Malone Youth Impress In First League Outing

The Brewin Dolphin Youth Leagues kicked off last weekend and it was a very early start for the boys from the Cregagh Road. They were distinctly bleary eyed as they gathered at Gibson Park at 7.45 on Saturday morning for their away game against City Of Derry RFC. The coaches were quietly confident as they boarded the bus.

Pre season had gone well. In their first friendly against Ballyclare, all three teams came away victorious. U17s won 36-5, U15s 55-5 and U13s 65-5. Last week's friendlies resulted in the U17s beating Larne by 42-0, whilst the U15s comfortably beat Dromore 63-17. That confidence was to prove well founded by the end of the first day of competitive rugby.

Under 13s:
The new U13 grade will take some time to settle down and most clubs are still trying to pull together sufficient players to make it a 15 a-side competition. As a result, this game was played 9-a-side on a half pitch. City of Derry enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges as the home side took advantage of some sluggish defending to run in two tries without reply in the opening five minutes. However Malone steadied themselves, and building on their dominance at set pieces, slowly worked their way back into the game. Strong running from Jack Murphy at centre resulted in a number of fine tries and at the end of a competitive first half Malone U13s led by 7 tries to 5.

After the break Malone continued to dominate the scrums and lineouts and with Jack Murphy linking well with Stephen Lynas on the wing, the visitors continued to add to their try count. Notable amongst the scores was a debut try by lock Jonathan Davidson in what was only his second full rugby match. However the withdrawal of Jack Murphy late in the game due to injury gave City of Derry a numerical advantage which they fully exploited to score two late tries. Nevertheless, Malone held on to win a compelling and entertaining game 12 tries to 7.

Under 15s:
The U15s game was a closely fought affair. The first half was a tit-for-tat affair. For each try Malone scored, City of Derry scored one also. Ben Rodgers opened the scoring for Malone with an unconverted try. City of Derry struck back, missing a conversion from in front of the posts. A deft cross field kick put red sox winger Chris Crowe in for try number two, converted this time by Josh Ferguson. Again Derry struck back, and again they missed the kick. Strong driving from the pack set up an opportunity for No. 8 Tom Murphy to score under the posts, Ben R converting this time. Once more Derry scored, finally converting. By half time it was 19-17 to Malone but their coaches were far from happy. The half time team talk seemed to sort out most of the issues. Five minutes into the half centre Gregg Wilson moved the ball to the wing and picked it up again on the loop. A dazzling run saw him skip past at least 5 of the Derry boys before grounding the ball to stretch his team's lead. Malone finally started to take control of the game with the pack applying sustained pressure. Ultimately this was rewarded on the score sheet when prop Simon Menabney muscled his way over. A superb strike by Josh Ferguson from beyond the 15 metre line took the score to 33-17. Against the run of play, Derry snatched a breakaway try scored well by their lightning fast winger. Malone had the last laugh when their No. 8 crossed over for his second try of the day and Malone's sixth. Final score 38-22.

Under 17s:
Captain Mark Dowds led his team from the front in the third game. Several key players were missing for this match due to injury and other commitments. That situation was only made worse when scrum-half, Jack McMurtry made an early exit. Falling awkwardly in a tackle, he suffered a shoulder injury that ended his game after barely 10 minutes. Thankfully Malone had great strength in depth, and Connor Henry stepped in to assume the scrum half's role. The Malone forwards dominated this encounter throughout. In the first half they executed their game plan with precision, the pack controlling possession with considerable skill. Forwards coach Trevor Henry was delighted with their performance. "The lads were immense today. We worked on a few new things during the week and they took them straight off the training ground into the match. I couldn't ask for much more this early in the season".

There were plenty of exciting exchanges for the few spectators who made the journey. Forwards and backs linked effectively in open play to work their way through the opponents determined defense. City of Derry were no push over however. They stuck to their task, tackling hard and setting up occasional forays into Malone's half. This was rewarded by an unconverted try. That was small comfort though, as by half time the Red Sox had a comfortable lead having crossed the whitewash 4 times. Newest player, Johnny Orr led the scoring along with Connor Henry, Mark Dowds and prop Ross McAlister. The second half followed a similar pattern but with both sides tiring, the match lost some of its early shine. Still, Malone dominated and the result was never in doubt. Mark Dowds and man of the match, James Neill worked superbly together to maintain Malone's hold on the game. Strong running from Simon Taylor saw him dot down try number 5 and James Neill rounded it off with a well taken score as Malone ran out 32-5 winners.

This Saturday Malone will be entertaining Carrick with the U17's and U13's playing at Gibson Park whilst the U15's will be at Cherryvale. Games kick off at 11.00, all supporters welcome!

Match report by Alan Rogers, Malone RFC