Dundalk Sharks U9 who faced Wesley in Dublin on Sunday:
Back Row left to right: Luke Andrews, Eoghan Staunton, Aron McEvoy, Joseph Pheifer, Alex Gregory, Peter Rice, Jack Gilmore, Laurence Jones, Aaron McGuinness Smith
Front Row left to right: Ronan McDonnell, James O’Connor, Luke Clarke, Robert Malone, Sam Malone, Edward Finnegan, Conal O’Callaghan, Lorcan Ticehurst
Absent from photo but played on the day: Mark Leavy, Kieran McArdle, Brian McCahill, Jonnny Jones

 

The all conquering unbeaten Dundalk Sharks under 9 side made the long journey to South Dublin for their final Metro League match of the season hoping to finish off the season in style and maintain their “invincible” unbeaten record for the year. Despite the long journey, 23 Sharks turned up and after a few weeks without a match they were champing at the bit to get going. Even before kickoff it was looking ominous for an Old Wesley side that were short on the numbers who made the trip to Mill Road for a competitive reverse encounter before Christmas.

First up were the Black Sharks against Old Wesley A, guided by Hugh Pheifer and almost immediately Mark Leavy benefitted from some great forward play to give a sublime pass to Leo MacRuairi who finished with trademark aplomb to make it 1-0. Shortly thereafter Aaron McGuinness Smith won the ball after his own tackle, before passing to Kieran McArdle to make it 2-0. The 3rd for the black Sharks was scored by Kieran McArdle after a great break from Niall Brennan, but it was created by the wonderful forward play of Jonny Jones, who was having his best match of the season for the Sharks. This was further exemplified when he created the fourth with a fantastic turnover and pass to Luke Andrews, who showed fantastic pace to run half the length of the field to make it four. It was that man, Jonny Jones once again, who forced a turnover, offloaded brilliantly to Niall Brennan who after great work found Aaron McGuinness Smith who completed a 5-0 route for the visitors. It was more of the same for the Black sharks in their second match against Old Wesley B, the Mill Road men running out comfortable 5-1 victors with tries from Aaron McGuinness Smith, Brian McCahill, who had a great game, Mark Leavy and a brace from Kieran McArdle. A very satisfactory end to the metro league for the Black Sharks, who had certainly laid down a marker for the White Sharks and Silver Sharks to follow.

The White Sharks had their first encounter against Old Wesley A and after seeing what their counterparts had done in the earlier match, needed to careful not to be complacent. This was evidenced in the first play of the game when slack Shark play led to a swift Wesley break and what seemed like a certain try, but for the heroics of Lorcan Ticehurst, who made a wonderful try saving tackle, which was to pave the way for an outstanding personal performance from the Ravensdale man. Thankfully it was lesson learned from the White Sharks and they didn’t look back from then on. They went one better than the Black Sharks running out 6-0 winners, with tries from Aron McEvoy (2), Ronan McDonnell (2) and Edward Finnegan (2). But that only told some of the story as the White Sharks put in a complete performance with fantastic forward play from the likes of Laurence Jones, Eoghan Staunton and Ronan McDonnell, sublime passing from man of the match Lorcan Ticehurst, Robert Malone and Jack Gilmore and incisive runs from the likes of Aron McEvoy, Robert Malone, Edward Finnegan, Laurence Jones, Ronan McDonnell and Lorcan Ticehurst. The second match saw more of the same from the White Sharks who ran riot surging into a 7-1 lead against Old Wesley B, before taking the foot off the gas with the match ending 8-3. The White Sharks tries were scored by Aron McEvoy (2), Lorcan Ticehurst, Edward Finnegan, Ronan McDonnell (2), and Laurence Jones (2) and with a bit of concentration it could have been more. A fantastic way to finish off the Metro League for the White Sharks!

All eyes were now on the Silver Sharks who didn’t disappoint. Their first match was against Old Wesley B, running out comfortable 4-0 winners with two sublime tries from James O’Connor and one apiece from Alex Gregory and Conal O’Callaghan. These tries were backed with fantastic rucking and competing at the breakdown from the likes of Joseph Pheifer and passing from Sam Malone. The final match for the Silver Sharks against Old Wesley A was a more competitive affair, but the Silver Sharks still ran out comfortable 5-2 winners following two tries from Sam Malone and one each from Alex Gregory, Joseph Pheifer and Conal O’Callaghan. The Silver Sharks were delighted to have made it a convincing clean sweep against the south Dublin side.

After the convincing rout, Head Coach Jason Malone and Mini- Co-ordinator Fergus O’Callaghan were delighted with the boys display, despite not having been tested too severely by a below par Wesley outfit, but proud nonetheless, as they were with the unbeaten run through the entire Metro League. There are 3 North East League fixtures to look forward to before this year’s rugby draws to a close; the future certainly looks bright for these talented young Sharks.