U18s League Final
Early pressure was applied by Armagh but the Ballymena defence held them out, with Armagh missing a penalty before Ballymena's first venture into the Armagh 22. Ballymena then gained the upper hand, and a break by Balllymena’s No.8 James Lynn looked like it was going to produce the opening score, but it was Armagh's turn to resist. The deadlock was finally broken when Armagh’s Patrick Laverty touched down, converted by Padriac Carville. The rest of the first half was dominated by Ballymena, with Tyrese Dunlop running in a try despite two or three tackles to bring him down leaving the half-time Score 7-5 to Armagh.
The second half commenced with Ballymena getting stronger and having more control of the game. However it was Armagh that scored first with a try in the corner from Ryan McCleary against the run of play giving them a 12-5 lead. From then on in, it was all Ballymena, but Armagh kept closing them down. Ballymena though finally got a break, converting a late try from to draw the scores level at 12-12, but it was too late. At the final whistle the scores remained 12 a piece, with Armagh declared U18 League Champions as they'd scored the first try.
U16s League Final
The U16s final was between Armagh and Virginia, with the sides having already played each other twice in the League Section, with honours shared. As was to be expected, This would be a see-saw encounter. Virginia opened up with an unconverted try from Eoin Clarke, but this was quickly countered when Sionan McOscar touched down for Armagh, levelling the match at 5-5. A penalty from Milo Stafford then gave Virginia an 8-5 lead, before Armagh then took the lead for the first time with a try from Charlie Walker converted by Evan McElvanna. However it would be Virginia who had the last say in the first half, Cillian Walsh touching down acrobatically in the corner to give them a 13-12 lead at the break.
Virginia quickly stretched their lead to 20-12 with Milo Stafford converting his own try, but Armagh again responded with a try of their own from Sionan McOscar to reduce the deficit to 3 points. This score stayed the same for much of the second half, with both sides having the opportunities but unable to make them count. With the clock running down, Virginia pounced twice late on though, with trys from Paul Lynch and Brian McCormick, both converted by Milo Stafford putting the game beyond doubt and securing a 34-17 win at the final whistle. Virginia had held on to retain the title from last year, in what was a much tighter game than the final score suggests.
U14s League Final
The previous glorious sunshine was replaced by a heavy shower of rain for the start of the U14s Final. Strabane playing with confidence opened with unconverted try from Charlie Baxter for an early 5-0 lead. With the rain passed, and the sunshine restored both teams were evenly matched, but with the play confined between the two 22s, each were trying to gain the upper hand. Virginia struck back with a try from Nathan Snell, converted by Harry Watt to give them the lead, but this proved to be short lived, with a penalty from Strabane's Jack Humphrey restoring their lead, 8-7 at the break.
The second half produced some excellent rugby from some very talented young players. The tackling and lineout play in particular were exceptional, but scores were hard to come by. Strabane looked to have the upper hand, with Virginia resolutely defending their line, but finding it hard to make any inroads into Strabane territory. However they weren't to be denied, with Charlie Crawley finding his way into the corner for a last play try to break Strabane hearts. Harry Watt nailed his second conversion of the day to make the final score 14-8 to Virginia, securing the Club's second trophy of the day, and their fourth consecutive Ulster U14 League title.
Thanks to Ulster Society of Rugby Football Referees: Kirker Dalton, John Adams and William Halliday.