29.03.2014 1st XV v Young Munster (A)

Young Munster RFC V St Mary’s College RFC

30 17

Tom Clifford Park

AIL Division 1 A

29th March 2014

Overall

A sad minute’s silence was observed before kick off in respect of the recent death of Pamela Smyth, Head Coach Peter Smyth’s mother and wife of leading member Jimmy Smyth. She was a wonderful supporter and friend of St Marys.

A visit to Tom Clifford Park can be pleasant, but without wishing to demean the fine premises and grounds there, nor indeed the hospitality, the result today meant it was an acrid experience.

From the start it was evident that the big, powerful Munster’s pack would be difficult to handle and that the best policy would be to play a wide fast game. In fact, until after half time St Marys led by 11- 12. To follow that obvious policy it required possession and that became a real problem. Whenever Marys had possession, to their credit, they did follow the policy to good effect. However, possession was as hard to come by as an Irish mortgage. Having received three sin binning (26 minutes with 14 men, includes one overlapping period) made the problem more severe. YM had only one yellow card. It has to be said that no one shirked, it was simply that YM held and protected possession well and used the ball wisely, and to their strengths. It was therefore Power versus Pace. They scored two tries from mauls and the other two came after spells of strong forward pressure. We showed determination and non-stop effort to the end. In fact we scored a fine try on full time, after an adroitly weighted cross kick from Hugh Mc Donnell which was athletically fielded by Marcus O’Driscoll, and placed in the corner. All our other scores came in the first half from the invaluable boot of Gavin Dunne.

The scrum was a problem for both teams, due to interpretation of front row rules. YM’s lineout was precise and secure and they had a well-drilled and effective maul. Competition at the breakdown, from both sides, was aggressive and closely fought.

In the end YM deserved their victory, but that takes nothing from our voyage and development. We are now on 31 points with three games to go. We have four points on Ballynahinch, with a game in hand. We are four behind Dolphin, again with a game less played, and we are five and six behind YM and UCD respectively. So a good run in could make a significant difference to our final table position. We play our postponed game V Lansdowne next Saturday at Lansdowne Road, then Garryowen at home on 12th April and finish on 19th against Con who are enigmatic this season.

Okay, so it is up to all of us to help our team move up the table.

If ever a team responded to support this one does.

It is our team. So, let us illustrate our love and appreciation. One and all, shout/shove from behind with fervour and zeal.

There are only three more games! You will miss the enjoyment that they have given us throughout the season when it ends.

See you at Lansdowne next Saturday.

Scoring sequence

St Marys:- 3 min, 8 min, 12 min, 40 min penalties Gavin Dunne. 82 min Try Marcus O’Driscoll.

Young Munster:- 8 min, 6o min, 65 min Tries Hifo, 46 min Try O’Connor. 14 min, 37 min penalties and conversions of 60 and 65 min tries, Haugh.

D O’Brien

The Team (Rolling substitutions)

15 C Hogan, 14 M O’Driscoll, 13 R O’Loughlin, 12 Rob Hudson, 11 C Donohue, 10 G Dunne, M D’Arcy, 8 K Sheahan (Capt), 7 B O’Flanagan, 6 M Fallon., 5 C Ruddock, D Frawley, 3 A Lyons,, 2 D Fawsitt, 1 C Mc Mahon, S Flanagan, B Mc Govern, P Starrett, H McDonnell, R Glynn.