Trinity College 39
Tallaght 34
Tries: Alex Sadiku 2, Kevin Quinn, Daryl Keogh, Brian Lacey, Jordan Corrigan
Conversions: Adam Nolan, Stephen Kelly
Metro League Division 6
Santry
08/02/2025
Tallaght took on Dublin University (Trinity College in old money) in Metro 6 league in Santry. Alex Sadiku opened the scoring for Tallaght with a brilliant solo run that started in his own half. Adam Nolan converted to make it 7-0 to Tallaght. Trinity hit back with two unconverted tries to lead 10-7. Trinity could have led by more but Sadiku made a couple of brilliant last ditch tackles to deny certain tries. Adam Nolan also won a brilliant turnover near the line to deny Trinity, but it came at a cost as he had to retire injured shortly afterwards.
After some great carries from Tallaght, skipper Jordan Corrigan played a clever kick ahead and Alex Sadiku chased up, kicked the ball ahead and touched down for his second try of the match. Trinity hit back again with a converted try but Tallaght scored a try through hooker Kevin Quinn to leave the halftime score at 17-all.
Trinity started the second half in sharp form with their excellent left wing Jack Draper scoring two tries to put them 29-17 ahead. Tallaght then suffered a blow when the magnificent Alex Sadiku was forced to retire from the game through injury. With Nolan and Luke Brady Deegan also injured, Tallaght had no subs left and were forced to play with fourteen men. And with so many backs missing, veteran tight forward Sean Judd was moved to inside centre.
Tallaght had every excuse to give up on the game, but rather gallantly they simply refused to. Scrum-half Daryl Keogh made a great break to score a fine try under the posts. With no specialist kicker left on the field, reserve hooker Stephen Kelly took over the place kicking. After struggling to get the ball to stay on the tee, he elected to dropkick it and miraculously it went over to make it 29-24.
Tallaght kept coming. Tallaght’s new inside centre Sean Judd ran a magnificent dummy line to occupy the defence, and It led to a break which ended up with Brian Lacey scoring a try from close-in to tie the game at 29-all. Trinity hit back again with another converted try to make it 36-29. They then showed the fourteen men of Tallaght considerable respect with only a few minutes remaining to kick a penalty to increase their lead to ten points. It was a wise decision as Tallaght still weren’t done. Tallaght captain Jordan Corrigan powered his way over for a try to make it 39-34. Tallaght got the ball back and attacked again but Trinity won a penalty and were relieved to kick it out to win an exceptional contest.
Tallaght head coach Adam Nolan was very proud of his squad. “A few lads had to pull out this morning as they were ill. So we only had 17 players and then me and a couple of other lads got injured and we’d only 14 players left on the field. But despite everything we kept in the game until the very end. We promised ourselves before the game we’d throw the ball around and enjoy ourselves and we did that and scored six tries! We asked a lot of certain lads to play positions they never had before and they all stepped up. Brian “Donno’ Donnelly is a brilliant guy who fills in as touch judge and occasionally steps in to cover when we’re short of replacements. Today he had to play 80 minutes and he stayed on the field until the end, even though he could barely walk by the end. But it shows the character of the team and that’s why he’s joint man of the match with Alex Sadiku who was simply incredible before he got injured. I’m incredibly proud of the lads today to play their part in such a great performance with all the adversity we had to face. This is what makes Tallaght a special club.”
Joint Man of the match: Alex Sadiku/Brian Donnolly
Tallaght RFC
1. Billy O’Hara
2. Kevin Quinn
3. Brian Lacey
4. Joe Ivers
5. Colin Morrison
6. Alan Sower
7. Brian Donnolly
8. Jordan Corrigan (Captain)
9. Daryl Keogh
10. Adam Nolan
11. Alex Sadiku
12. Nick McGuinness
13. Darragh Hosey
14. Mick Corrigan
15. Luke Brady Deegan
16. Sean Judd
17. Stephen Kelly