J5 - 2013/14

27/09/2013

8:00pm

F

De La Salle Palmerstown

13 - 0

St. Marys J5 XV

Away

Marys J5's (now div 10) opened their season with a friendly against DLSP in Kiltiernan but despite a brave, spirited performance, they went down to an experienced Salmo team with a big pack. It was close in the opening half with DLSP's superior strength making it difficult for Marys to recycle quick ball and as a result, we struggled to bring our speedy backs into the game.

There were crunching tackles on both sides with Jamie MacRae, David Owen Mahon & Gareth Lloyd to the forefront of a committed defensive performance. The backs also played their part as DLSP unleashed wave after wave of big runners at our midfield and never broke through.

A number of players were playing in their first rugby match and a few others were only playing in their second but you wouldn't have known it such was the commitment on display. The lineout was generally good and won good ball all night as well as depriving DLSP of a consistent platform.

It was only 0-3 at half time but the physical effort required to compete with a bigger team told in the second half as a Salmo pick & drive yielded a try with 20 to go. With a few minutes to go, a defensive system failure let in a second try. 13-0 is not really a fair reflection of the contest and the effort put into it by Marys but there's lots to work on for the squad and hopefully they can kick on to have a successful year.

10/01/2014

8:00pm

Metro Div 10

St. Marys J5 XV

0 - 22

Railway Union

Home

J5 XV 0-22 Railway

On Friday night on the back pitch, the J5’s kicked off 2014 with a home league game against Metro Division 10 League leaders Railway. Starting 2014 with a brand new set of jerseys!!!!

Railway got off to a better start scoring a try earlier on. They dominated much of the play during the first half going over for 3 more tries and converting one of them. The half time score was 0-22.

The J5’s game back into it in a very tight 2nd half. A few good breaks were made through the Railway defence on occasions. Unfortunately they were not rounded off with any scores. It was a much better 2nd half display by the J5’s. A good test that will serve them well for their upcoming Derby game. There were no scores in the 2nd half. Final score was 0-22.

The J5’s play the D6W Derby this Saturday against Terenure in Lakelands.

22/02/2014

12:00pm

Metro Div 10

Clontarf

9 - 7

St. Marys J5 XV

Away

J5 XV 7-9 Clontarf

On Saturday morning the J5’s went out to Castle Ave to play Clontarf in the Metro League Division 10. It was a must win game for the lads in the battle to avoid relegation.

The J5’s started off the stronger side in the first half. Spending long spells in Clontarf’s half. After a number of early chances that they were unlucky to get the J5’s went off for a try mid-way through the half. Scrum half Ryan Barnes getting the try. James Bourke got the conversion. 7-0. The rest of the half remained tight. Mary’s were unlucky to have a penalty hit the posts by the narrowest of margins. Clontarf scored a penalty before the end of the half. Half time score 7-3 to Mary’s.

The 2nd half remained as tight as the first half. Clontarf got 2 more penalties in quick succession to take the lead 9-7. At times when needed there was a great defensive effort from the J5’s. They also looked good in attack but the final changes never game their way. Despite a great performance the lads were very unlucky to lose in the end 7-3.

With two games to go in the league in the battle to avoid relegation. Next up is the Emerald Warriors at home on Saturday at 3pm.

01/03/2014

3:00pm

Metro Div 10

St. Marys J5 XV

14 - 6

Emerald Warriors

Home

St Mary’s College RFC J5s V Emerald Warriors J5s.

14 6

J5 Metro League 10

Templeville Road

Saturday 1^st March 2014.

St. Marys secured a vital victory in their bid to stave off relegation in a tense encounter against the Emerald Warriors at Templeville Road. St. Mary’s knew that a win was essential in the penultimate league game of the season to avoid the drop. This was to be no easy task as the Emerald Warriors were also in the mix in the relegation dogfight and had secured a comfortable victory over St. Marys in the reverse fixture in Sutton.

The game began with St. Marys in the ascendancy with the forward pack making big gains with the ball in hand and spent the sustained periods camped on the Warriors 22. Continued pressure from the team eventually paid off with James Bourke kicking over two difficult penalties to give St. Marys a 6-0 advantage. However St. Marys failed to make the most of this spell of dominance and Emerald Warriors came back into the game in the first half and Mary’s began losing discipline at the breakdown leading to a Warriors penalty which was well taken on the right wing leaving the score 6-3 at half time.

Mary’s started slowly in the second half and allowed Warriors to build momentum and they levelled the score at 6-6 after a penalty. This seemed to set the team in motion again with them reverting to a familiar style and making big gains in carrying the ball from the forwards and backs alike and we retook the lead after a James Bourke penalty to bring it to 9-6. It was a lead that St. Mary’s never lost and soon after they increased it with a well worked move off the back of a Mary’s scrum saw Tony Flynn and Ryan Barnes draw in the Warriors defence who then played out a pass to Lee Kelly on the wing to go in for a try bringing the score to 14-6. With still plenty of time on the clock the Mary’s defence were under constant pressure with the Warriors desperately looking to get at least a bonus point for their efforts. Mary’s were excellent in defence, putting in some big tackles and stealing lineouts at crucial times when it looked Warriors were odds on to score. Mary’s defence held firm and kept the Warriors attack at bay preventing the bonus point which may prove crucial come end of the season.

The final league game of the season is due to be played on 13^th March away to Monkstown who are also in the mix for relegation so this will be another must win game for the lads.

