Coleraine vs Donegal Town
Dromore vs Enniskillen
U16 League Section 3 04/10/2014
Ards vs Dungannon
Clogher Valley 12 vs 42 Newry
Ballynahinch vs Ballymoney
Lisburn vs City Of Derry
U14 League Section 1 04/10/2014
Armagh 17 vs 24 Virginia
Banbridge 0 vs 56 Randalstown
Lurgan 29 vs 38 Monaghan
Rainey Ob 10 vs 36 Ballymena
Qualifying U14 04/10/2014
Civil Service vs Carrickfergus
Inishowen vs Limavady
Instonians vs Larne
Letterkenny vs Ballyshannon
Virginia vs Cavan
U14 League Section 2 04/10/2014
Ballyclare vs Omagh
Coleraine vs Donegal Town
Dromore vs Enniskillen Ryan Wilson
Portadown vs Malone
U14 League Section 3 04/10/2014
Ards vs Dungannon
Clogher Valley 39 vs 7 Newry
