Tallaght/DLSP 11

Tries: Joe Ivers
Pen: Johnny Connors 2

Swords R.F.C. 5

Metro League Division 11
Kirwan Park
29/09/2018

The Tallaght men’s second team’s have merged for the season with DLSP’s fourth side to compete in Metro League Division 11 as both sides were short of players and were unable to field full teams for fixtures. “Tallasalle” started the game slowly, which was understandable given a lot of the players didn’t even know each other’s name. Swords took advantage of the confusion and scored an early try to take a 5-0 lead.

After ten minutes Tallasalle started to gel though and Dylan Paisley made a fine run through several defenders before being put into touch. Out-half Ciaran Keane was looking dangerous and in the pack Ben O’Leary and Sean Judd were making strong carries. After Gavin McKeon made a strong run to get them close to Swords line, the forwards took over and eventually skipper Joe Ivers forced his way over for a try to tie the game at 5-all.

Tallasalle spent the rest of the half camped in the Swords half but they wasted several scoring opportunities. Scrum-half Paul O’Hara came closest when he broke through a gap and got over the line but he lost control of the ball when trying to touch down and the half finished level.

In the second half with multiple changes happening, Tallasalle again struggled to take their chances. Ciaran Keane made an excellent break from deep but the Swords full back made the last ditch tackle to deny him a try. Tallasalle kept working though and they earned two penalties which were superbly converted by Johnny Connors to give them 11-5 win.

Tallasalle coach Damien Deegan was delighted with the win. “This was our first match together and lads were only getting to know each other. But they came together really quickly and played some good rugby. I thought Joe Ivers led the team very well and both Ben O’Leary and Sean Judd carried the ball very well. Christian Madsen came off the bench in the second half and had a big impact. In the backs Dylan Paisley and Ciaran Keane were both very good but my overall man of the match was Gavin McKeon who carried well and made several big tackles and kept performing well even when we moved him around in the backline. It was a fine start and hopefully we’ll get even better as the season goes on and the lads play together more.”

Man of the match: Gavin McKeon

Tallaght/DLSP

15. Tony O’Loughlin
14. Barry Kiloran
13. Dylan Paisley
12. Gavin McKeon
11. Michael Lebharr
10. Ciaran Keane
9. Paul O’Hara

1. Ben O’Leary
2. Simon Gaskell
3. Luke Valentino
4. Adam McCarthy
5. Joe Ivers
6. Dave Kelly
7. Con Lyons
8. Sean Judd

16. James Malony
17. Sean O’Riordan
18. Ed O’Brien
19. Christian Madsen
20. Lee Dawson
21. Jason Conboy
22. Philip Keane
23. Ian Walker
24. Dave Murtagh
25. Liam Kavanagh
26. Will Kavanagh
27. Barry Murphy
28. Johnny Connors

Report: Jim O’Connor