Gerard’s make Pres Bray pay the penalty
Saints win O’Connor Cup
ST GERARD’S PRES BRAY 6 0
IF the 6-0 scoreline suggests that this was a match void of flowing attacking play then that suggestion is correct. If it suggests it was a tad short of excitement - correct again. But if it suggests that these teams saw this as nothing but a glorified friendly then guess again.
Two penalties would be enough to secure the O’Connor Cup for St. Gerard’s with both three-pointers arriving in the second half at a muddy Dr. Hickey Park.
Both sides admittedly have much, much bigger fish to fry. Pres tackle Newbridge College in the Schools Senior Cup on 31/01, while Gerard’s are in action on 02/02 against St. Fintan’s High School.
But pride is said to come before a fall and both sides were determined to bolster their pride against their local rivals and secure bragging rights.
The first half belonged to Pres. They asked all the questions but unfortunately for them, Gerard’s had all the answers.
It looked for a second like they might make the breakthrough when a crossfield kick found Josh Pyper but the winger couldn’t catch the ball in full-flight.
Elliot Ryan had the chance to convert Pres’ dominance to points with a 25th minute penalty but his effort couldn’t make the distance.
It was a definitely a day for the forwards with the rain constantly teeming down and it had an impact on the surface. Pres showed far more aggression in the first half but lacked a cutting edge.
As for Gerard’s, they spent no more than a couple of minutes in the first half throughout the opening period.
Despite their earlier vast inferiority, Gerard’s took the lead in the 49th minute. Oliver Haydock stood over the penalty and his well-struck effort just about carried over to break the deadlock.
Suddenly Pres, who were so in control earlier, looked vulnerable. A clearance kick from Gerard’s was not dealt with at all by Pres and after fumbling about for a few moments, they were forced to kick it out themselves to leave Gerard’s with a massive gain.
We were almost treated to a try when Ben Watson’s grubber kick looked to have beaten Pres’ covering defender. There were two/ three hungry attackers bombing past him anticipating a simple try but the Pres defender flicked out a hand at the last second and brilliantly prevented a certain score.
A drone was then spotted flying over the pitch. Perhaps it was a scout from Newbridge College or St. Fintan’s High School, perhaps it was from Pres or Gerard’s themselves as they looked for a different way of viewing their performance or perhaps it was just a bored local who wanted to jazz things up a little bit.
Pres had the chance to draw level on 57 minutes but you could tell it wasn’t to be from the moment the penalty left Ben Murphy’s boot.
Gerard’s stamped their dominance on matters further when they hit Elliot Ryan hard causing him to fumble it. Gerard’s hacked it up the pitch and Max O’Reilly hared after it to help his side secure a 50-yard gain and drain further hope from Pres.
Pres seemed to be running out of ideas and lock Jack McGrath tried to force things with kick in behind but Gerard’s snuffed out the threat with ease.
Pres number eight Sam Graham put in a monster hit which
With the bonus point looking good, Rathdrum needed to work on the their set plays and rucking.
Great defending work from Becky, Stephanie Windsor and ON a sunny morning, Rathdrum Sammy McCoy kept Mullingar’s Ladies Rugby played host on No 10 at bay who seems to play Sunday to a young Mullingar side. every position on the pitch.
Rathdrum were coming off the Nonetheless Rathdrum atback of a hard All-Ireland Cup tacked Mullingar with controlled clash with the powerhouse that is aggression and were soon on the Old Belvedere Ladies AIL side. the way to the Mullingar 22 once
With former Irish Internationals again. of Sophie Spence, Jenny Murphy The next score of the day came and Nora Stapleton gracing the from Player of the Day Noelle Ward Wicklow pitch it was a hard day who threatened the Mullingar line in the office for the Rathdrum side. continuously.
Rathdrum Ladies were conShe was eventually awardfident from the start that they ed with a try when she skipped were out to win this Mullingar through the three Mullingar degame and get the bonus point to fenders to touch down right of would lead to a turnover but it keep them in second place in the the posts. wasn’t long until Gerard’s regained league table. Moments later, quick hands possessio and captain Cormac Mullingar, having suffered the from Rathdrum saw full-back CailFoley broke through. He popped loss of numerous players have tin Olohan, who was in fine form it to Max O’Reilly, who fed Paddy had a disappointing season and and having perfected the ‘hand Opperman and he thought he’d are currently sitting bottom of the off’, was set free up the right wing. touched down but it was deemed table, and who only could travel She made no mistake and that he’d strayed over the touchwith the bare contingent of 13 touched down for her first of the line before reaching the hallowedday.players. ground. W The game opened as Mullingar ith 30 minutes gone, it is
A second penalty in the 74th kicked into Rathdrum, and with the a credit to Mullingar that they minute - from the boot of Foley wind at their backs Rathdrum took attacked with full force and re- looked to be enough to win it off at pace. mained intent on breaching the but then from the restart, Foley Fiery No 13, Heather Cullen Rathdrum line. knocked-on inside his 22 and definitely had her Weetabix that Due to a lack of concentration, suddenly Pres had hope again. morning when she ran through the Rathdrum found themselves giv
The Gerard’s defence would defence to score the first of her five ing away several penalties and stand tall though as they hung on tries in the first two minutes of the were defending their line against for a 6-0 victory. game to open the scoring. Mullingar.
Although the opening minutes Mullingar were under pressure were perhaps somewhat frantic now and desperate to score but from the Rathdrum women, they several dropped balls saw outhalf still marched towards the Mullingar Mo Dowling kick the Rathdrum line. side back down the field where
In the first 20 minutes, the backs Heather skipped through under of Heather, Trish and Laura were the posts to score her fourth try of two quick for the Mullingar defence the half. The first half closed 41-0. who were put under intense presRathdrum took on a stiffer chalsure in the opening 20 minutes, lenge in the second half with a Heather ran in two more tries with strong wind in their face. the super slick side step she has However, they worked with perfected. the same aggression of the first
RATHDRUM MULLINGAR 65 0
half against an ever determined Mullingar.
Despite dominating the set plays the Rathdrum scores were slower to come.
The next score of the day came from Trish Byrne who, after some quick hands from the Rathdrum backs, darted and dived through the Mullingar defence to see herself clear for the try line.
Becky saw her huge kick just dip over the posts for her first ever conversion for the team.
With Mullingar still scoreless, the energiser bunny Heather took a cheeky ball from the scrum half and was high tackled as she crossed for her fifth and final try of the day.
With a renewed panel of subs let loose on the pitch, it was Tanya‘s turn to put her name on the scoreboard, from a quick ball of the ruck she saw a gap in the Mullingar defence which saw her outrun three defenders to score under the posts for her first senior try.
It was another last burst effort from Rathdrum when Aoife Byrne got through the line but was tackled before the line, it set up a ruck from which her sister Trish Byrne finished the try on her behalf and got her first hat trick of tries. Final score 65-0.
We wish Laura Kavanagh a speedy recovery from an injury in the last play of the game.
Next week, Division 1 Ladies travel to Old Belvederes J2’s and the Development side are home to Portlaoise.
Squad: Linda Dempsey, Becky Condron, Lindsay Madge, Nikki Fennell, Noelle Ward, Kellie Fennell, Stephanie Ward-Windsor, Tanya Carter, Aoife Byrne, Lisa Cahill, Mo Dowling, Heather Cullen, Sammy McCoy, Caitlin Olohan, Nicola Souster, Trish Byrne, Laura Kavanagh, Grainne Short, Clarisse Broughan, Ellen Hurley.