Leaders stunned at Lodge
Boyne Gorey 17 15
LEAGUE leaders Gorey were brought down to earth at Shamrock Lodge on Saturday as Boyne ended their 100% start to the season with a shock victory.
After consecutive away defeats in the South East, Boyne played host to another of the teams from that region and weren’t given much hope of ending Gorey’s record of four straight wins.
However, in a dramatic turnaround in fortunes Boyne produced an excellent performance and managed to eke out a narrow but well-deserved win.
Eoghan Duffy, shaking off his disappointment of defeat in the IFC Final with St Fechin’s, returned to rugby action and gave a very good account of himself at out half, while Jerry Onianwa made an impressive return to the front row and helped steady the scrum.
Another of Boyne’s standout players was Kevin McCleery, playing in the unaccustomed position of scrum half for a second week because of Shaun Rooney’s injury.
Conditions were ideal for rugby and Boyne took full advantage to play an expansive game. The home side had an opportunity to take the lead in the 10th minute, but Karl Keogh missed the kick.
Gorey asserted some control in the following minutes and they took a quick penalty on the Boyne 10-metre line and went through a number of phases combined with excellent off-loading to produce a try. They made the conversion count to take a 7-0 advantage.
In the 21st minute Boyne had another chance to register a score from a penalty, but from a position straight in front of the posts Keogh once more fluffed his effort.
However, a minute later Gorey were down to 14 men when a shoulder charge resulted in a yellow card and almost immediately, after some deft hands from Duffy, Robbie Vallecco and Adam Brodigan, outside centre Rory Hennessy was put away to score in the corner. This time Keogh found his mojo from the conversion and sent a beauty between the posts to bring the scores level.
The kicker was struggling with an injury, however, and had to leave the field shortly after, to be replaced by Wilson Twentyman.
Just past the half-hour Duffy was the instigator of another delightful piece of play, with his pace and pass at the end of an excellent break finding Brodigan who scored under the posts.
In Keogh’s absence, winger Michael Briscoe took over kicking duties and tapped over the simple conversion to put his team into a 14-7 lead.
Keogh returned to the fray before half-time following medical treatment, but Gorey capitalised on a missed tackle in midfield to recycle the ball with superb handling and score in the corner. They missed the conversion, though, and so Boyne went into half-time with a slender 14-12 advantage.
The visitors opened the second half in impressive fashion and in the 52nd minute they edged one point ahead with a penalty.
Both sides kept each other scoreless for the next half-hour, although Boyne were fortunate that their lineout deficiencies didn’t cost them dearly as they lost several vital throw-ins.
Somehow they survived in that regard, but another handicap had to be overcome in a nail-biting last quarter as they went down to 14 players when a side entry into a ruck resulted in a yellow card.
However, in the fourth minute of stoppage time great ball retention, resulting in 20 phases, forced a penalty to the home side. With regular kicker Keogh forced to retire earlier, young winger Briscoe took on the responsibility and elation erupted when his kick squeezed over - off the inside of the post - to secure an unexpected victory. BOYNE: Robbie Vallecco; John McDonnell, Adam Brodigan, Rory Hennessy, Michael Briscoe; Eoghan Duffy, Kevin McCleery; Patrick Shuttleworth, Padraic Mongey, Jerry Onianwa; Conor Walsh, Paul Kelly; Declan Moore, Ciaran Smith, Karl Keogh. Replacements: Keith Keogh, Sean Callaghan, Kevin Prendergast, Wilson Twentyman, David De Loughry.
Division 1A results Next fixtures Division 1A table
Enniscorthy Gorey Wicklow Bective Dundalk Boyne Ashbourne Kilkenny P 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 W 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 0 L 1 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
F A 129 82 111 70 127 96 98 87 113 105 63 131 107 123 86 140 BP 3 2 2 3 3 0 4 3 Pts 19 18 18 15 11 8 8 3
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