BY DARAGH CURLEY
After a two week delay Letterkenny RFC U16s are looking to make history in the Ulster League Play-off Final in Belfast this Saturday.
Letterkenny faced tough challenges in the quarter-final and semi-final to reach the decider of the competition.
In the League Play-off quarter-final where they faced Academy RFC from Belfast away from home, Letterkenny left it late on the day to secure the victory. They were 19-14 down late in the second half before a try by full-back Dylan Curley with eight minutes to go and a penalty by out-half Matthew Farrell in the last two minutes sealed the 22-19 point win and a place in the last four.
A last four encounterl at home to Instonians, another Belfast side, was the reward and Letterkenny delivered in an enthralling encounter.
Like the quarter-final Letterkenny left it late, a first half try by first-centre Ronan McFadden put Letterkenny in the driving seat at the break, however early in the second half a converted try and a penalty from Instonians swung the game back in their favour.
Letterkenny showed immense character, another try by Ronan McFadden converted by Dylan Curley led to a nervy last five minutes, with the game well in the balance.
Letterkenny kept it tight in attack and piled on the pressure in defence. The hard work paid off because in the last play off the game a try off the base of a scrum by number-eight Emre Gercek which was then converted by acting out-half Cormac Gallagher secured the victory and finished off an immense performance.
Letterkenny have an excellent squad with threats throughout the team. They have a big, hard-working pack which have been dominant in most games. Although the forwards work very well together there is also a couple of very talented individual players like Letterkenny captain and Ulster U17 prop Shaun McKelvey who is a stellar ball carrier and a dominant tackler, number 8 Emre Gercek is a very fast and aggressive ball carrier who has scored upwards of 15 tries this year. Their fast and smart backline have been hard to stop all year especially with Ronan McFadden at inside centre who has racked up in excess of 35 tries throughout the season and out-half Matthew Farrell who has a super conversion rate and is a really good tactical kicker around the park.
Letterkenny U16s will take on South League champions Banbridge who had impressive wins themselves over Rainey OB and Virginia in their quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
The game takes place at the Dub in Belfast with kick-off at 2.30pm.
A win would be a fantastic way for Letterkenny to end their league campaign and put them in a really strong position going into the cup. Letterkenny have been drawn into a challenging cup bracket. They’ll kick off their cup campaign away to fellow league finalists Banbridge on March 7.
Team for Final
Forwards:
1 Shaun McKelvey (Captain)
2 Aaron Blake
3 Tommy McMonagle
4 Shay Kelly
5 Donnchadh Waters
6 Paddy McMonagle
7 David McFadden
8 Emre Gercek
Backs:
9 Daragh Curley
10 Matthew Farrell (Vice-Captain)
11 Martin Corbett
12 Ronan McFadden
13 Thomas Daly
14 Andrew Taylor-Flannagan
15 Dylan Curley
Replacements:
16 Kyle Gallagher
17 Theo McDaid
18 Oscar Gallagher
19 Dean Clarke
20 Cormac Gallagher
21 Rian McMahon
22 Leo Clancy
