To be battling at the top end of Ulster club rugby is a fantastic achievement for Letterkenny RFC Youth rugby system. All these youth teams have great potential for the future, and the senior players leaving Youth rugby are all ready and able to make the transition to Senior rugby next season.
All teams should feel very proud of their achievements during the season.

Brave Letterkenny battle in vain against a dominant Armagh team.
Letterkenny u18's experienced final day disappointment at Ravenhill
for the second year in succession at the hands of an exceptional
Armagh team. Last year was unlucky but there were no such complaints
from the Letterkenny camp this time around as head coach Gordon Curley
admitted that his team were beaten by a far superior side playing an
excellent brand of rugby. Letterkenny competed bravely from start to
finish but had no answer to a team that moved the ball at speed to
their back three who caused havoc throughout the match. The final
score line of 53 to 7 is not a fair reflection of the game as
Letterkenny did enjoy periods of possession but were unable to get
through the phases to create any form of sustained pressure. An
indication of the flow of the game comes from the statistic that
Letterkeny out half Matthew Faulkner lead the tackle count at 23 with
both wing forwards James Roulston and James Sweeney close behind at 19
tackles each.

Letterkenny started brightly with Peter Scott gaining possession from
their own drop off. Armagh drove Letterkenny off the ball immediately
setting their impressive back line moving wide through their
experience out half Cormac Fox. An excellent tackle by Bailey Loughlin
stopped a certain try from his opposite number but this set the tone
for most of the game as Armagh pressed at every opportunity. Their
first try came off a shortened line out with Paul Mullen taking the
ball up the centre. Letterkenny failed to compete aggressively at the
break down allowing Armagh fast ball which was used to great effect by
Fox and Barry Finn to put their left winger in for the opening score.
Letterkenny were well aware of this trade mark attack but were not
fast enough off the line to prevent the score. This was the story of
the first half where Armagh were given fast ball to work with. With
the score at 21 to 0 Letterkenny were finally awarded a penalty in
front of the posts after an Armagh player killed the ball. It was
ironical that James Roulston was given a justifiable yellow card
earlier for the exact same offence but the Monaghan referee chose to
keep the card in his pocket on this occasion. Letterkenny went to the
line and a good take by James Roulston set up an excellent drive which
allowed Peter Scott to crash over. Letterkenny came right back from
the drop off with Faulkner and Roulston finding room on the blind.
Another penalty was sent to the line and the ensuing maul was on its
way over the line again when Scott was harshly penalised for a short
arm bind at the back of the driving maul. This was a real turning
point just before half time as another score here would have put
pressure back on Armagh.

The second half saw a more accurate Letterkenny at the breakdown but
Armagh continued to dominate the wide channels and ran in several
impressive scores. Injuries and forced substitutions saw the game well
out of Letterkenny’s reach but they kept fighting to the end. Peter
Scott was again outstanding as were both his back row partners of
James Sweeney and James Roulston. Sweeney showed the watching Ulster
selectors that he is right back in the mix for an Under 18 cap later
this summer. Roulston was immense in the line out and also in the
loose. Faulkner at 10 did not get enough front foot ball to show what
he can do in attack but he gave a superb display of defensive work
with several try saving tackles made after chasing down opponents that
he had no right to catch. Jack McGarvey had his best game of the
season at 9. Team captain David Ward was also exceptional at loose
head prop and kept his team working to the final whistle. Ben Scott
also deserves a special mention for the amount of work he got through
in the second half. Letterkenny probably broke even in the forward
exchanges and dominated the line outs but their big ball carriers did
not get through enough heavy lifting. The real difference in class was
evident every time Armagh moved the ball wide. Barry Finn, playing at
7, continually acting as a second outside centre to great effect and
would have warranted a man of the match award on this basis alone.

Armagh have been justifiably recognised at the recent Ulster Rugby
awards for their player development programme resulting in them having
the largest number of Ulster and Ireland players in their u18 ranks.
Letterkenny were recognised for their hospitality to travelling teams.
The challenge now for Letterkenny is to get their u14 and u16 teams
into Ravenhill cup finals on a consistent basis as this will build
solid foundations for future success.

This experience will stand these young players in good stead for their
future rugby careers. They were unlucky to have encountered an
exceptional Armagh team just hitting their peak but should be very
satisfied with their achievements this season in relation to where
they started in September. They have represented themselves, their
families and the club very well throughout the season.

Squad (all used): David Ward (capt), Chris Green, Stephen Gibson,
Joshua Fulton, Connor McMenamin, James Sweeney, James Roulston, Peter
Scott, Jack McGarvey, Matthew Faulkner, Bailey Loughlin, Louis Carson,
Fionn McGarvey, , Connor Cannon and Eunan Henry. Subs: Ben Scott, John
Fogarty, Kieran Aitken, Jack Smeaton, Josh Carr and Eoin Stephenson.

Letterkenny U16s come up short in a tight contest against Ballymena

Letterkenny U16's played in the Ulster Bowl Final against Ballymena but after a hard fought game came up short by 5 points.
From forwards to backs every player gave there all. Rory MaGinty scored the first try with his typical quick thinking and speed and then kicked the conversion.
Fabio Cinquemani try followed soon after with a great run from inside his own half. Conversion by Rory. The forwards worked hard in rucks and the scrum was solid with (Luke McKeever, Dean Callan, Ben McGarvey, Brendan Duggan, Steve McDaid and Keenan Barrett) putting a lot of pressure on the opposition. The backs tackled hard (Conor Aitken putting in some try saving tackles, withe Hugh Ferry and Matthew McGee defending and attacking well. But in the end Letterkenny U16's ran out of time.
Well done to all the team they did themselves​ and the club proud.

Letterkenny Under 14s lose to Ballynahinch in Cookstown Play off.

Click here for U14 match report!