David Browne

07/03/2014

8:00pm

F

DLSP

10 - 5

St. Marys J5 XV

Away

J5 XV 5-10 DLSP

With no league game last weekend it was a much changed J5 side that took to the field in Stepaside on Friday night for what was billed as a friendly against De La Salle Palmerstown. The conditions were cold but otherwise perfect for rugby and Mary’s got off to a good start, putting pressure on the opposition from the kick off. With an agreement in place to contest scrums No. 8 Tony Flynn decided to show what the Mary’s pack was made of by knocking the ball forward several times in the opening minutes. After being pushed all over the park Mary’s decided to switch to uncontested scrums and spent the remainder of the first half battering the DLSP line. A lapse in concentration led to an unconverted DLSP try which they followed shortly afterwards with two missed penalties. Towards the tail end of the first half, prop Maurice Davin found himself under a high ball just inside the DSLP half and having trained only once in the past 2 years (he left after half an hour) nobody expected what came next; a catch Lee Halfpenny would have been proud of, followed by a monster skip pass missing out three players landed in the hands of wing Shane Levins (his quick feet are the result of years spent running around a yacht in his dubarrys) who promptly beat five defenders and touched down. With Andrew Fitzpatrick not on kicking duties it looked like Mary’s would take the lead but James Bourke’s missed conversion meant it was all square at the interval. It seems just having Fitzpatrick on the same pitch meant the kick was guaranteed to sail wide.

Starting the second half at 5-5 and with a number of changes in the backline, Mary’s found themselves hammering the DLSP line once more. However an incident involving second half substitute Owen Clery and new hooker Alan Moughty led to a lengthy stoppage as a DLSP flanker took a break from fighting with his own players to punch some of the opposition. A folicly challenged DLSP winger got in on the act and landed several blows on a defenceless Owen Clery (who reacted with his usual calm and composure) before the ref intervened and sent nobody off. Maurice Davin proceeded to explain to anyone who was listening that he was the team manager and such fisticuffs were unacceptable, all the while cowering behind J5 coach Colin Burkley. A game of rugby broke out soon after and DLSP were in the ascendency, their previously mentioned flanker taking on all comers (regardless of what jersey they were wearing). With the entire Mary’s bench emptied there was bound to be some structure problems and DLSP found themselves with an overlap touching down on the far right of the posts, missing the conversion. A late rally wasn’t enough and DLSP held firm, aided in part by replacement Mary’s scrumhalf Andrew Doran shouting “pick 8, go” just before the Mary’s No. 8 picked off the base of the scrum, allowing the DLSP backrow and defence to get themselves organised. 10-5 to DLSP the final score but a good showing over 80mins and a trademark moral victory for Mary’s J5.

13/03/2014

8:00pm

Metro Div 10

Monkstown

15 - 21

St. Marys J5 XV

Away

St Mary’s College RFC J5s V Monkstown J5s.

21 15

J5 Metro League 10

Sydney Parade

Thursday 13^rd March 2014.

St. Marys secured an essential win against Monkstown at Sydney Parade to guarantee league safety for another season.

It was a simple objective for the team who knew a win was essential. With a good support for the team on the sideline, St. Marys began their game without their characteristic slow start and scored a try in the opening minutes with a league debut try from Alan Moughty. It was an impressive spell for St. Marys, controlling possession and getting up the field and pressurising Monkstown into mistakes when in defence. With St. Marys looking to push on and develop a commanding lead they were immediately pegged back and Monkstown got in for a try bringing the score to 5-5. However they weren’t fazed by this and reasserted themselves on the game putting constant pressure on Monkstown in both attack and defence. This almost paid off for St. Marys with Monkstown losing ball in attack and an excellent fly hack down the field by second row Tom Keogan led to winger James Walsh chasing the loose ball and collecting it on the Monkstown 5 metre line. Walsh’s momentum brought him over the line despite getting tackled by a despairing Monkstown defender, however at that exact time an errant DART passed by the pitch causing an awful racket which shocked the winger forcing him to spill the ball forward. When asked for comment after the game he stated he had never seen a DART before and he would have definitely scored had he been in his native Kilkenny, we welcome further explanation at the next court session. This spurred on the team and soon afterwards some solid work led to Shane Levins showing a turn of pace to score out on the wing and also added to their score with a penalty. As the half progressed, St. Marys made some changes to the team with Tahar coming on and special mention here must go to Browner, who belied the long standing stereotype of the slow witted prop by taking only seven minutes to tie his boots when asked to come on, he laid the blame solely on his laces and his mother’s failure to tie the aforementioned laces for him. By the time he had conquered the laces the half was over with Mary’s leading 15-5.

St. Marys found themselves on the defence for the majority of the second half; with Monkstown growing in confidence with an early second half try. There were some huge tackles put in around the park with Niall Neville worthy of particular mention. Mary’s did launch attacks in this half and earned two penalties which proved crucial as Monkstown again were in for a try later in the half. With the score at 21-15 and minutes remaining the team put in an excellent defence and kept out repeated wave of attacks from Monkstown holding firm to earn the win and it was fully deserved. Afterwards the lads were delighted with the win with one unnamed bearded player blasting out a chorus of “We are the champions” before being reminded we had just avoided relegation. So as another season draws to an end, the J5s prepare for a cup campaign with a newfound optimism. Stillorgan awaits in the quarter final.