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Tallaght RFC 38 Parkmore RFC 03

TALLAGHT R.F.C. 38

 

Tries:  Darran Kearney, Ciaran Stewart, Stephen Heaney, Stephen Abbey

Con: Ciaran Stewart 3

Pen: Ciaran Stewart  4

 

PARKMORE  R.F.C. 03

 

Spencer Pennant Group B

21/09/13 Tymon Park

 

After last week’s disappointing defeat to Railway Union, Tallaght were determined to hit back today.  They started well with the titanic skipper Simon Sweeney showing the way from number eight with a big run which gave out-half Ciaran Stewart the chance to open the scoring with a penalty for Tallaght to take a 3-0 lead.  Tallaght played smart rugby and kept pinning Parkmore back with intelligent kicking from Stewart and scrum-half Aodhan Tinney.  Every time they visited the Parkmore 22, they score points through the trusty boot of Stewart who scored three more penalties to make the half-time score 12-3 to Tallaght.

 

Despite their lead, Tallaght were frustrated not to have scored a try in the first half.  They didn’t have to wait too long in the second half though.  From a Parkmore maul, Sweeney ripped the ball away and set off on a run.  He offloaded to inside centre Jack Russell, who in turn passed to midfield partner Dave Clarke.  Clarke showed excellent judgement in drawing his man and releasing winger Darran Kearney who scampered over for the try.  Stewart surprisingly missed the conversion but he made up for it shortly afterwards.

 

Stewart took quick ball generated by a now dominant pack and passed to his inside centre Jack Russell.  Stewart looped round on Russell in the style of Jonny Sexton and took the return pass on a beautiful arcing run which saw him slice through the Parkmore defence from a try.  He converted his own try and Tallaght effectively had the game won, 24-3 up with twenty minutes to go.

 

Tallaght kept going though and when coach Brian Curtis started using the bench the subs made an impact.  Centre James Maher saved a try by intercepting a Parkmore pass close to the line and then he made a powerful run through the middle and offloaded to winger Stephen Heaney who scored a well-deserved try under the posts.  Stewart converted and then replacement scrum-half Stephen Abbey pounced on a loose pass in the Parkmore twenty-two and scored the try that secured the bonus point.

 

Stewart converted to make it a personal points tally of 23 points for the Fermanagh man.  He wasn’t alone though in putting in an outstanding display.  The pocket battleship that is hooker Ollie Murphy made major ground with his carries.   The second row partnership of young Alan Moore and …..ahem…..not as young Joe Ivers was industrious and effective.  The backrow was the outstanding unit on the day though.  Simon Sweeney was simply immense, while openside Aaron Morgan made several powerful runs and the ubiquitous blindside Paul Cunningham was seemingly involved in every Tallaght play, while also ruling the roost at the lineout.

 

To be fair to Parkmore they were missing several players and will come back stronger in the league.  Tallaght were excellent though, playing smart rugby and performing the basics of the game very well.  Certainly they will have tougher tests in the near future starting with Coolmine in the Metro League next week, but they’ve given themselves a platform now and there is an exciting season ahead.   Tallaght still have players to come back too such as Danny Behan, Trevor Byrne, Keith Mason, Sam Lawless and Emil Wyrebiak amongst others.  After this performance though, they will know they all need to work very hard to get back into the starting fifteen.

 

Skipper Simon Sweeney was very appreciative of the large turnout in support on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Tymon Park.  “It’s a massive boost to us when we’re on the pitch to see our friends, club mates and family on the sideline shouting for us, so a massive thanks to everyone who made the effort to turn up and support us.  In playing terms, we were well beaten last week by Railway Union but that didn’t make us a bad side.  We won well today, but just the same that doesn’t make us a great side.  We’re a work in progress, and there’s still plenty of work to do but all I can ask from the lads is maximum effort and they brought that today in spades and I’m very proud of them tonight.”

 

Tallaght R.F.C.

