Letterkenny Under-18’s took a very wet and muddy field for their first league match of the season on Saturday against Finn Valley
Finn Valley 5 Letterkenny 32
Letterkenny kicked off and the game was played in the Valley half for the first 20 minutes; controlling the play but turning over possession on numerous occasions because of slow support play and this allowed Finn Valley to clear their lines albeit temporarily.
Letterkenny kept patient though and after 18 minutes, following a ruck on the Finn Valley 22-metre line, scrum-half Rory McGinty made a sniping break around the fringe and slipped past three of four challenges to score to the right of the posts. Finn McGarvey kicked the conversion.
The pressure kept coming from Letterkenny and four minutes later second-centre Oisin McGarvey crossed over in the right-hand corner for the second try and the third came five minutes later again with Sean O’Broain on the left wing showing great determination to get over in the left corner after having an earlier score disallowed for double movement.
Letterkenny played the rest of the half in Finn Valley territory and just before half time, a series of rucks and forward drives allowed second row Joshua Fulton to crash over for a try which was converted again by Finn McGarvey leaving the half-time score 24-0 to Letterkenny.
The second half was a different story with Finn Valley having the lion’s share of possession but despite this they did not threaten to score and most of the play took place around the middle of the pitch. The defensive work by Letterkenny stood up well to the test. On 65 minutes James Sweeney went over for their try of the day.
FV showed their mettle and didn’t give up and they got a deserved consolation score on the full-time whistle leaving the final score 32-5.
Letterkenny can be pleased enough with this performance on their first league outing and will seek to build on it in the weeks ahead.
Letterkenny RFC: Mathew Magee, Keenan Barrett, Brendan Barrett, Joshua Fulton, Conor McMenamin, Joshua Carr, Moses Byoake, James Sweeney, Rory McGinty, Finn McGarvey, Sean O’Broain, Ben Scott, Oisin McGarvey, Adam Quinn, Ciaran Aikten. Sub: Lochlan O’Dea
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