Tallaght R.F.C. 22

Tries: Simon Collie, Stephen Kelly, Dave Clarke
Con: Willie Lambe 2
Pen: Willie Lambe

Seapoint R.F.C. 14

Metro League Division 7
Tymon Park
07/11/15

Tallaght made it two wins from two with a storming comeback win over Seapoint. Seapoint started the game much the stronger and trapped Tallaght in their own half. Tallaght’s defence was strong but eventually it broke and Seapoint scored an unconverted try. They added on two penalties and led 11-0 after 20 minutes.

Tallaght finally got out of their half and after a strong driving maul, the ball was sent out to the backs. Fly-half Willie Lambe floated a superb pass to full back Simon Collie, who ran a superb line to score another excellent try, his fifth in two matches. Lambe missed the conversion but the try gave Tallaght real belief. Seapoint hit back and earned a penalty kick, but when it fell short Emil Wyrebiak caught the ball and made a storming forty-metre run bouncing off two tacklers to get Tallaght out of their half.

His fellow back row Adam Nolan was having a storming match against his former club, constantly making yards with the ball in hand. The pressure told and Tallaght kicked a penalty to the corner. From skipper Paul Cunningham’s take, the driving maul went close and then hooker Stephen Kelly broke off to dive over in the corner. Lambe kicked a superb touchline conversion for Tallaght to lead 12-11 at half-time.

Seapoint took the lead again early in the second half with another penalty, but Tallaght hit back with a penalty of their own to regain their one point lead. Seapoint came back at them again but Tallaght held out with Simon Collie making a couple of try-saving tackles to drive players into touch. Kevin Quinn, Aaron Morgan and Sean Judd were also working overtime in defence. In the games key moment, Tallaght centre Dave Clarke intercepted a Seapoint pass and ran sixty metres down the line. The Seapoint wing looked to be catching him but Clarke skipped out of the tackle and got it over the line. Lambe nailed the difficult conversion for Tallaght to lead by eight.

There was still plenty of time left and Seapoint mounted a furious response. But yet again Tallaght’s defence was excellent and they were helped off the bench by the contribution of Joe Ivers, Dave Kelly and Frank Doyle who made several big tackles on his debut for the club. Tallaght should really have finished the game off when they had the ball over the Seapoint line but Tony McManus’s try was disallowed for a forward pass. Seapoint finished the match on the Tallaght line but once again the defence held and Clarke finished the match for Tallaght by winning a turnover on the ground.

So it’s two wins on the bounce for Tallaght who move up to sixth in the table. Coach Tom Leigh was delighted with the team’s discipline and their ability to take their chances but most of all he was thrilled with the character they showed to come back so strongly after being under the cosh for the first twenty minutes.

Man of the match: Adam Nolan

Tallaght RFC

15. Simon Collie
14. Mark Conway
13. Karl Seagrave
12. Dave Clarke
11. Colm O’Reilly
10. Willie Lambe
9. Aodhan Tinney

8. Adam Nolan
7. Kevin Quinn
6. Emil Wyrebiak
5. Paul Cunningham
4. Aaron Morgan
3. Tony McManus
2. Stephen Kelly
1. Sean Judd

Replacements

16. Dave Kelly
17. Kevin Ennis
18. Joe Ivers
19. Mark Gaynor
20. Andrew Rudd
21. Frank Doyle
22. Gavin McKeon

Jim O’Connor