Gorey seconds see off Rathdrum
GOREY WENT up a gear in the last quarter to pull away from Rathdrum and progress to the next round of the Provincial Towns Seconds Cup (J2) despite the home side’s valiant efforts in Ivy Lane on Saturday.
Rathdrum second-rows Calvin Swords and Harrison Milne scored first-half tries to contribute to their 17-13 lead at the break.
Lively Gorey scrum-half Flynn Donnelly showed his pace to dot down two of their three tries after the interval.
Winger Jake Kinsella landed the final blow when he scored their fifth try in the right corner.
The home side had the elements in their favour in the opening 40 minutes with the wind at their backs.
They started on the front foot, mounting all the pressure in the opening quarter and gaining easy access into attacking territory.
Going for the corner, the maul machine went to work. Their efforts got them on the cusp of a try, but it was deemed to be held up.
It wasn’t long before they had another lineout platform in the danger zone. The maul set the stage again.
On this occasion it was dragged down, resulting in another penalty. They opted for the quick tap and kept it simple.
Swords was eventually the man to break the deadlock and score the opening try, while Conor Parsons added the extras.
Rathdrum continued to keep their foot on the gas, eager to find another score while they had the wind in their favour. Scrum-half Alan Byrne and out-half Parsons kicked them into the right areas of the pitch.
Their second try came when their big man, Milne, stretched his long legs to charge in for the score.
Parsons was successful from the kicking tee again, so Rathdrum led 14-0 after 20 minutes.
Gorey opened their account through the boot of Kinsella before Parsons matched him with a penalty (17-3).
The visitors grew into the game and started to grind down their opponents.
They worked their way into the ’ 22 with patient phase play. Loosehead prop Dylan Slator was making the metres any time he carried the ball.
He committed the defenders before getting his hands free to pass the ball to full-back Tom Tropini who scored in the right corner.
Joe Duffy’s team had now really found their feet in the contest, looking composed and comfortable on the ball. They were hungry to reduce the deficit by more before the interval.
Rathdrum only had 14 men in defence, due to a yellow card, and Gorey were knocking on the door.
Cameron Reynolds ran a lovely short line to score their second try. Rathdrum had a slender 17-13 lead at half-time.
Gorey carried their momentum into the second-half. Back rows Ben Horan and Aidan O’Gara put in big shifts in both attack and defence.
Their number nine, Donnelly, sniped to score their third try, more importantly putting them into the lead for the first time. The conversion made it 20-17.
The hosts tried everything they could to breach the resolute defence. It was carry after carry, front up rugby.
They kept the pressure on for an extensive ten-minute period but they couldn’t find the try they needed to regain the lead.
Gorey started a swift counter-attack deep inside their own half. The ball was spread to Donnelly on the right flank.
He scampered away at speed to score their try, securing his brace, and it proved to be the decisive blow.
The away side left Co. Wicklow with one more try. Jake Kinsella touched down in the right corner for the final score as Gorey emerged as 32-17 winners.
Gorey: Tom Tropini, Jake Kinsella, Cillian Tomkins, Killian Breen, Aran Joyce, Jack Tully, Flynn Donnelly; Dylan Slator, Conor Brennan, Evan Byrne, Shay Guilfoyle, Cameron Reynolds, Aidan O’Gara, Ben Horan, Tom Stokes. Subs. - Seán Egan, Seán Doyle, David Griffiths.
Rathdrum: Craig McCoy, Ross Merry, Seán Kinsella, Donal Smith, Kieran Penn, Conor Parsons, Alan Byrne; Thomas Cruise, Stuart Ryan, Shane Byrne, Harrison Milne, Calvin Swords, Daniel Dowling, Seán O’Reilly, Shane Burch. Subs. - Christopher Doyle, Jordan Gregory, Ronan Cunningham, Keith Merry, Andrew Kenny.