Season 2015-16 saw Rock Youths field both an under 17 and under 18 side in league and cup competitions. The under 18s side consisted of
last years under 17s who were not SCT-bound with their schools and our under 17s squad. The under 17s side was drawn mainly from Blackrock College Colts, who were in transition year. Both squads played and won their pre-Christmas leagues with ease. After Christmas Premiere Leagues were drawn up from the previous sections, we came in runners up in both leagues
– the under 18s to Barnhall and the Under 17s to Clontarf.
Our cup campaigns took on very different routes – our under 18s squad exiting two cup quarter finals to inferior opposition as a result of late-night parties the night before, while our under 17s reached the cup final against a very strong Clontarf side. We played Clontarf in Suttonians in early March with our regular squad- it was a fantastic battle with Clontarf owning the first half and Blackrock owning the second. With the match level with minutes to go Rock were camped on the Clontarf line, and despite going over the line on several occasions no try was awarded for their efforts. Obviously we reckoned we had grounded the ball on several occasions, and felt we had not had the rub of the green.
The replay was set for two weeks later in Old Belvedere. Unfortunately our squad had suffered from several injuries on school service, and several players away on foreign exchange or school trips to China, India, and Kenya. We sent out a patched-up squad who fell behind
badly in the first half. The same group of players came out in the second half and played an absolute stormer, again in the dying seconds of the game we got over the Clontarf line and fell foul to the worst ref’ing decision of the season. There was an adjudged forward pass, and no try was awarded – victory was again denied to us. We would like to thank the many supporters who turned up throughout the season, and specially in the two cup finals against Clontarf. A special mention of thanks to Pappy Burke who kindly sponsored our kit. We would also like
to thank all the Parents, many of whom played a pivotal role in encouraging the players and getting them to the various venues, especially after late-night revelries! We will be back in season 2016-17 with an Under 17s squad (and possibly Under 18s squad) and look forward to another successful season.
On behalf of the coaches – Mike Conn, Stephen Costello, Kieran Kelly, and Sean Coughlan
