First defeat of year for Gorey
Boyne’s late penalty winner
THE GOREY J1s travelled up the coast to Boyne on Saturday looking for a crucial Leinster League Division 1A win that would keep them top of the table for at least another week.
But as so often happens in sport, form can often go out the window, as Boyne kicked a last-minute penalty to take all four points and leave Gorey with just a bonus point to take home.
Boyne, who had not been going well of late, belied their league position and all day proved a thorn for the Wexford men who never really got out of first gear.
Boyne were first out of the blocks and early pressure saw them lay down their marker.
Gorey did respond and put some good phases together to eventually cross for the opening try when Jordan Ahern put Killian Breen through to touch down. James Nolan added the conversion.
Gorey huffed and puffed as they tried to kick on but attention to detail at a number of plays was to prove costly.
A yellow card for Gorey saw Boyne up their game and, a number of phases later, they drew level when the visitors were stretched out wide.
With the bit between their teeth, it was not long until they crossed again after some good work saw them split the Gorey defence to extend their lead to 14-7.
Gorey showed glimpses of what they could do and in the final minutes of the half they put together a series of plays that saw them deep in Boyne territory.
Phase after phase saw Gorey stretch the home defence and eventually winger Joe Naughton crossed for a try. Nolan was just wide with the conversion.
The second-half was a scrappy affair with Gorey shading the territory stats but with only an early James Nolan penalty to show for their efforts.
Midway through the half a further James Nolan penalty attempt was just wide.
The game was scrappy as both sides struggled to put meaningful phases together.
With 15 minutes left, Boyne were reduced to 14 with a yellow card, and it looked like Gorey would close out the game.
They pinned Boyne deep in their ‘22 but could not find that all-important score that would leave two scores between the sides.
A number of five-metre scrums saw the home team survive when Gorey were deemed to have collapsed the scrum.
A 15-14 scoreline is always a precarious position to be in, and with five minutes left and Boyne restored to 15, they went in search of an unlikely win on paper.
A number of phases and penalties took them in to the visitors’ territory as they threw the kitchen sink at Gorey.
In the last play of the game they got their reward when Gorey were adjudged to be offside.
No kick is easy, and when the ball slipped in by the post Boyne were in the lead 17-15 to inflict the first defeat of the season on Gorey.
It was the final play of the game and Gorey can have no complaints as Boyne were tenacious and fought tooth and nail to the end.
Gorey had some outstanding performances, with special mention to Eddie Horan, Ciarán Allen and the man of the match, Stephen Gardiner.
Gorey: Ciarán Allen, Liam Molloy, Darragh Bellanova, Tom Jameson, Stephen Gardiner , Eoin Walsh, Killian Breen, Jordan Ahern, Aidan O’Brien, Stephen Duke, Joe Naughton, James Nolan, Jason Rothwell, Stephen Horan, Rob Harrington, Barry O’Connor, Kevin Brown, Stanley Hadden, Eoin Walsh, Cian Hadden.