Strabane U16s create some club history

STRABANE Rugby Club’s U16s recorded a historic victory on Saturday morning at Bradley Way, winning the Ulster League play-off final against Cavan 26-12 and, in so doing, became the first team in the club’s history to win a decider.

From the off, the Strabane lads were up for the fight, cheered on by a great crowd of supporters from the side lines, including the welcome sight of team mate Max Mealiff, recovering from an injury picked up in the lad’s quarter-final game against Inishowen two weeks ago and whose presence undoubtedly helped fire the lads up.

They were nearly up a try in the opening minutes when scrum half, Samuel Orr, passed a lovely ball to team captain Tom McGilloway who, supported by Number 8, Tom Logue, managed to plough through the Cavan defence to bring the lads within 10 metres of the Cavan line. Cavan won a turn over relieving the pressure, but only momentarily. Flanker Conor Gilloway was stopped just short of the white wash. McGilloway picked from the back of the ruck and drove over the line to put Strabane ahead.

Cavan set off on the attack and had a chance when they were awarded a penalty in front of the Strabane goal. Unluckily for them, the same treacherous wind caught the ball and it rebounded off the uprights before being booted to safety by Sam Orr.

An almost certain Cavan try was saved moments later when, in a second wave of attack, their nippy winger made huge distance up the Strabane wing before being bundled into touch by a powerful tackle from centre Felix Foley.

The wind played havoc with lineouts but second rows, Charlie Thompson and Andrew Maguire, proved safe hands more than once. Still, with the contact pressure from Cavan, it was no surprise that they crossed the Strabane line after a smart kick to the left wing saw their man beat the Strabane defence.

The hiome side responded when Orr got the ball out to Felix Foley who danced his way past two defenders with a nifty dummy side step before putting on the burners and blazing over to score our second of the day. Gavin’s conversion was spot on to leave it 12-5. But Cavan struck back when they spotted a gap on the left hand side and with a second well aimed kick, delivered the ball to their winger who made his way under the Strabane posts. Conversion scored, the match was tied 12-12 as we went into the interval.

The Strabane lads came out hungry for victory in the second half, knowing they were only 30 minutes from making history in Strabane rugby, and it showed as they dominated the scrum, taking four against the head in the second half alone and turning the tide of the game.

The Cavan defence was strong though and it was another 15 minutes before Strabane broke their line with hooker Tom McGilloway once more gathering in the ball and bulldozing through the Cavan line for his second of the day, managing to reach over the line and plant the ball just as he was brought to ground. Gavin scored the extras and Strabane had the lead once more. It could easily have changed quickly though when one of the Strabane lads was yellow carded harshly for not rolling away, having got trapped in the ruck, and the remaining 14 lads spent almost the full ten minutes defending their try line from wave after wave of Cavan attacks. It was a relentless series of plays from the Cavan forwards especially and seemed certain to result in a game-evening score but somehow the Strabane lads affected a turn over, won the penalty and cleared their lines to a collective sigh of relief from the crowd.

The final try of the day came off a scrum at the half way line. Tom Logue picked the ball up and nipped round the side of the scrum, making good distance before being tackled. He managed a deft off load to Gavin who, after a superb catch off his laces, carried before offloading again to Felix Foley whose fleet feet didn’t fail him and, with five Cavan men in pursuit, he weaved his way over the line and under the posts to score his second and secure the game. Gavin added the final conversion to widen the lead.

The final moments of the game were tense ones with Ciaranan McLaughlin, Jamie Murphy and Dara McGillion all being forced to make key tackles late in the game to prevent the Cavan men pulling anything back as they continued trying to exploit any gaps on the wings.

With the final whistle, the cheers of the players, coaching team (led by Brian McGilloway) and supporters showed just how much the victory meant: Strabane Rugby Club’s first final victory ever and one which suggests that the time and effort put into building the Mini and Youth sections of the club over the past few years is starting to pay dividends.