The High Flying Dundalk Sharks Under 10s edged a very tough encounter against their Navan counterparts at Mill Road on Saturday. The Sharks were blessed with a break in the torrential downpour of the weekend and actually enjoyed excellent playing conditions with the pitch in excellent shape. The Sharks and Navan had over 30 players who were split into 3 even teams. Representing Dundalk were the Black Sharks, guided by Mini’s Co-ordinator Fergus O’Callaghan and John McDonnell, The White Sharks guided by Hugh Pheifer and team manager Jason Malone and the Silver sharks guided by Paul McEvoy and Stuart Jones.
The Black Sharks started against Navan and poor tackling and competing at the ruck lead to an early Navan try, which put the sharks on the back foot straight away. The Sharks were slow to get into gear, but gradually the likes of Eoghan Staunton and Ronan McDonnell started winning the battles up front and creating the space for some fluid passing and running play from the likes of Edward Finegan, scrum half Lorcan Ticehurst and the very pacey James O’Connor, Mark Leavy and Milo Moore.
A ding dong encounter ended up 3-3 with 2 tries from Milo Moore and 1 from James O’Connor. Match 2 was a demolition of a very talented Navan side, Eoghan Staunton was the clear the man of the match with a dominant forward display, which caught Navan cold and left them with no answers. The match ultimately ended 5-0, Dundalk’s tries coming from James O’Connor (2), Mark Leavy, Milo Moore and Eoghan Staunton.
Match 3 ended 6-5 to the Sharks and in reality was not as close as the score line suggests, with 3 late tries conceded at the death by Dundalk making the score line suggest a much closer match. Dundalk tries were scored by Lorcan Ticehurst (2) James O’Connor, Milo Moore, Mark Leavy and Ronan McDonnell. Great all round play from Eddie Finegan, Eoghan Staunton, Peter Rice and newcomer Sean Leonard also helping the cause. Great work from the Black Sharks.
The White Sharks under Manager Jason and Hugh started well in their first match going 1-0 ahead thanks to a Leo MacRuairi try. However things went from bad to worse after that with some positive play often breaking down at crucial times,combined with excellent Navan play leading to a 7-1 loss. The coaches needed to lift heads and rally the troops and they did just that. Game 2 was a ding dong encounter with the Sharks giving every bit as good as they got. The match finished 4-4 with tries for Joseph Pheifer, Luke Andrews, Leo MacRuairi and Sam Malone and the sharks were unlucky not to win. Buoyed by that excellent performance, the White Sharks tore into their Navan counterparts in the final match, going 1-0 ahead thanks to a Joseph Pheifer try. Further Sharks tries from Sam Malone, Luke Andrews, Alex
Gregory and a second from Joseph Pheifer would not be enough for outright victory, with Navan snatching a draw right at the death.
The Silver Sharks guided by Paul McEvoy didn’t have a reporter present, but all the lads gave a great account of themselves with super performances from the likes of Conal O’Callaghan, Robert Malone, Aaron McEvoy and all of the lads. The Silver Sharks gained a win, a draw and a loss from their 3 encounters.
Overall manager Jason was happy with the lads and although there is still plenty to work on the season is still shaping up to be another very successful one for the Under 10 Sharks.
Dundalk Sharks Under 10s v Navan on Saturday
Back Row (L-R): Robert Malone, Riain Rafferty, Fionn Duffy, Fiacra O’Gorman, Ronan McDonnell, Mark Leavy, Conal O’Callaghan, Eoghan Staunton, Jonny Jones, Aaron McGuinness, Lorcan Ticehurst, Tadhg, Aron McEvoy, Jack, Peter Rice, Joseph Pheifer.
Front Row (L-R): Luke Andrews, Luke Clarke, Alex Gregory, Kieran McArdle, Milo Moore, Calum Grant, Sam Malone, Sean Leonard, Edward Finegan, Liam Dorian, James O’Connor, Cillian Murphy, Niall Brennan, Lorcan Rice.