 

15 Alan Bernes

14 Darran Kearney

13 Dave Clarke

12 Jack Russell

11 Stephen Heaney

10 Ciaran Stewart

9 Aodhan Tinney

 

8 Simon Sweeney (captain)

7 Aaron Morgan

6 Paul Cunningham

5 Alan Moore

4 Joe Ivers

3 Declan Malone

2 Ollie Murphy

1 Tony McManus

 

Replacements

 

Conor Kelly

Dave Kelly

James Maher

Stephen Kelly

John Cowan

 

Jim O’Connor ©

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Tallaght RFC 7 – Unidare RFC 3

TALLAGHT R.F.C.  7

Try: Stephen Heaney – 47mins

Con: Ciaran Stewart – 48mins

 

Unidare R.F.C.    3

Pen: Conor Grimes  – 23mins

 

Spencer Pennant Round 1

7th Sep 2013 – Referee Martin Farrelly

Report by Denis Buckley.

Tallaght RFC had their first competitive game of the 2013/14 season against Unidare in Round One of the Spencer Pennant. In a game played in very good spirit by both sides, Tallaght fought well to hang on for the victory and although there was early season rustiness on show by both sides, it was a much more exciting encounter than the score-line might suggest.

Tallaght started well, recycling the ball quickly and moving it wide whenever the opportunity arose, maybe too often at times but you could not fault their endeavour. They were guilty of losing the ball too easily in contact, including conceding turnovers due to poorly formed mauls or being held up in the tackle.

But Tallaght more than made up for this with a massive effort and skill shown at ruck time to win ball that they had no right to. Paul Cunnigham set the scene after just five minutes by winning ball over the ruck and this was carried on later in the game by Sean Judd , Gary Doyle and more.

The kick and chase was excellent at times, again arising from a huge effort by many Tallaght players. But they were too often guilty of allowing the opposition straight through the middle, all be it by some good strong ball carriers from Unidare.

10mins in Al “fingers” Bernes pretended to fumble under the high ball to goad the opposition into a false sense of security, drawing tacklers which he easily side-stepped and counter attacked  and left them for dead making 20 yards before being dragged to the ground; then another nice carry by Emil Wyrebiak with a kick through, ball turned over, but when they gathered, great pressure by Gary Doyle creates a superb turnover, which lead to a nice back line move that saw Ste Heaney narrowly bundled into touch, but which could have been so much more. A few minutes, later Joe Ivers stole the ball in the air on Unidare’s throw to win good possession.

Tallaght continued to defend well throughout the first half but gave away too many penalties, both in attack and defence, although most of them were not in kicking range and it was nearly a disadvantage to have your own throw in, as there was no clean lineout won for the first 20mins at least.

23mins in, the first clean line win by Unidare, leads to scrum in our 22, which saw them attacking our try line with Tallaght fortunate only to concede 3 from a penalty for offside. Conor Grimes, Unidare out-half, converted to leave Unidare leading on a score line of 3 to nothing.

On the half hour mark, Sam lawless was impressive again, breaking through several tackles, recycling quickly to the ever versatile Emil Wyrebiak who moved from wing last week to open-side this week. Sam and Emil worked well together throughout the game, with Emil always available on Sam’s shoulder for a layoff.

35mins in Al Bernes and Gary Doyle combined to “choke tackle” a unidare player in possession until Paul Cunningham and more support arrived leading to a Tallaght put-in to the scrum.

60 seconds later by yet another Superb Break from the back of the scrum from Sam Lawless who once again off-loaded to Emil, recycled for Morgo’s great break into Unidare’s 22, which eventually lead to a penalty for off-side and a very near miss by Ciarán just before half time. Although Tallaght were not finished yet and probably could have crossed the white wash again a minute later but a pass went astray.

In the 2nd half, still leading 3-0, Unidare started stronger, broke through too easily and once again could have scored, but for a knock on near the line. However, Tallaght hit back straight away with Gary Doyle chasing up Ciaran Rudd’s kick and pouncing on and winning the ball, even though it appeared he was impeded off the ball.

The try came after shortly after half time, with a move which originated from a Tallaght lineout taken well at 2 by Paul Cunningham. An ensuing maul made 15 yards or more before being recycled out to Ciaran Stewart who showed great awareness to spot a gap and sold an excellent dummy to break through. He was eventually tackled but fast ball by scrum half, Aodhan Tinney, made sure the move was continued with Unidare defence still not properly set. The ball moved through Dave Clarke who gave a great skip pass to Gary Doyle who straightened up, sidestepped one tackler and drew the final defender, before offloading to Steve Heaney on the wing. Ste made the finish look easy but he had made a great support run and ensured that the consequent successful conversion by Ciarán Stewart, was a lot easier than it might have been, by nearly reaching the posts before touching down. 50minutes in: Tallaght 7, Unidare 3.

