Congratulations to Paul Meegan who won the tickets to the French match last Sat.
The draw for the tickets for the England game will be held after the Towns Cup match v Wicklow this coming Sun (If anyone has cards to hand in please do so asap).
There will also be a number of 401 draws after the match on Sun.
KO is at 3pm.
A number of our senior players will be out at the Club
on Sat morning with the All Ireland Junior Cup.
Feel free to come out and have your photo taken with the trophy.
Magnificent result last Sat by the lads and a great photo to have.
Dundalk beat Bangor 55-5 to win the All Ireland Junior Cup Final with a stunning performance on Saturday last, Jan 31st, in Portadown.
The hundreds of Dundalk supporters who travelled to the game could scarcely believe what unfolded as a flawless Dundalk obliterated Bangor with a blitzkrieg of meticulously worked moves. Dundalk were in total control of the game from the off and dominated scrums, lineouts, set plays and loose plays. This was Dundalk’s most comprehensive and finest performance since the Provincial Towns Cup Final win in 2011.
Rarely in a final of any code is one side so utterly dominant.
From the kickoff Dundalk dominated possession with Enda Murphy and Robbie Farrell refusing to surrender the ball in the ruck and presenting Thomas Campbell with good clean possession. From the base of a well defended ruck Campbell had options open from very vantage point. Jonathan Williams, playing at no.10, was having another outstanding game, using both his knowledge of the game and at times pure strength to ensure Dundalk broke the gain line with almost every play.
Make no mistake, Bangor are a top Ulster side, strong enough to make the All Ireland Final, but when they did have possession the Dundalk back row of David Whately, JamesMcConnon and Ene Fa’atau strangled their attempts to play the ball with a series of smothering tackles, thus preventing Bangor from gaining any real traction.
Team captain MJ McKevitt and Chris Scully in the centre played magnificently. Almost telepathic in their coordination in both defense and attack, the duo nullified anything Bangor attempted in attack while with ball in hand they were a formidable combination.
Dundalks first score came from first phase ball out of a solid scrum. Johnny Gray, Robbie Farrell and Lotu Nuku were solid in the front row and pushed Bangor off the ball. Campbell spun wide to Johnny Williams who saw Chris Scully in open space. A pass that missed MJ McKevitt was picked up by Scully who found himself in open territory more or less on the halfway line. The powerful runner powered through the Bangor defences and went over the line almost uncontested. Ultan Murphy converted and after 6 minutesDundalk were 7-0 to the good.
Buoyed on Dundalk began to hunt in earnest, with back row superiority Dundalk expanded their game. A pass from Williams out wide found Ene Fa’atau between the centres and Dundalk were off on another attack. A final pass out wide to Stephen McGee sent him racing for the try line and were it not for the referee calling a forward pass Dundalk would have been over again. Bangor did regain possession but a succession of tackles in the centre from Paul Meegan, Stephen McGee and Owen McNally halted the Bangorattack. Johnny Gray’s block down on an attempted clearance was gathered by James McConnon and spun wide to Chris Scully. Again Scully opened the Bangor defense and with a precision pass to Owen McNally, the winger went over in the corner and scored Dundalk’s second try after 22minutes.
Dundalk struck again before the half ended when Johnny Williams blasted his way through the Bangor backs and scored a terrific self made try. As half time approached Dundalk were 19 -0 up and had complete total control of the game. Paul Meegan was using all his strength to dominate the close encounters with Enda Murphy also in the fray.
Dundalk really were in total control as the half time approached and the only fear the second half held would be that Dundalk would not continue with the same intensity. Those fears were soon alleviated.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw the Bangor no.4 yellow carded for pulling down a maul literally feet from their own tryline. What ensued then was nothing short of a fairytale. Three more rapid tries, each one a gem in their own right, from Dundalkcame through John Smith, James McConnon and Ultan Murphy. At 36-0 after 65 minutes there was no way back now for Bangor. Not satisfied yet, Dundalk continued their assault on the Bangor line. Another two tries followed, one from the baby of the team, Tiernan Gonnelly, and, literally only minutes on the pitch, Stephen Murphy. With Ultan Murphy on kicking duty,Dundalk were 55-0 ahead, an unprecedented score at this level.
With about only four minutes left on the clock Bangor did get over for a try, small consolation for a team that had been on the receiving end of a Dundalk display which left nobody in any doubt about the pedigree of this team.
Next week Dundalk are back in league action, away to Cill Dara, with fixtures moved to the Sunday due to the Ireland v Italy match in the 6 nations championship.
Team: Stephen McGee, Owen McNally,Chris Scully, M.J. McKevitt (C), Ultan Murphy, Johnny Williams, Thomas Campbell, Johnny Gray, Lotu Nuku, Robert Farrell, Paul Meegan, Enda Murphy,James McConnon, David Whatley, Ene Fa’atau.
Subs: John Smith, Derek Williams, Mike Bentley, Ciaran Brannigan, Stephen Murphy.
Folks,
