GOREY RUGBY

The Gorey Under-14s set out for Donnybrook recently seeking to go a step further than last season by winning the Leinster Cup and thereby completing the season undefeated and winning the treble.

A huge crowd of family and friends joined them in Donnybrook on a glorious day for the final, and the scene was set for them to take on Tullamore who had proved to be very tough opponents in all previous encounters. Tullamore kicked off and put Gorey under pressure straight away. Wave after wave of Tullamore attacks were repelled but the pressure led to the concession of penalties.

Three times Gorey had a let-off, when Tullamore went for the posts but without success, as two went wide and one rebounded off the left upright and was well dealt with by Brian Cushe. Gradually the lads clawed their way into the game and worked their way into the Tullamore half.

Big carries from George Hadden, Shay Guilfoyle, Michal Kruczek and Ewan Stephens gained valuable yards, with aggressive rucking from Seán Sawyer, Adam Cleary, Rory Tubritt and Daragh Fitzpatrick giving Jack Higgins the platform to keep driving the team on.

As the half neared its conclusion Lee Cushe, under considerable pressure, put a kick deep in the right side of the Tullamore ‘22. Fine inter-play between backs and forwards inched Gorey ever closer.

Brian Cushe made a burst but was stopped short, as was Evan Byrne in following up. Now Tullamore were con- ceding the penalties. Gorey elected to tap and go with George Hadden and Evan Byrne hammering the Tullamore line, and then Shay Guilfoyle crossed only to be held up - all of this still concentrated in the right corner.

From the resulting Gorey scrum a high tackle on Rory Tubritt led to another penalty. Again Gorey ran it with Lee Cushe, Michal Kruczek and Ross O’Loughlin combining to release Cillian Byrne on the opposite wing. Another penalty was conceded but Jack Higgins had no interest in going for the three points.

With the Tullamore defence now sucked in to the left side of the pitch, Jack cut back across the field, eluding the Tullamore defenders, to touch down just to the right of the posts.

Lee Cushe added the extra two points, leaving Gorey in a very good position at half-time at 7-0, especially given the start they had. The second-half was a real arm wrestle with neither side wanting to give ground.

Jack Higgins and Lee Cushe, with the boot, and Brian Cushe, with ball in hand, fought to keep Tullamore pegged back.

Then Lee put a cracking kick deep into the Tullamore half. With Brian Cushe bearing down on him, the Tullamore winger hesitated and, with the ball then bouncing near the try line, made an error in trying to touch the ball down, and into safety, in the corner.

Brian didn’t wait to be asked twice, seizing the ball, and his chance, to touch down and extend the lead. A difficult conversion was missed with the score then at 12-0.

But Tullamore were by no means out of it as they came at Gorey looking for a lifeline back into the game. Working their way deep into Gorey’s half, they forced a line-out on the five-metre line.

With a move that looked like it was well rehearsed on the training ground, the 6 tapped down to their 8, who with his strength and size was impossible to stop that close to the line. The conversion was added and suddenly it was game on at 12-7.

Tullamore’s kicking game was very effectively dealt with by Cillian Byrne but they kept on coming. As they kept hammering, George Hadden, Michal Kruczek, Brian Cushe and Ewan Stephens led the defence to shut them out but it was nerve-wracking for the Gorey support.

Another Tullamore score looked inevitable but more superb defence from Brian Cushe, when he somehow stole the ball and then burst up to the halfway line, relieved the pressure as the clock slowly wound down.

George Hadden was fouled and Lee’s kick put Gorey further into Tullamore territory.

Daragh Fitzpatrick found Shay Guilfoyle in the line-out and the lads worked the ball forward and across the field. Tullamore knocked on and, from the resulting five-metre scrum, Ewan Stephens off-loaded to George Hadden and as he went to ground Shay Guilfoyle was in close support but still with a lot of work to do.

However, he crashed through four Tullamore defenders to ground the ball on the line and Gorey then knew they had the cup won. The referee blew for full-time, with the score at 17-7, and the celebrations then kicked off.

The lads joined their captain, Brian Cushe, in the main stand to be presented with the Leinster Cup to add to their other successes this season - South East and Leinster Premier League champions. It was a magnificent achievement and one that every member of the squad should be extremely proud of.

Gorey had many fine performers, with Michal Kruczek being our man of the match.

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

Prior to that great win, the Gorey Under-14s made their second trip to Tullow in five days to take on Carlow in the South-East final.

The lads overcame Naas there in a very tight Leinster Cup semi-final on the previous Saturday.

Carlow struck first when Gorey conceded a silly penalty with only a few minutes gone. The lads rallied and much of the remainder of the first period was spent in the Carlow half.

Solid Carlow defence and both poor and unlucky finishing kept Gorey scoreless.

Tadhg Baxter, Ewan Stephens and Daragh Fitzpatrick all went very close until finally George Hadden broke the deadlock, with Lee Cushe adding the extra two to leave it 7-3 at half-time.

The second-half saw Gorey upping the pressure. The backs worked better as a unit and further tries were added by Brian Cushe, another from George, and the final score coming from Ross O’Loughlin.

Lee Cushe added the extras for all three, some kicks from very tight angles, to bring the final score to 28-3. The final whistle brought the satisfaction of having equalled their achievements of last season.

Good performances were produced across the team, especially from Michal Kruczek, Ross O’Loughlin, Jack Higgins, Seán Sawyer, Adam Cleary, George Hadden and man of the match Shay Guilfoyle.

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