J5 - 2014/15

03/10/2014

8:00pm

Metro Div 10

St. Marys J5 XV

27 - 0

Bective Rangers

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St Mary’s College RFC J5s V Bective Rangers J5s.

27 0

J5 Metro League 10

Templeville Road

Friday 3^rd October 2014.

It is often said that rugby players are a hardy bunch. Able to play in rain, hail or shine with a smile on their face and without any complaint about the conditions they are facing all for the love ofthe game. The J5's proved this old adage wrong by many unnamed players making frantic calls and texts asking/hoping that Friday nights game against Bective would be called off due to the inclement weather. Nevertheless the game went ahead and the team secured an important victory in the opening round of Division 10.

The first half of the game was a tense affair with both teams struggling with the conditions and an approximate 40 knock ons meant that the team took awhile to find their rhythm. As the half progressed Mary's began to exert more pressure on Bective and two penalties taken by Colin O'Neill gave Mary's a 6-0 lead at the break. Captain Owen Clery rallied the troops with a rousing speech that other players felt was completely lifted from Braveheart. When asked afterwards about this he assured us he had written it many years before as part of a leaving cert essay and accused Mel Gibson of stealing his work.

The team gave an inspired performance in the second half. In the opening stage winger Andy Doran easily stepped his opposite number to go in for Mary's first try. The pack also began to make ground with strong runs put in by Gareth Lloyd, Dave Balfour and Conor Ryan keeping Mary's momentum up. Special thanks to Conor Ryan for leaving his own bowling and quasar birthday party at the Leisureplex early to make the game. Out half Colin O'Neill showed a good turn of pace to get in for the second try for Mary's and the lads looked full value for their lead. The team kept the pressure up with Niall Neville and Tom Keogan charging up the field with some barreling runs. This dominant spell appeared to have affected Tom's judgement as he made a bizarre drop goal attempt later in the game which cleared about 4ft off the ground before being blocked. When asked afterwards about this he says he always gets them in training and he would've gotten the drop but the sun was in his eyes. Mary's got their final try from a break from Kieran Fitzgerald and some good play at the wings with Tom putting in Chi Yuen for a try with his first touch of the ball. Keogan redeemed himself from his earlier antics by taking the conversion and capped off a comprehensive victory for the team.

08/10/2014

7:45pm

Metro Div 10

Monkstown

15 - 21

St. Marys J5 XV

Away

St Mary’s College RFC J5s V Monkstown FC J5s

23 15

J5 Metro League 10

Sydney Parade

Wednesday 8^th October 2014

St. Mary’s earned a very hard fought win against Monkstown in a very close contest at Sydney Parade. With the team getting a stern grilling from their coach Colin Burkley at last week’s game for failing to turn up on time, the team arrived on time and ready for action at Sandymount. However the coach himself didn’t heed his own advice arriving late for warm up, but obviously the players were far too polite to remind him of this on several occasions throughout the evening. Special thanks must also go to our fitness coach Rachel who was asked by an unnamed forward to treat a near fatal graze on his thumb before the game. It is reported he sustained a severe paper cut while delivering leaflets for a certain blueshirted candidate in the bye election. At the time of writing both the player and thumb are recovering well.

The first half was very even, both teams struggling to mount strong attacks with the defences getting the upper hand. There were plenty of big tackles being put in across the park with Niall Neville putting in a few crunching tackles. As the half wore on Monkstown pressed further, gaining penalties in the Mary’s 22. A brief lapse in concentration saw Monkstown score the opening try with a quick tap penalty leaving the score 5-0 at half time to Monkstown.

The team had a task ahead to recover from this setback and captain Owen Clery rallied the troops at half time, making sure he mentioned Munster’s recent win over Leinster as much as possible in the team talk. As the break ended, Clery drew his team in with some words of inspiration drawing on his knowledge of ancient warfare he quoted Sun Tzu saying: “The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself”. Confused and motivated in equal measure, the team took the advantage in the second half. Mary’s won two early penalties from good play at the breakdown which were both well taken by outhalf Colin O’Neill to give Mary’s a 6-5 lead. However it wasn’t long that Mary’s lost this lead with Monkstown skipping some tackles to go in for a try under the posts leaving the score 6-12. With Mary’s now under pressure they got into gear and started attacking the Monkstown line with purpose. A moment of magic from Colin O’Neill saw him dance around several Monkstown players just inside their half to run in for an excellent try which he then converted. Monkstown did respond and took advantage of some of Mary’s defence straying offside to score another penalty bringing Monkstown back in the lead at 15-13. Mary’s did not falter however and the pack put in a lot of hard yards all over the field with a great break from Fitzy to put James Casey in for his maiden try. With time running out, Monkstown desperately looked for a score but the defence was resolute throughout the field with very little getting past them. This work paid off with Mary’s winning a penalty at the breakdown allowing Colin to score another difficult penalty to secure the win at 23-15.

The team can be very happy with their work in a game where the lead changed hands many times throughout the second half and the team kept at it with a professional overall performance that puts them in a good position ahead of next week’s local derby with Terenure.