Albany Storm taste title success at annual junior rugby carnival

Albany Storm were a powerhouse in the under-11 competition going on to win the title after an undefeated run at the annual junior rugby carnival hosted by Albany Junior Rugby Club at the weekend. Nearly 450 players from 38 teams took part in the highly successful two-day event across five age divisions. The Albany under-11 team had an impressive two days on the field, finishing with seven wins and one draw from their eight regular games before keeping their undefeated run going in the finals. The Storm beat Associates in the semifinal before going on to defeat Kalamunda Bulls in the final to claim the title. Albany led 4-1 at half-time before holding off a brave Bulls side to win 4-3. The under-10 Albany Storm team finished third in their pool standings after the regular games and were knocked out of the cup competition by Kalamunda Bulls. However, they still had a chance of taking home silverware in the plate competition, defeating Bunbury Barbarians in the semifinal before going down to Ellenbrook Vipers in the final. The Albany Storm under-12s finished fourth in their standings before they lost their quarterfinal to Kalamunda Bulls, relegating them to the plate competition. They were unable to qualify for the final in that division after losing two of their three games. AJRC secretary Paul Osborne said the carnival was a huge success with an estimated 2000 spectators. “We were super proud that a club with such a small player base can compete with the bigger clubs in the State,” Osborne said. “To also put on an event of that magnitude, arguably the biggest junior carnival in the State is also a wonderful effort from all the volunteers. “The kids were awesome, they put in a massive shift over the two days and were battered and bruised as were all the teams. “Forging new friendships was also special to witness.” The under-12 cup final had a thrilling finish as the match was drawn at the end of full-time. In extra time Kalamunda Bulls scored the first try to defeat Mandurah Pirates and secure the honours. Joondalup won the under-8 cup final over Palmyra while Mandurah Pirates defeated Southern Lions in under-9s and Palmyra prevailed over Joondalup Brothers in the under-10 cup division. Kalamunda Bulls took out the under-8 plate title, Associates Gold won the under-9s and Mandurah Pirates and Busselton Beetles won the under-11 and under-12 plate finals respectively. Osborne coached the winning under-11’s team and said he was proud of the group. “The under-11s were superb all weekend, we were down a couple of key players due to injury but we managed to go unbeaten and win a fairly dramatic final,” he said.