For the fifth outing of 2013, Dundalk U10s headed to Landsdown RFC (which is located beside the AVIVA Stadium). The Dundalk U10s had played Landsdowne at home in November, 2012 and were in truth taught a lesson by the Donnybrook club on that occasion. Indeed they were also taught a lesson in 2011 so Dundalk were very eager to set the record straight and to give a good account of themselves. The venue is artifical astro-turf which made for great running and with the back drop of AVIVA the boys were inspired to do great things on what proved to a very cold morning with a stiff breeze.
Two equal teams of 10 and 11 took the field against 2 Landsdowne sides. Dundalk A consisted of Lorenzo Zvikas, Killian Rooney, Cormac Malone, Lee O’Carroll, Barney Blake, Joshua O’Hare, Adam Duffy, Jake McNamara, Jack Mulroy and Daragh Toner. Team B consisted of James Reenan, Brian Flanagan, Jack Carroll, Oisin McGrath, Jonah Power, Fionn Martin, Elijah Faapito, James Toal, Cathal Malone, Xin Da Cao and Ryan McGee.
Team A’s first match proved to be a very tight affair with the boys determined to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with a fantastic determination to dominate the rucks and the breakdowns. This was an area that Lansdowne had dominated Dundalk before and the trend of the game was set with Lee O’Carroll, who was back from an injury (broken foot) setting the tone with no hesitation in the rucks and breakdown and some great runs through the middle of the Landsdowne defence. Barney Blake gave an MVP performance with his overall poaching, rucking and classic No. 7 style play really shining on the day. Joshua O’Hare looks like being the most improved player this year with a consistent ability to gain significant yardage while retaining possession for his team when leadership was needed. Lorenzo Zvikas was rock solid in defence with solid tackling when Landsdowne appeared to get a head of steam. Dundalk took the lead off a very well worked lineout with Adam Duffy pulling off a classic crash ball up the middle after a sweet pass from scrum half Daragh Toner who made life easy on his backs with passes going to hand throughout the match. Cormac Malone was an ever present force particularly in the loose and broken play with lighting fast ability to secure broken ball when it presented itself.. Following an equalizer by Landowne, Dundalk pulled ahead yet again with a rampaging move by Jake McNamara setting up Killian Rooney who off-loaded a crisp pass to Barney Blake who touched down. Late in the 2nd half, following some poor tackling Landsowne equalised again to make it 2-2. The boys were clearly frustrated given that the match was dominated by them in possession and territory and upped their game to effectively camp in the Landsdown half for the last 2 minutes of the game with the winner coming at the death with Jack Mulroy getting in the corner after being set up by Killian McNally who offloaded sweetly.
Team A also won their 2nd match, 6-3.
Team B’s first match proved to be an almost perfect match for the boys with everybody to a man playing well for their jersey. Fionn Martin gave a tour-de-grace exhibition of rucking and counter rucking literally running himself into the ground by the end of the match. It was hard to know which side rucked better but Team B gave nothing to their opposition in this match with excellent mauling technique by Ryan McGee who was a constant source of go-forward ball with his safe presentation of the ball a real asset to the side. Cathal Malone has taken to scrum half work like a duck to water and his passing and overall sniping around the corner kept the opposition honest. His back up scrum half on the day, James Toal yet again brought poaching and the art of stealing a rugby ball to another level with his badger like character turning the ball over again and again when it looked impossible. James Reenan was a constant thorn in the Lansdowne side with a particulary stalwart defensive display. His low ankle level tackling particularly caught the eye with all of the big Landsdown forwards being brought down at some stage during the match. Oisin McGrath typified Dundalk’s attitude with solid defence and a willingness to graft when it was needed in broken play. Jack Carroll ran until he could give no more showing up in support when he needed to and generally taking the smart option in recycling the ball. Xin Da Cao continues to come on leaps and bounds and gave a master class in how a forward should move over the gain line and retain possession. Another player in his first year, Brian Flanagan gave a good account of himself with some excellent mauling at the front and always getting the ball back when it appeared lost. Jonah Power proved to be a dynamo around the field with smart running into space and a constant desire for work. Elijah Faapito ran in a number of tries during the match, showing up whenever a support player was needed and has over the past few months developed into a fantastic finisher. Dundalk B won this match 11-3 and won it through teamwork. A constant theme was their calmness in defence with the early in the season tendency to other shoot now a distant memory.
Team B also won their 2nd match, 11-4.
