Top night for ’Stones with win in the Aviva
Sweet victory over Wanderers at the Aviva Stadium
A try late into the second half completed a spirited fight back for Greystones and secured an opening round win over an imposing Wanderers side in the All Ireland League on Friday night.
The telling move was started by Ryan O’Loughlin, one of six new faces on the teamsheet for the new season with a break from within his own half and finished by Greystones favourite Paudie Geoghegan who received the perfectly timed pass to finish in the left corner.
Greystones and Wanderers had the honour of kicking off the new All Ireland League season on the main pitch at the Aviva Stadium and whilst the estimated 500 to 600 spectators were a little lost in the 52,000 capacity stadium they played their part by adding a great atmosphere on the evening and were treated to an entertaining and enthralling encounter.
Greystones started brightly and were the first to post points on the scoreboard when Captain Andrew Kealy converted two long range penalties in the tenth and twelfth minutes to give the visitors an early six point advantage.
Despite the lead Greystones were finding it difficult to make any real inroads into the Wanderers half and when they did a misfiring lineout saw possession and territory handed back cheaply.
Wanderers, playing with a clear gameplan of keeping the play tight and using their pack to drive at Greystones, did so to great effect putting the visitors line under repeated pressure but the Greystones defence proved to be resilliant and well organised in keeping the hosts at bay.
This defensive resolve was broken however on 20 minutes when a series of drives at the line finally saw the Wanderers pack bundle the ball over to touch down under the posts.
The opening try was converted by outhalf Peter Brougham giving the hosts a slender lead.
The pattern for the first half took hold after that and Wanderers put Greystones under continued pressure.
Back they came in waves continuing to attack the Greystones line and breached it again ten minutes later in similar fashion this time with the conversion closer to the touchline but with the same result as Brougham split the posts.
From the restart, Wanderers, feeling they had Greystones on the ropes, attacked again and within minutes thought they had further extended their lead but some heroic defending firstly held the ball up over the line and then repelled the attack when the ball was turned over and the referee awarded a penalty allowing Greystones clear their lines.
After soaking up so much pressure, Greystones started the second half intent on taking the game to Wanderers giving their stronger backline the opportunity to enjoy the open spaces of the Lansdowne Road pitch and from the off it was clear this was going to be a game of two half’s.
Greystones struck early to reduce the deficit when Killian Marmion, recently returned from Canada weaved through a gap to finish a series of plays that saw the ball spread from side to side stretching the Wanderers defence to touch down for a try after just five minutes and then stepped up to deliver the conversion from a wide angle to close to within a point.
Wanderers added a penalty to extend their lead but this was cancelled out and then the Wanderers advantage overturn when the second of two Andrew Kealy penalties edged the visitors back in front before Ryan O’Loughlin broke through and sent Geoghegan clear for the try of the game ten minutes from time.
Speaking after the game, Greystones head coach Kevin Lewis paid tribute to his sides’ resilience, particularly in that 10-minute spell before half-time when the team were under a lot of pressure.
‘We are very happy with the win. That was a very good Wanderers side with a very strong pack.
‘They put it up to us in the first half and we really had to dig in and get out of jail there particularly in the last ten minutes before half-time.
‘In fairness to the lads they rolled their sleeves up and showed a lot of spirit and played some great rugby and I think we deserved to win in the end.’ he said.
Greystones have lost flying winger Jack Keating to Old Belvedere and former captain Bobby Clancy to retirement but have recruited well to bolster their pack with former Brumbies U20 prop Joel Pender from Canberra and Hungarian International Prop Viktor Zelenka among the additions along with hooker Ben Pentland from Ballynahinch and Ian Cull- inane from St Marys bringing first division experience to the front eight while Ryan O’Loughlin and Josh Glynn add AIL Division 1 experience to the backline.
Speaking of the new additions Lewis commented: ‘There is huge ambition in the club to climb the league table and get closer to Division 1.
‘It’s a new team with a new challenge and they are just starting out on this journey and luckily enough we have started out with the right result’.
Greystones will be looking to build on this opening win when they host Galway Corinthians at Dr Hickey Park next Saturday with a 2.30pm kick off.
Matt O’Brien, Ferdia Kenny, Con Callan, Ryan O’Loughlin, Paudie Geoghegan, Andrew Kealy (Capt), Andrew Roberts, Robin O’Sullivan, Ian Cullinane, Eoin Marmion, Chris Simmonds, John Campbell, Conor Pearse, Joel Penders, Viktor Zelenka. Replacements: Ben Pentland, Michael Doyle, Michael Douglas, Jason Curran, Killian Marmion.
Wanderers: Rob O’Byrne, Cian Farrell, Marty Ryan, Martin O’Neill, Olan Dennehy, Peter Brougham, Eoin O’Shaughnessy, Paddy Mallon, Conor O’Donnell, Eoghan Nihill, Tom Walsh, Brian Quill(Capt), Diarmuid Higgins, David O’Sullivan, Richard Wilmot. Replacements: Ronan O’Mara, Fionan Sheehan, Kieran Stokes, Ruairi O’Donnell, Evan Palmer