Marmion wins bragging rights over housemate
THIS may have been the opening tie in the IRFU’s eight round Energia Community Series, a kind of Leinster league for AIL clubs running through to Christmas but it was also the resumption of a rivalry that is becoming very local along with some serious bragging rights to be settled between the two captains, housemates Brian Colclough, a Greystones native but with strong family ties to Stradbrook, and Killian Marmion, captaining Greystones for the second season in succession.
When the two sides faced off last season in the All Ireland League, they shared home victories with ’Stones grabbing a last-minute win before Christmas in Dr Hickey Park while ’Rock prevailed in the return fixture in appalling conditions last January.
So, with the sun on their backs and conditions perfect for flowing rugby, Kevin Lewis’ men were happy to dispel any memories of their last visit to Stradbrook and couldn’t have asked for a brighter opening.
Taking the game to their hosts right from the kick off, the ’Rock receiver spilled the ball under pressure to set up the opening scrum on the hosts 22.
With a side featuring a number of new faces since their last visit, the Greystones pack attacked the scrum from the off and after a reset delivered clean ball to Marmion who in turn fed Matt O’Brien playing at outhalf who neatly wrong footed the on rushing defence to open the scoring with a well taken try after just two minutes of play. Andrew Kealy added the conversion from close to the posts and added a long-range penalty just three minutes later to give Stones a ten-point advantage with just five minutes on the clock.
Despite the strong start by ’Stones, Blackrock were never going to lie down and with Colclough dictating from the centre they prodded and probed at a stubbornly resilient Greystones defensive line honed by their efforts against Lansdown last week.
This resilience was broken by another Greystones native playing in ’Rock colours when Brian Cawley spotted the opportunity to take a quick tap penalty from little more than five meters out to crash over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Kealy and Blackrock outhalf Peter Quirke swapped penalties with Kealy adding a third on 25 minutes before ’Rock added a second try. In what looked like a preplanned move, Quirke kicked a short ball in behind the Greystones defence with Colclough quickest to react to gather and cover 30 meters unopposed to touch down under the posts leaving just a point in the game at half-time with Greystones 16–15 to the good.
Playing against a stiffening breeze in the second half Greystones raised the tempo always looking the stronger side and pressurized ’Rock back into their own half. Kealy missed a difficult penalty attempt five minutes in before, against the run of play Blackrock took the lead for the first time in the match.
In what was almost a replica of his try in the first half, ’Rock captain Brian Colclough gathered another kick in behind the Greystones line to run clear from 40 meters out for his second converted score and for the time being the bragging rights over his housemate.
Marmion however had other ideas and took little time to regain the advantage. With a scrum on the Blackrock ten meter from Greystones number seven Cormac O’Donoghue picked the ball on the blind side and headed off supported by fellow wing forward Alan Dempsey with Marmion on his shoulder ready to take the final pass and race clear to the line, bragging rights restored for the Greystones man.
With their tails now up Greystones went for the jugular and scented the opportunity to avenge that defeat last January. This time O’Donoghue was on hand to finish a break by centre Andrew Lynch who had spotted a gap up the right wing only to be held up close to the line before popping the ball to O’Donoghue who finished the move in the corner.
While Blackrock tried to fight back Greystones continued with a resolute defence keeping their hosts comfortably outside of the 22.
With five minutes to play Eoin Marmion added Greystones fourth try finishing another flowing move across the park resulting from a lineout on the far side of the field.
Kealy made the breakthrough the middle from full back with Marmion taking the final pass to add his name alongside his brothers on the scoresheet, while Colcloughs afternoon went from bad to worse when he was yellow carded for a late hit on Marmion as he crossed to score.
The icing was applied to the match cake with a fifth try for a rampant ‘Stones side when their ever hungry pack pounced on a loose knock on outside the ‘Rock 22, recycling the ball into the middle of the park before Marmion taking a move straight out of the Blackrock play book kicked a neat ball through and behind the defense for Kealy to latch onto and score under the posts. In converting his own try Kealy brought his personal tally to 25 points delivering a very satisfying 22-45 final score.
Lewis and his coaching team will be very pleased with the performance, particularly in a second half display where his charges looked fitter and sharper than their opponents. Next up is another away tie when they travel to MU Barnhall next Saturday hoping for another day in the sun. GREYSTONES: Andrew Kealy, Padraig Geoghegan, Andrew Lynch, Mark Meyler, Ferdia Kenny, Matt O’Brien,Killian Marmion (Captain), Rob Connolly, Cormac O’Donoghue, Alan Dempsey, Eoin Marmion,Chris Simmonds, Conor Pearse, Ben Pentland, Iva Takatai. Replacements: Michael Douglas, Daragh Higgins, Mark Smith, Ronan Mannion, Jason Curran