And that was how the scored stayed although there were many anxious moments for Tallaght in the last 30mins some of which follow in the best bits here:

Tallaght’s Best Bits:

  • As always, Al Bernes had wonderful and some less than wonderful moments at full back, but bar one “how the hell did you allow that to bounce?” moment, he marshalled his area quite well, with some sparks of brilliance.
  • Cameo appearances from Morgo, making the opposition look like an underage side.
  • Two well struck penalties from Ciaran Stewart, which both just barely drifted wide.
  • Tallaght held their own in the scrum, which is encouraging in the light of the new rule changes for this season.
  • Lineouts were not as perfect as previous weeks but the Olly Murphy/Paul Cunningham combination began to blossom as the game carried on!
  • Sean Judd, an inspired choice at loose head, brought a much needed dynamism to the front row. Not to be outdone, fellow front-rower Declan Malone, showed some great skills with the ball in hand and then some not – he had to be reminded that props are not to be used for deft touches, no matter how clinical his skip pass was!
  • Ciarán “not-so-pretty-now” Rudd, with an impressive looking bloody nose!
  • Superb Support from the side-line, immortalised on the soundtrack of the video coverage by Ray Brennan advise that of the advantage of using the touchline
  • Hooker Olly “I have the scrum-half” Murphy’s, worrying of the Unidare scrum-half during their Lineouts!
  • Outhalf, Ciarán Stewart put in some great touch finders, getting great distance with every penalty and clearance.
  • There were some great breaks by Sam Lawless, some great turnovers by Sean Judd. There was  apparently an amazing a tackle by Joe Ivers, not that anyone can remember it though, as it was so tremendously eclipsed by Ste “the brick wall” Heaney’s awesome try saving and in all likelihood, match saving tackle.

 

While coach, Brian “the Shuffle” Curtis, will know there is plenty to work on, he can only be happy with not just the manner of the hard fought victory but of the effort that each and every player, from  1 through 20, that took the pitch.

Special Thanks to Ray Brennan from www.theclubreferee.com for his match tracker and video coverage. Also, the “unknown” soup and rolls were an inspired and welcome addition to the after match dressing rooms, thanks to Mairéad Hayden.

Stephen Heaney was awarded man of the match. Coach Brian Curtis put it simply: “Stephen Heaney: well deserved man-of-the-match, with an outstanding try and an even more outstanding try saving tackle. Stephens’ moments of brilliance were the difference between the 2 teams.”

 

Tallaght R.F.C.

15 Alan Bernes

14 Garry Doyle

13 Ciarán Rudd

12 Dave Clarke (Captain)

11 Stephen Heaney

10 Ciaran Stewart

9 Aodhan Tinney

8 Sam Lawless

7 Emil Wyrebiak

6 Paul Cunningham

5 Joe Ivers

4 Alan Moore

3 Declan Malone

2 Ollie Murphy

1 Seán Judd

 

Replacements

Steve “Minnesota fats” Kelly

James Maher

Darran Kearney

Chris Irabour

Dave Kelly

Aaron Morgan

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Railway Union RFC 22 – Tallaght RFC 08

RAILWAY UNION R.F.C. 22

TALLAGHT R.F.C. 08

Tries: Alan Moore
Pen: Jack Russell

Spencer Pennant Group B
14/09/13 Bird Avenue

After winning their first two games of the season, Tallaght were brought back down to earth by a frustrating defeat to Railway Union in Stillorgan. Tallaght gave away an early try when a kick was charged down for Railway Union to touch down for a 5-0 lead. Tallaght hit back strongly with a powerful maul that was brought down close to the line. Jack Russell kicked a fine penalty to make the score 5-3 but then Tallaght were hit by losing their out-half Ciaran Rudd to a shoulder injury. The subsequent reorganisation in the backline meant they lost their fluidity and some weak defending allowed Stewart Holmes to waltz in untouched for the home team’s second try which they converted to lead 12-3.

