Brave Arklow come up short
Mullingar prove too strong
ARKLOW MULLINGAR 19 34
ARKLOW RFC’S under-14s welcomed Mullingar to The Oval on Saturday in the Leinster league.
Arklow kicked off and straight away put pressure on Mullingar, turning over possession, and with ball in hand and quick hands from Charlie Graham, Arklow started to make breaks through Stuart Bollard Troy and Gordon Prestage to bring Arklow within ten meters from try line.
The forwards took it on with some fine carries from Sean Carey and Ben Clancy before scrum half Mikey Kinsella passed to Ernest Kaukis who powered over the line for the first try.
Within minutes Arklow were on the attack again and with sustained pressure Mullingar were penalised for off side. Arklow chose to kick this, Charlie Graham was unlucky with his kick as it hit the upright and bounced back and Kade Van den Vyver gathered the rebound and set up a ruck, with quick ball Ernest Kaukis used his strength to drive over the line. With Charlie Graham adding the conversion Arklow were leading by 12 points.
Mullingar started to settle into the game and with a missed tackle Mullingar broke the Arklow defence and raced 30 meters to score.
This gave Mullingar a huge lift and Arklow found it hard to keep the ball with Mullingar starting to dominate the rucks and with another break they crossed the line again before half-time.
Arklow started the second half badly failing to catch from the kick off and knocking the ball forward giving Mullingar a scum in a good attacking position, from the attacking scum Mullingar broke and scored in the corner.
Following the try a little indiscipline from Arklow the ref had no option but to award Mullingar a penalty on the halfway line. From this Mullingar launched another attack and scored in the corner.
Mullingar had started to take control of the game and Arklow found their selves defending most of the second half with some fine tackling from Arklow’s Josh Robinson, Ernest Kaukis, Gordon Prestage and Stuart Bollard Troy. Mullingar were now dominating the rucks and crossed the line for two more tries.
Arklow started to complete better in the rucks and gaining forward momentum resulting in Mullingar conceding another penalty. A quick tap and pass from Charlie Graham to release Gordon Prestage on a break who kicked the ball towards the Mullingar line and gave chase beating the Mullingar defence to score Arklow’s third and final try, with Charlie Graham converting it final score Arklow 19, Mullingar 34.
Team: Jake Molloy, Logan Ellis Ben Clancy, Sean Carey, Kade Van den Vyver, Josh Robinson, Ethan Doyle, Ernest Kaukis, Mikey Kinsella, Charlie Graham, Gordon Prestage, Stuart Bollard Troy, Jack Breen, Finn Scott, Elliott O Driscoll, Tom Byrne, Harry Hadden, Mikey Murphy. Joseph Annesely.