GOREYRUGBY

Gorey ladies welcomed Tullow to a cold but dry Gorey on Sunday for a top of the table clash.

The game started at a good pace with both sides’ defensive strength coming to the fore, with neither team gaining any type of foothold in the opposition half.

Gorey made the first breakthrough and were awarded a penalty which Triona Murray slotted over.

From the re-start Tullow then went on the attack and were camped inside the Gorey ’22 for several minutes. Despite a very strong defensive effort from Gorey, Tullow where awarded a penalty which was slotted over, making the scoreline 3-3.

From the re-start Gorey failed to clear their lines and Tullow launched another attack. With the clock approaching half-time, Tullow were awarded a penalty which they kicked to the corner, and from the resulting line-out they set up a strong maul.

Gorey infringed at the side of the maul and the referee awarded a penalty try and reached to his pocket for a yellow card.

Despite starting the second-half with 14 players, Gorey looked to go on the attack from the start of the half, applying some pressure on the Tullow defence.

Despite some great breaks from Lauren Farrell, Anna Nolan and Maria Breen, the Tullow defence held strong and Gorey, despite a huge effort, were unable to make the breakthrough to get some points on the board.

Tullow absorbed the pressure and launched an attack which resulted in a free-kick which was quickly taken and Tullow scored a crucial try, although the conversion was unsuccessful (153). Despite strong efforts from both teams, no more scores were recorded.

Despite the low scoring in the second-half, it was an enthralling game with Gorey showing great fight and determination.

They will look to bring that determination forward to next week’s game against C.Y.M.

Gorey R.F.C. Senior ladies would like to extend their congratulations to the Gorey Community School girls’ sevens side on their All-Ireland victory during the week.

The Gorey J2 team should learn a lot from this encounter as they battled hard against a far bigger and more experienced Ashbourne team, only to be defeated on a score of 29-17.

The scoreline does not really do justice to Gorey as they had a lion’s share of the ball and on a number of occasions should have crossed the whitewash. This was more down to exuberance on behalf of Gorey than good defending by the home team.

Gorey got off to the better start but could not develop any reward for their efforts. On the other hand, Ashbourne proved more economical with their possession and returned the maximum on two occasions to take the lead.

Gorey kept fighting back though and showed great resolve to keep in the game right until the end.

Gorey had some good performances with Heino Geiser, Eoin Scallan and Zack Sinnott showing well in the forwards, while Josh Thomas, Conor Butler and the evergreen Aidan O’Brien were the pick of the backs. D.L.S.P. provide the away opposition next week.

Team: N. Rothwell, E. Scallan, A. Kinsella, Z. Sinnott, A. Masterson, R. Hughes, R. Harrington, H. Gaizer, A. O’Brien, C. Butler, J. Thomas, S. Byrne, S. Carty, D. O’Neill, J. Willoughby, W. O Morchoe, S. Besanson, B. Horan, C. Hadden, L. Willoughby.

The Gorey Under-15s had their last match, in the first phase of the Leinster League, on Saturday.

Kilkenny were the opposition and this was always going to be a tough match as both teams were unbeaten so far. Gorey got the points started, with a powerful drive from No. 8 Donnacha Cooke, but then Kilkenny answered with a try.

The match settled into a battle of nerves as Gorey got a second try from lock forward Owen Austin, taking the ball from a pop pass from the bottom of a breakdown, going down the blindside and scoring in the corner.

But again Kilkenny came back with a try down the left wing, leaving the half-time score 12-10 to Gorey.

The second-half was tense but a great match to watch with both sides giving no quarter. A super try from flanker Geoffrey Land, in a man of the match performance from him, took the pressure off Gorey who then took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Kilkenny had to defend hard, and so they did, but the game was secured when fly-half Seánie Quirke slotted home a penalty, leaving the final score 20-10 to Gorey.

Team: G. Murray, O. O’Hagan, J.J. O’Neill, K. McLaughlin, O. Austin (capt., 1), G. Lande (1), P. Doyle, D. Cooke (1), G. Slattery, S. Quirke (1 pen., 1 con.), J. Colclough, C. Popplewell, S. O’Hagan, L. Noblett, K. Budeanu. Subs. - H. O’Brien, S Doran, S. Timmons, P. Darcy (used), also T. Montague, L. Bates, J. Kinsella, S. Millar.

The Gorey Under-14s were on the road early on Saturday morning to take on New Ross. This was their last game in phase one of the Leinster League.

It was a bitterly cold morning but the pitch was in fine condition so the game was able to proceed. The lads started off a little sluggish and though they had much of the possession, they were unable to convert any of several chances, and some poor defending gave New Ross a few opportunities.

Eventually Gorey scored and added a few more before half-time. In the second-half Gorey stepped it up and cut out many of the errors of the first period. More tries were added, leaving the final score at 46-0.

Team: S. Guilfoyle, E. McCrea, E. Byrne, J. Curley, A. Cleary, G. Hadden, C. Byrne, E. Stephens, J. Higgins, L. Cushe, R. Cleary, S. O’Hagan, R. O’Loughlin, S. Campbell-Carty, J. Milne, D. Fitzpatrick, A. McNeill, R. Tubritt, M. Kruczek, R. Arnold, T. Baxter, C. Byrne, J. Wizner, P. Kinsella.