Vital win for Arklow away Miller’s men in good nick

at Athboy brought them to within two points at 12-10.

Arklow lifted their work rate now and retained possession through some great work in the forwards, rucking well and taking the ball on close in to gain the hard yards. This paid off when flanker Eamon Quirke exposed the frailty of the Athboy defence to take a great line and cut through to score out wide to give Arklow a healthier 17-10 lead at half-time.

Athboy came out all guns blazing after the break but the Arklow defence was up to the task and weathered the storm making some big first up tackles to nullify the Athboy attack.

Arklow were awarded a penalty and from the resulting line-out maul near the Athboy 22, number seven Danny Clear spotted a gap and showed some pace to break away and beat the last man to score a well taken try to bring it to 22-10.

The home side showed some real heart now and worked their way up to Arklows line where they repeatedly kicked to the corner and mauled well to put the visitors under real pressure.

This eventually told when, in the space of a minute Arklow were given two yellow cards for infringements close to the line and the referee awarded Athboy a penalty try which was converted to make it a one score game again at 22-17.

Arklow now had to try and prevent the home side from taking advantage of the extra men and did well to keep Athboy pinned back in their own half with some good kicking and strong defence.

With the sin-binned players back on the pitch the now full strength Arklow went looking for the score that would seal the victory and the addition of some fresh legs from the bench saw substitute Kieran McCarthy crash over despite the attention of four Athboy players. McCormack converted to bring the final score to 29-17 to Arklow.

This was a great bonus point win away and was due in no small part to the hard work being put in at training and the great strength in depth of the squad with competition for places driving everyone on to do better.

This result leaves Arklow just three points off the top with a tough game at home to Balbriggan in two weeks after the Halloween break.

Don’t forget the club Halloween Party is on Sunday, October 30, and should be a great night for all. See the club Facebook page for details.