Saturday morning to take on their great rivals from north Dublin for the
first time this season. Many of the sharks had stayed up late to watch the
toy show the night before and were slightly the worse for wear, but they
were determined to get one over on their opponents nonetheless.
The Sharks were split into 2 teams, the Black Sharks, guided by Paul McEvoy
and John McDonnell and the White Sharks guided by Hugh Pheifer and Mini
Coordinator Fergus O’Callaghan.
The Black Sharks started their first encounter quite sluggishly, possibly
showing the effects of the late night many of them endured the previous
night. Skerries were stronger at the rucks and the breakdowns and were
winning the battle up front early on. This was rewarded with an excellent
first try, 1-0 to the hosts. A trademark solo effort from Kieran McArdle
levelled the scoring but the still dominant Skerries retook the lead shortly
afterwards. Towards the end of the first half the Sharks started competing
better up front and this resulted in a Sam Malone try ensuring honours were
even at the break. A few changes were made at half time and after an
inspiring team talk from Paul McEvoy the lads emerged a different force in
the second half. Great forward play from Ronan McDonnell and Laurence Jones
combined with fluent passing resulted in further tries from Sam Malone,
Kieran McArdle and Conal O’Callaghan, with the final score ending 5-3 to
Dundalk.
Game 2 started with a team rich in newer members of the sharks squad, with
Ben Wogan, Aaron Speight, Sean Leonard, Aaron Murphy and Lorcan Rice all in
their first season playing rugby, starting and some of the more seasoned
campaigners taking a rest. The new lads were a credit to themselves and
super play from Aaron Speight resulted in a turnover and fluent passing move
with Kieran McArdle rounding off a super team effort to take the lead,
followed by an excellent effort from Conal O’Callaghan. Skerries then
stepped it up again and scored 3 quick tries to take the lead before an
excellent effort from Laurence Jones levelled the scores. At half time some
of the seasoned campaigners came on and predictably bossed the second half,
with 6 unanswered tries from Kieran McArdle (2), Sam Malone (2), Conal
O’Callaghan and a powerful effort from Aron McEvoy, leaving the final score
9-3 to the Black Sharks. A very satisfying performance all round.
The White Sharks, guided by Fergus O’Callaghan and Hugh Pheifer took the
lead in their first game through Aaron McGuinness, but seemed to be equally
sluggish, like their Black Sharks counterparts, with 4 unanswered Skerries
tries resulting in a 4-1 deficit at half time. A stern team talk meant a
much more resilient performance from the Mill Road men in the second half
with tries from Milo Moore, Calum Grant, Lorcan Ticehurst, Alex Gregory,
Fionn Duffy and Aaron McGuinness leaving the final score 7-4 to Dundalk.
The second match was a much more challenging affair for Dundalk, although
the match began brightly with 2 tries from Fionn Duffy giving the White
Sharks a 2-0 lead. However this was as good as it got with Dundalk often
getting isolated with moves breaking down and turnovers conceded too
regularly, which resulted in 5 unanswered tries and a 2-0 loss.
There is plenty to work on in training for Jason and the boys on Tuesday
night, but to go away to Skerries and win 3 out of 4 is no mean achievement
and the Under 10 sharks can hold their heads high on a job well done.