Railway Union’s third arrived shortly afterwards and it was a bizarre affair. From an attacking scrum on the Tallaght twenty-two the Railway Union scrum-half fed the ball into the channel but the ball ricocheted straight back into the scrum-halve’s hands from the boot of the hooker. The scrum should have been re-set but instead the scrum-half took off on a run for a try and unbelievably the referee allowed it. All least the Railway Union coaches had the decency to look embarrassed about it. This made the half time score 17-3.

Things improved for Tallaght somewhat in the second half. Jack Russell moved into the backrow and began to make a number of powerful runs. Finally from one of these runs Russell offloaded to young second row Alan Moore who topped off another hard-working display with a well deserved try. The conversion was missed but at 17-8 Tallaght were back in the game. However the optimism didn’t last too long as Railway Union ran in another try out wide to seal a 22-8 win.

Tallaght were disappointed with their performance but there were positives in the intelligent defending of Stephen Heaney, the breakdown work of hooker Ollie Murphy and the excellent first starts of winger Richie Wilson and prop Conor Kelly. The defeat was a reality check that there’s still lots of hard work to be done for them to fulfil their potential but it’s still very early in the season and with the right attitude they’ll get it right.

Tallaght R.F.C.

15 Alan Bernes
14 Richie Wilson
13 Dave Clarke
12 Jack Russell
11 Stephen Heaney
10 Ciaran Rudd
9 Aodhan Tinney

8 Simon Sweeney (captain)
7 Emil Wyrebiak
6 Sam Lawless
5 Alan Moore
4 Paul Cunningham
3 Declan Malone
2 Ollie Murphy
1 Conor Kelly

Replacements

Darran Kearney
John Cowan
James Maher
Aaron Morgan

Jim O’Connor ©

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TALLAGHT R.F.C. 25 — A.I.B. R.F.C. 10

TALLAGHT R.F.C. 25

Tries: Emil Wyrebiak 2, Simon Sweeney

Con: Ciaran Stewart 2

Pen: Ciaran Stewart  2

 

A.I.B.  R.F.C. 10

 

Pre-Season Friendly 

31/08/13

Report by Jim O’Connor.

Tallaght rugby started their new season with a good win against AIB in a pre-season friendly.  AIB got the better start and ran in a soft try down the Tallaght wing after some decent passing.  From then on though, Tallaght dominated helped by returning club legends Simon Sweeney, Declan Malone and Jack Russell who carried the ball with real menace.  Constant pressure from the pack yielded a penalty and out-half Ciaran Stewart converted to make it 5-3.  Tallaght were somewhat frustrating after that for a while, with loads of possession but an inability to score, although winger Stephen Heaney went close after an excellent run down the wing.

The pressure told eventually and Emil Wyrebiak broke through on the wing and showed great power and dexterity to stretch for the try.  Stewart’s touchline conversion drifted narrowly short but Tallaght now had a lead they would hold to half-time.  Tallaght continued to dominate play and were offloading with purpose.  This led to a second try for Wyrebiak when he took Alan Bernes’s pass and ran the ball in under the posts.  Stewart converted and now Tallaght had a commanding ten point lead.

Coach Brian Curtis took the opportunity to get his bench some game-time.  Wingers John Cowan and Chris Irabour both put in impressive shifts and number eight Sean Judd made a number of excellent turnovers.   The game was settled in the third quarter though when the skipper Simon Sweeney powered through in typical fashion for a try which Stewart converted.  Stewart tacked on a penalty to make it 25 unanswered points for Tallaght.

To be fair to AIB, they kept on competing and scored the final try of the game to make the final score 25-10.  It was a useful start from Tallaght but they know they need more players to create a squad that will see them through the full season.  They train up in Ballymana lane on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7PM and everyone is welcome, regardless of experience.   See tallaghtrugby.com for details.

 

Tallaght R.F.C.

15 Alan Bernes

14 Stephen Heaney

13 Dave Clarke

12 Jack Russell

11 Emil Wyrebiak

10 Ciaran Stewart

9 Aodhan Tinney

 

8 Sam Lawless

7 Simon Sweeney (captain)

6 Paul Cunningham

5 Alan Moore

4 Joe Ivers

3 Declan Malone

2 Ollie Murphy

1 Tony McManus

 

Replacements

 

Sean Judd

Darran Kearney

John Cowan

Chris Irabour

Dave Kelly

 

REPORT by Jim O’Connor.