Dundalk on a victory parade in Waterford
LEINSTER LEAGUE DIVISION 1A
DUNDALK suffered a nightmare finish to this fixture 12 months ago but turned the tables on the reigning Leinster League champions with a superb comefrom-behind victory at Mill Road last Saturday.
Memories of last year’s clash, when Dundalk conceded three converted tries in the last 10 minutes to snatch a one-point defeat from the jaws of victory, hadn’t quite dissipated as the Meath outfit lined up to face Mike Walls’ charges.
On this occasion it was a role reversal, however, as the home team recovered from a significant half-time deficit to win the second period 26-0 and inflict a third defeat from four games on their opponents.
Last season’s league winners turned around at the break 2410 ahead, with a four-try bonus already in the bag, but Dundalk raised their intensity in the second half and helped themselves to three converted tries and two penalties, with place-kicker Darragh Conroy helping himself to a remarkable 26 points.
The win is Dundalk’s second consecutively, and while it doesn’t make up for losing their two openers they can at least make this coming Saturday’s trek to Donnybrook for a tussle with Bective Rangers in good spirits.
They got off to a poor start against Ashbourne, conceding a Justin Whittaker try which was converted before Conroy got them on the board with a three-pointer.
Then came the hosts’ opening try when Patrick Reilly profited from German Javier Herrera Luhrs’ fine piece of play to register his third try from two outings. Conroy booted the extras and Dundalk now led 10-7.
However, Ashbourne found
Division1Aresults
Dundalk 36 Ashbourne 24 Enniscorthy 19 Bective Rangers 15 Gorey 31 Kilkenny 12 Wicklow 32 Boyne 3
Nextfixtures
Ashbourne v Wicklow Bective Rangers v Dundalk Boyne v Gorey Kilkenny v Enniscorthy
Division1Atable
Gorey Wicklow Enniscorthy Bective Dundalk Ashbourne Boyne Kilkenny P 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 W 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 L 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 F A 96 53 105 79 93 58 78 68 94 85 90 101 46 116 62 104 BP 1 2 2 3 2 3 0 2 Pts 17 14 14 11 10 7 4 2 their forward power as the opening half petered to its close - Seán Arrowsmith’s sin-binning played a role, too - finding the line three times through Jake Wall, Alan Wall and Simon Deevy on the back of effective maul phases to lead 24-10 at the interval.
Dundalk returned like a different team, intent on turing it around, and with Walls finding pockets with neat chips behind the visiting backline, they built consistent spells of pressure.
Prop forward John Smith burrowed over from five metres and when Conroy bagged the next eight points - the conversion and two penalties - the gap had been whittled down to just one - 24-23.
A try from Conroy put Dundalk ahead in dramatic fashion and when he pointed the additional pair the gap was seven. He went on to add two penalties, bringing his personal MARTIN McNamara with Horseware Iguazu and Mary Thompson riding Horseware HLM Fontana competed in a leading challenging Endurance race recently.
Both competitors had excellent loops against strength competitors. Martin McNamara finished in third place with his horse Horseware Iguazu in fantastic condition. The CI* was over a distance of 82km.
Mary Thompson finished points tally beyond 25, with Ashbourne unable to trouble the scoreboard operator in the entire second half.
DUNDALK: John Smith; Seán Arrowsmith, Conor Williams; Ben Mortimer, Enda Murphy; James McConnon, Laurence Steen, Tiernan Gonnelly; Mike Walls, Jack Connolly; Sam Weber, German Javier Herrera Luhrs; Patrick Reilly, Robert Williams, Darragh Conroy. Replacements: Ciarán Brannigan, Greg Whately, Ciarán Lennon, Alistair McCormack, Conor Hennessey.
ASHBOURNE: Patrick Murtagh; Andrew Coade, Jack O’Brien, Simon Deevy, Andrew Gibson; Adam Martin, Conor McNally; Alan Wall, James McCaghy, Mark Behan; Conor Hurley, Andre Whittaker; Justin Whittaker, Sean McKeon, Jake Wall. Replacements: Danny Norton, Frank Keegan, Ciaran Roche, Dermot Colreavy, Casey Dunne. in fifth place with her horse Horseware HLM Fontana in such fantastic form that the vets commented: ‘He could race over another loop.’ The CI** was over a distance of 120km.
The weather conditions over the weekend made these races extremely challenging for Martin and Mary and both their mounts.
The pair had to reinvent their strategy for tackling these races, contending with torrential ground and corre- sponding challenging levels of visibility.
The pair are grateful for the support they received from their crew, Emma Thompson, Dermot MacGuinness and Norma Crowe who flew in for the event from Bulgaria.
‘The event was so well organised, they were ready for everything. The course was clearly laid out and all involved in the running of the event were professional and knowledgeable. We would like to thank them,’ stated Martin McNamara upon his return.
Martin and Mary both prepared extensively in advance of the race - as demonstrated by their successful results.
Keeping their horses in top condition and maintaining their health is the pair’s highest priority.
They use Sportz-Vibe massage therapy rugs on Horseware Iguazu and Horseware HLM Fontana, keeping them supple and relaxed in the run-up to these challenging courses.