Tallaght R.F.C. 0

Tullamore R.F.C. 10

Metro League Division 7
De la Salle College
09/01/16

Tallaght took on league leaders Tullamore in a match moved to De la Salle College’s pitch in Churchtown because Tymon Park was unavailable. Tullamore’s big pack is the basis of their success so far this season but Tallaght’s pack took them on, particularly when they drove a maul from inside their twenty two to near the halfway line. Eventually Tullamore’s size told though and after a series of strong carries they were rewarded with a penalty to take the lead after half an hour. Then, just before halftime, they broke through for a try under the posts, which they converted to take a 10-0 lead at the break.

In the second half Tullamore looked to kill the game off and they had Tallaght under immense pressure. But Tallaght’s defence was excellent, in particular centre Dave Clarke who got up off his line to make several crucial tackles. Going into the final 10 minutes Tullamore’s pack was clearly tiring and a magnificent carry by Aaron Morgan got Tallaght into a good field position. Centre Stephen Heaney was close to putting full back Simon Collie through for a try but the ball was knocked on. Then substitute Ciaran Rudd combined well with Adam Nolan and prop Tony McManus looked set to score but the ball came loose as it was being grounded. Tallaght deserved the score and the losing bonus point it would have brought but Tullamore were deserved 10-0 winners.

Tallaght coach Tom Leigh was proud of his team’s effort. “That’s as good a team as we’ll play all season and there was very little between us. We were just missing that little bit extra to take advantage of the chances we created. They thrashed us in the first league match of the season but today we made them work right to the end. It’s a measure of how far we’ve come as a team and I know we can get even better if we get the commitment from the whole group.”

 

Man of the match: Dave Clarke

 

Tallaght RFC

15. Simon Collie
14. Alan Bernes
13. Stephen Heaney
12. Dave Clarke
11. Colm O’Reilly
10. Willie Lambe
9. Aodhan Tinney

8. Adam Nolan
7. Aaron Morgan
6. Kevin Quinn
5. Paul Cunningham
4. Joe Ivers
3. Tony McManus
2. Simon Gaskell
1. Dave Kelly

Replacements

16. Ciaran Rudd
17. Emil Wyrebiak
18. Mark Conway
19. Gavin McKeon
20. Chris Curtis
21. Stephen Kelly
22. Ken McGovern

 
Jim O’Connor ©