City of Armagh RFC Youth Teams secure victories to progress into Finals

U18s into Nutty Krust final and U14 into plate final
Two of City of Armagh’s Youth Teams made it into 2 more cup finals after winning their semi-final contests during the week. The U18s beat Rainey OB 30-14 in the Nutty Krust semi-final on Wednesday night in Portadown and will meet Ballynahinch in the final on Wednesday 25 April. In the same week they will also contest the prestigious Ulster Carpets U18 cup final at The Kingspan Stadium on Saturday 28 April.
The U14s won their semi-final on Saturday 14 April by beating Dungannon 48-5 in Armagh and they will now meet Clogher Valley in the final of the Ulster Carpets U14 plate on Saturday 21 April in Cookstown.
The U16s overcame a very large Malone team in their Ulster Carpets U16 Cup quarter final winning 27-0 and they will now meet Clogher Valley in the semi-final on Saturday 21 April at Clogher Valley.

MATCH REPORTS

CITY OF ARMAGH U18’s MATCH REPORT
City of Armagh U18’s triumphed over Rainey OB U18’s in the second semi-final of the Nutty Krust U18 Rugby Tournament under the floodlights at a cold but dry Chambers Park on Wednesday 17th April.
The Armagh U18 team recorded a well contested but comfortable 30-14 victory after a most entertaining game. A sizeable crowd had gathered to watch a fast, skilful game which featured quite a few talented players from both teams. The Armagh team started strongly with their impressive midfield pairing of Shea O’Brien and Matthew Reaney taking the game to the Rainey team from the kick off and only great defence from Charlie Clarke and Ciaran McCann prevented an Armagh try. However, the Armagh team did force the Rainey team into conceding a penalty and Shea 0’Brien converted the opportunity to give his team a 3-0 lead after three minutes. The Rainey team recovered well from this early setback with Adam Thorton causing problem for the Armagh defence with his dynamic carrying of the ball. Following a lineout in the opposition 22m area the Rainey pack mauled the ball impressively toward the Armagh line. The maul was pulled down illegally and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try to put the Rainey team into a 7-3 lead after ten minutes.
Midway through the first half Shea 0’Brien made a telling break and outpaced the Rainey cover to score an unconverted try in the corner which gave the Armagh team an 8-7 lead. Following a sustained period of Armagh pressure, with Aaron Whyte and Ryan Morton carrying strongly, Rainey conceded a penalty. Shea O’Brien converted the kick to see his team into an 11-7 lead. Five minutes before the break Matthew Reaney made an outstanding midfield break before off-loading the ball with a clever pass to Shea O’Brien who finished with an unconverted try to increase the Armagh lead to 16-7. The Rainey team responded immediately and, following a series of phases, Nathan Jeffers sped his way through the Armagh defence before touching down for the try. Kealan Friel added the extras to reduce the Armagh lead to 16-14 at the interval. Armagh started the second half in a very positive manner. Ten minutes after the restart a great take in a lineout by Ryan Morton was moved off the top which enabled Nathan Rodgers to find Brandon Gribben running at pace into space. Brandon played a “show and go” and finished off with a fine score close to the posts. Shea O’Brien added the conversion to increase the Armagh lead to 23-14. The Rainey team mounted a great comeback and took play deep into Armagh territory. Charlie Clarke, Matthew Smyth, Ryan Cairns and Marc Feathers all came close but well-organised Armagh defence, linked to a number of handling errors, kept the Armagh line intact. With just minutes of the game remaining Nathan Rodgers found Aaron Whyte running a great line of support and following quick ruck ball, the ball was moved to the blind side by Armagh scrum half, William Hazelton and Robbie Mathers bounced off two tacklers to score a very fine try in the corner. Shea O’Brien added the touchline conversion to secure the 30-14 win for the City of Armagh U18 team at the end of a very exciting Nutty Krust Tournament semi-final game. Congratulations to Armagh 2nd Row forward, Ryan Morton who was awarded the Nutty Krust “Man of the Match Award”.

Robbie Mathers on the charge for Armagh​​Shea O’Brien on his way to score for Armagh
Photos by Tony Hendron/Tonypixsport
he Nutty Krust 2018 Final will take place at Chambers Park on Wednesday 25th April with Ballynahinch RFC U18’s taking on Armagh RFC U18’s. All supporters will be made to feel very welcome at the final of this prestigious event which will kick off at 8-00pm.

Ulster Carpets U16 Cup – Armagh U16 v Malone U14 Sat 14th April 2018
Result: Armagh won 27-0.

City of Armagh U16’s celebrating their semi-final win over Malone
Match report U16’s v Malone RFC 14/04/18
Armagh U16team travelled to Orangefield Belfast to play Malone U16’s in the quarter final of the Ulster Carpets cup. Fielding against a much heavier pack, the Armagh team started aggressively taking on their heavier opponents in a manner that showed they meant business. Despite a number of incursions into the opposition twenty-two the scoreboard Armagh failed to score in the first twenty-five minutes.
Armagh then won a lineout inside the opposition twenty-two, expertly taken in the middle by James Agnew. A well-executed rolling maul drove an unsuspecting Malone pack back over their own line with hooker Lee Irvine breaking off to score. The unconverted try separated the teams at half time.
Early in the second half the referee penalised Malone for not rolling away, with Dillon Fox slotting over the penalty.
The superior fitness and speed off the line from the Armagh team along with the addition of Andrew Hewitt in the second row helped the Armagh team gain the upper hand in the game and after some excellent forward driving and combined with hard running from the backs resulted in a well taken try by the ever-aggressive Armagh player, Philip Nicholl.
Five minutes later Philip was again on the score sheet with a trade mark drive from three metres out which was successfully converted by fullback, Dillon Fox.
In the last minute of the game, Dillon Fox caught a high ball from a Malone clearance kick just outside his own twenty-two before beating five or six players as he ran the length of the field to score an outstanding try, followed by a successful conversion. This resulted in the final whistle being blown with a final score of 27-0 to City of Armagh U16’s.
The Armagh coaches were very pleased with the excellent defensive work shown by all players to maintain a clean scoresheet and rebuffing all that the heavier Malone team had thrown at them.
The Armagh U16’s team have been drawn away to Clogher Valley U16’s in the semi-final on Saturday 21st April in Fivemiletown for what should be a very competitive game.



Ulster Carpets U14 Plate Semi Final – Armagh U14s v Dungannon U14 Sat 14th April 2018
Result: Armagh won 48-5.
Armagh played some entering rugby to convincingly beat Dungannon 48-5, scoring 8 tries in the process. They will play Clogher Valley on Saturday 21 April at the Mid Ulster Sports Arena, Cookstown in the Final.