Ratoath 5
Tallaght 1sts 13
Try: Ken McGovern
Conversion: Rob Hudson
Penalty: Rob Hudson 2
Leinster League Division 3
Curragha Road
08/01/2023
Tallaght’s men’s first team were back early after the Christmas break to play Ratoath away, a fixture that was postponed twice due to various reasons.
On a cold, windy but bright day Tallaght started well and Rob Hudson kicked an early penalty to give them a 3-0 lead. Tallaght had the benefit of the wind and were dominating possession. Their scrum was also dominant, constantly driving Ratoath back and winning penalties. Tallaght were camped in the Ratoath twenty two for about ten minutes but were struggling to get the ball over the line. Finally Hudson took a quick tap and hooker Ken McGovern powered his way over for a try. Hudson kicked an excellent conversion to make it 10-0. Tallaght continued to dominate possession for the rest of the half but only had an excellent long range penalty from Rob Hudson to show for it as they led 13-0 at half-time.
The second half was a scrappier affair as Tallaght dealt with the wind and also a few injuries which cramped their style. Ratoath’s young team sensed a chance and they broke out from deep to score a fine try. Crucially though they missed the conversion to leave the score at 13-5. Ratoath had more chances but the Tallaght defence held out and they leaned heavily on their scrum which was even more dominant in the second half. Though it wasn’t pretty to watch, Tallaght ground out their second away win of the season.
Tallaght coach Matt Gill was proud of the way his team dug out the result. “We agreed to come back very early in the new year to finally get this fixture played. So there was still lads away but some members of the wider squad came in and did a great job. We dominated in the first half with the wind but probably left a few scores behind us. In fairness to Ratoath, they came back at us in the second half and but our dominant scrum steadied the ship and got us over the line. Our front rows Al Sower, Ken McGovern, Tony McManus and Mark Curley all did a great job but a dominant scrum is about the whole pack so we shared the man of the match award amongst all the forwards. It was great to get a second away win of the season and now we’re looking forward to Midland Warriors at home next week.”
Man of the match: All the forwards for the scrummaging
Tallaght RFC
1. Alan Sower (Captain)
2. Ken McGovern
3. Tony McManus
4. Patrik Toth
5. Alan Moore
6. Aaron Hickey
7. Scott Hyland
8. Colin Morrison
9. Ezequiel Roldan Olivera
10. Daryl Keogh
11. Rob Hudson
12. Leon Tanfin
13. Simon Collie
14. Alex Sadiku
15. Rob Browner
16. Mark Curley
17. Joe Ivers
18. Graham Timmins
19. Mick Corrigan
20. Jordan Corrigan
21. David Mahon
Photos: Mark Luttrell
