Banbridge Rugby Club - Northern Ireland

Letterkenny fought hard and tackled to the end but were overwhelmed by a superior side with too much power and invention.

The first score came early in the game when a drive from a lineout in Letterkenny's "22" saw Ryan Dennison dive over in the corner. This was followed by another score when Bann were awarded a penalty after some strong scrummaging. The penalty was kicked deep into the visitors' territory by Macauley Little and from the resulting lineout  Bann again mauled the ball to within 5 metres and Robert Poots finished well.

Letterkenny with the wind at their backs could hardly get out of their half as all kicks were fielded supremely by the back three of Ryan Graham, Ben Cross and Jonny Adams. Cross in particular took some excellent catches. The next try came when Adams ran strongly out of defence and was tackled into touch. From the lineout the forwards rucked the ball and the backs moved it slickly along the line to allow Graham to show his pace, rounding two defenders before touching down.

Letterkenny attacked from the kick off and had their best spell of the game but the Bann defence was resolute and they turned over the ball on several occasions allowing captain Jonny McCreery and Thomas Carlisle to carry the ball back into the visitors' territory. As Bann went through the phases the pressure told on Letterkenny and McCreery bulldozed his way over the line for the home side's fourth score, which Little converted. One more try was to come before half time and it was great to watch, Bann running the ball from 70 metres out with great inter-play between backs and forwards before William Baird raced over to leave the half-time score at 27pts to nil.

The wind advantage was with Bann in the second half and Little used it to good effect, keeping Letterkenny pinned down in their "22". The fifth score followed a 5 metre scrum when Carlisle broke and fed Dennison for his second try of the day which Little converted.  Bann's scrum continued to dominate and when they were awarded a penalty on the visitors 5 metre line  they chose this option which paid off when Carlisle charged over for a deserved try.

With the score at 39pts to nil Letterkenny were awarded a penalty after some poor Bann discipline, they opted for the kick and recorded their only score of the match. The U17s went straight back into attack and from good lineout ball the backs moved it to Kasper Kruzyki who was unstoppable from 20 metres out, Little adding the conversion. The last try of the match came from another 5 metre scrum.When Carlisle was held up short he offloaded to McCreery who was not going to be stopped from 4 metres.

This was a fantastic team performance where all the hard work at training was put into action, every member of the team had an excellent game with 100% effort being given. Again as so many times this season it is nearly impossible to pick a man of the match. Chris Knox is improving with every game and his lineout work is exceptional, Carlisle carried ball like a Juggernaut, but the link between forwards and backs who gets more confident and impressive with every game, Joshua Coyle, gets the shout this week.