U18s Ulster Plate - The Final Report

All the preparations, focus and tough conversations over the previous 3 weeks seemed to haved definitely paid off as the U18s squad of 22/23 season took to the pitch with a new found sense of urgency for the challenge ahead.

This was the 3rd outing for Letterkenny and Rainey this season with both previous confrontations closely fought to share the spoils of the battles, but today we knew the winners were leaving with the spoils of war.

The 1st 10 minutes of the game it seemed that our boys had fallen into the same pattern of slow starts we had seen too many times over this season...
Rainey went over for the 1st Try of the game while coaches Jeremy was still struggling with the VEO video box (technology really isn't his thing!!!)and Peter was still having a "difference of opinion" with the Ulster Rugby Officials (The 3rd of the day and it was only 12:30!!!).
And before we could even get clarity on the score Rainey went over for their 2nd try... Ohh Dear Ohh Dear!!!

But as our boys stood behind the posts waiting for the conversion...the talk was different, they were in this together, pulling each other up, the belief was there and most of all... something deep and menacing was stirring in our man from Strabane... Cathair 'Crasher' McCrory.

Rainey's handling error from our kickoff gave possession back to Letterkenny where Cathair punched the line taking in 3 of the opposition to stop him, but close support from Ryan allowed Cathair to offload cleanly where Ryan drove a further 10 yards dopping down 5 meters for their try line. A quick Pick 'n' Go from Matthew followed up immediatly by another from Jack Bond got him in the our 1st try of the match.

Rainey re-grouped and went in for their 3rd try but our boys were not phased. A couple of rapid runs and good attacking line ball from Cillian Boyle & Marc Gavigan brought us 10 meters from their try line again. With the ruck secured Charlie quickly fed the ball to Cathair who was coming up his inside line like a rampaging rhino to drive over for a try pounding through 4 Rainey Players in the process.

A wee scuffle between Ruan McClintock and his counterpart over girlfriends and who was the best kisser was quickly settled and we got on with the game! but Rainey were clearly feeling the pressure coming into half-time. With Cathair at the top of his game they knew they had to commit 4 players to cover his threat in the 2nd half.
H/T Rainey 19:10 Lkenny

Our boys went into the 2nd half with the smell of blood in the nostrils and went straight for the throat. Some rapid attacking play and securing ball at the rucks allowed Conrad to plough into the corner past 2 or 3 Rainey defenders for our 3rd try. Cathair now an unstoppable object just kept soaking in opposition and Ryan and Conrad tipping on his wing just allowed us to gain so much ground... on attack. This freed up Cillian to offload to Matthew who wrestled over for our 4th try and to take the lead in the game LK 20 : 19 Rainey and our lads were in control.

Rainey of course never gave up and found a 2nd wind. They waited for their chance and took it. During a lapse of concentration and poor defence they went in for their 4th try in the 57th minute and you could clearly see the sense of relief in the faces. Rainey 24 : LKenny 20
Our Lads kept at it, kept attacking, kept driving forward, every man putting their body on the line, being an option. In the 64th minute David Ille got the ball from a clear out and was steam rolled by Ryan Orsi and Conrad Voigt to drop 1 meter from the line.. he stretched and placed the ball... TRY..... Disallowed!!!

We quickly regrouped and Jamie Jensen put in an immense tackle to help us recover the ball after their scrum, Every man from props to centers punched their defence repeatedly looking for a crack and it came... Charlie called the play from behind the ruck, Kevin lined up at 10 to feed out to Matthew and Marc gaining 20 meters to pop the ball to Emmett and into the corner in the 68th minute for the winning TRY. The roars of the Letterkenny support could be heard in Glasgow! but the Linesman signaled 'ball held up" and try was disallowed...AGAIN!!!

1 minute to go all 30 men on that field were dead on their feet but with one thing on their mind... WIN!

Regan secured the ball from the kickout and took it into the war zone, quickly surrounded by Rainey players we secured, giving Charlie a chance to feed to Cathair who drove forward and to ground inside their 22. Charlie passed from the ruck and Joseph drove 4, 5, 6 meters to go down 10meters from their tryline, but found himself isolated and Rainey secured the win with a final kick of the game going to the sideline.
FT: Rainey 24 : 20 Letterkenny - Blood Pressure 190/110, Heartrates 220 BPM.

There were so many high points of note from the game today, from Jack Bonds pre-match talk (He meant it in a good way Darcy!) to the Referee seeking clarification on the rules from our own Joe Gibson on the sideline saying "what the hell are you talking about"
Each and every one of our boys gave everything today for themselves, their teammates, their family and the their club.
Outstanding defence plays from Regan, Isaac, Ryan, Matthew, Emmett, Conor & Ruan kept us in the game from the start and strong attack from Jack, Charlie, Marc, Conrad, Cillian, Ronan, David and Cathair put the fear of God into Rainey.

The coaches had nothing but pride for them and its been a privilege to them through the seasons (when they showed up). Even though it was not our day I speak for us all by saying we went out on a high for what was a challenging season.

1 DAVID Ilie, 2 CONOR Gibson, 3 Cathair McRory, 4 RYAN Orsi, 5 RUAN McClintock, 6 Isaac Hay, 7 Conrad Voigt, 8 Jack Bond, 9 Charlie Robinson, 10 CILLIAN Boyle, 11 Ronan Keeney, 12 Matthew Gibson, 13 Marc Gavigan, 14 Regan Ludick, 15 Emmett McGettigan, 16 Joseph McShane, 17 Shaun McCafferty, 18 Jamie Jensen, 19 Kevin Murray, 20 Darcy Devenney, 21 Archie Stewart, 22 Ultan McGuinness, 23 Ollie McLaughlin.