Ulster Carpets North U18 League 14th january 2017
Scorers: Layden(1*Try), Clarke(1*Try), Kearns(1*Conv)
With two games left to play, Rainey OB U18s are in a virtually unassailable position atop the Ulster Carpets North U18 league. Following their tight 12-10 win over Letterkenny on Saturday, they require just one point from their remaining two games to clinch the league title. However, they made hard work of winning this game against a strong, highly-motivated Letterkenny side, having to twice come from behind to grab the points.
Kicking off with the breeze behind them, Letterkenny put Rainey under some early pressure, but they recovered and put together some good phases of play, with Aidan Molloy and Jack McIntosh making good ground. Rainey kept the pressure on, but a missed tackle allowed the Letterkenny out-half to gallop half the pitch before being cut down by fullback Padraig Totten. Back came Rainey, with the forwards taking ball against the head on several occasions, but loose handling hampered their progress.
Indeed, it was Letterkenny who came closest to scoring first when they tapped a quick penalty 10m from the Rainey line. Despite pounding away close in, they could find no way through the Rainey defence, and when they eventually spun it wide, Totten was on hand once more to prevent a try. However, they got their reward for the pressure a few minutes later, converting a long range penalty for the game’s first score.
The game continued to see-saw, with neither side dominating, but on the stroke of half-time, Rainey took the lead. Having worked their way down the pitch, a kick through from Nathan Scullion drew a knock-on from the Letterkenny winger and from the resulting scrum the ball was flashed wide for winger Sebastian Layden to score in the corner. The conversion was missed.
As the second-half started, Rainey were the architects of their own destruction when a resurgent Letterkenny retook the lead. A series of Rainey mistakes led to a lineout 10m out, and when the ball came back untidily, centre Ryan Kearns was caught in possession behind his own line, the ball was knocked free in the tackle and the Letterkenny No8 got a hand to the touchdown. The conversion was good, leaving Rainey trailing by 5-10.
Letterkenny were now in the ascendancy and were only denied a further try when a cover tackle from Gareth Hall stopped the Letterkenny winger 5m out. In the ensuing series of rucks, out-half Scullion went down with a knee-injury while the game carried on around him. Good work by front-row colleagues Ciaran McGlone and Calum Smyth allowed Rainey to break out of their 5m line, but Scullion was unable to take any further part in proceedings.
Forced to reorganise their backs, Rainey began to make better use of the breeze, with Kearns’ siege-gun like kicks forcing Letterkenny back, and Aodhan Conway and John McCusker’s dominance of the lineout guaranteeing Rainey possession every time. A stolen lineout by Conway was moved wide along the backs, before being carried 20m by McCusker to the Letterkenny 5m line. Rainey pounded away at the line for a succession of phases, with Smyth unlucky to be held up, but the momentum was lost and Letterkenny cleared their lines.
The breakthrough finally came 10mins from the end. A great catch from Conway set up a series of Rainey mauls, which were only halted by Letterkenny collapsing. With the pack sensing blood, Kearns kicked into the corner, McCusker caught cleanly and the pack steamrollered over the line for Charlie Clarke to get the try he deserved for a superb day’s work. Kearns converted and Rainey were ahead 12-10.
Back came Rainey in the final minutes seeking another score. A great chip from scrum-half Elliott Young allowed Totten to catch the Letterkenny winger behind the try-line and force a 5m scrum. Conway picked up from the base and fed winger Rory Doherty, who, with the line at his mercy, somehow failed to ground the ball, much to the bemusement of the crowd.
Overall, this was a great team performance with commitment shown by all concerned. However, handling, tackling and most of all, decision making, will need to be improved for the more important matches ahead in the latter part of the season.