Missing the spring ’Stones need to rediscover form after defeat to Sligo
at Sligo RFC SLIGO RFC GREYSTONES 27 3
THERE must have been a sense of déjà vu for the Greystones players as for the fourth time in successive games they had to try to defeat the elements as well as a well drilled opposition, and for the fourth game in a row they came off second best.
Situated in picturesque Strandhill the famed west of Ireland weather gods delivered an afternoon of gale force winds and driving rain and hail, not dissimilar to the conditions delivered by storm Dennis the previous week in Greystones, and just as it was a week ago, Greystones playing with the elements dominated possession and territory for much of the first half but failed to make any impression on the scoreboard.
A solitary Andrew Kealy would prove the only score the Wicklow side would register for the afternoon. This failure to build a half-time advantage again proved their undoing as Sligo ran in three second half tries to end up as comfortable 27–3 winners.
Whilst Greystones owned the ball for much of the first period it was the defensive effort of the hosts that impressed holding their visitors on their 22-meter line for long periods. Greystones had several opportunities to register on the score board with repeated drives to the line and for one ten minute phase were practically camped within a meter of the Sligo line but the defence stood strong.
Greystones scrum half Killian Marmion probed gaps and set up his forwards on either side of the ruck with Dan Mau’u, Conor Pearse and Dan Mannion on hand to take the ball and drive at the line to no avail.
With conditions difficult for kickers Andrew Kealy saw two first-half penalty attempts pulled wide in the wind before converting from in front of the posts on 30 minutes. From the restart Sligo enjoyed their first phase of play inside the Greystones half and having just taken the lead Greystones handed it back by conceding a penalty outside their 22.
Sligo’s Scottish outhalf Euan Brown coolly converted. The half finished as it had been played for most of the 40 minutes with Greystones mounting another attack on the Sligo line but as with every previous effort the Sligo men proved to be up for the challenge and held their line secure.
The second half was less than five minutes old when Sligo succeeded where Greystones had failed in the first 40. Brown collected a clearance kick on his 10 meter line and set off on a counter attack, linking with support runners to spread the ball to winger Calum Goddard who raced down the wing before he was held just short of the line but hooker Shane O’Hehir was on hand to finish the move, taking a scoring pass to touch down by the posts.
Brown made it a ten-point game with 20 minutes to play with his second successful penalty and by now the driving hail storm was making the game a war of attrition. Greystones continued to take the fight to their hosts but Sligo put a gloss on the scoreline with two late tries, the first from a kick chase down field when a Greystones attack broke down on the Sligo 22 and Sligo’s Ryan Feehily won the footrace to gather the ball before popping to Shane Boyle who powered over the line and with effectively the last play of the game Calum Goddard crossed in the corner and Brown adding two difficult conversions to round out the scoring.
The games don’t get any easier for Greystones as they look to play their way back into form and back up the table.
They need a change in fortune to arrest this four match losing run and will be hoping for a change in the weather conditions and maybe the timely arrival of some spring weather when the leagues second placed side Wanderers visit Dr Hickey Park next Saturday along with the missing spring in their step they need to rediscover to deliver a win to consolidate their top four league position for a place in the end of season promotion play off.
Greystones: Andrew Kealy, Ferdia Kenny, Con Callan, Jason Curran, Paudie Geoghegan; Matt O’Brien, Killian Marmion; Dan Mau’u, Jason Byrne, Conor Pearse, Ben Carolan, Chris Simmonds, Rob Connolly, Cormac O’Donoghue, Dan Mannion. Replacements: Barry Treanor, Iva Takatai, Danny Norse, Nick Quirke, Ronan Mannion
Sligo: Ryan Feehily, Calum Goddard, Mark Butler, Enda Gavin, Philip Carter, Euan Brown, Stephen Kerins, Mark Keegan, Shane O’Hehir, Tom Gormley, Ciaran Cassidy, Shane Boyle, Diarmuid O’Dowd Hill, Kuba Wojtkowicz, Jason East. Replacements: Matthew Earley, Brian West, Daire Byrne, Matt Davey, Sean Wynne