Dundalk 3rd V Balbriggan 3rd

The weekend of mix bag results continued for Dundalk RFC the third’s side faced a travelling Balbriggan side at the Mill road. It would be the side’s first home game on a crisp sunny Sunday afternoon. The squad were without their captain Cathal Myles and Bryan Crosby took charge of the side in his absence. Dundalk started the match with some solid play in the first half. Pearse Campbell showed his skill scoring an excellent try within the first ten minutes which Ray McCabe converted. McCabe added a penalty soon after. The first half continued with good work from the front row. Unfortunately, Balbriggan broke free to score a soft try in the right hand corner bringing the score line to 12-10 at halftime.

The second half would not fair much to Dundalk’s favour. Unfortunately, for the Dundalk side a combination of youth and inexperience in the squad failed to react to the increased pressure from Balbriggan and despite being strong at the set pieces Balbriggan took control too. This will not dishearten the Dundalk’s thirds who have seen consistent numbers at training and working hard each week. The improvement from week to week will surely result in more wins.

XV Squad:

1.Andrew Holmes, 2 John Kerr. 3. Steve Smyth, 4. Bryan Crosby, (C) 5. Thomas Thornton, 6. Stephan Traynor, 7. Daniel Mc Govern, 8.Gavin Mullen. 9.Grattan O’Hagan, 10.Ray McCabe, 11.Pearse Campbell, 12.Mike Doyle, 13.Rory Mc Ardle, 14.Gerry Lawless, 15.Eamonn Roe.
Subs: Barry Callan, Aaron Mulligan, Chris Mc Geady. Chris Hinchy, Richard Mc Guinness, Joey Brady, Eric Fitzgerald, Niall Kerley.