DUNDALK RUGBY CLUB 401 DRAW – WINNERS OF DRAW.
WEEK 41
€401 John Matthews
€100 Joe Meegan
€100 Pat O’Callaghan
WEEK 42
€401 Maurice Murphy
€100 Neil Duffy
€100 David McGuinness
WEEK 43
€401 Deborah Mackin
€100 Vivian Brennan
€100 Donal Farrell
WEEK 44
€401 Donal Clare
€100 Willie Shannon
€100 Robert Linehan
On Friday night Dundalk 3rd XV made their long awaited playing debut for the season. The team travelled to Ardee with a somewhat makeshift panel due to work pressures and matches on Sat for the club’s other adult teams. Despite a defeat they came away from the game with great hope for the future due to sterling performances from some of the new young players. Captain David Magee was extremely pleased with the spirit shown and hopes to be able to blend some more experience with the enthusiasm of the current panel in order to enhance skills and encourage improvement.
The match itself started with Dundalk attacking the Ardee line but inexperience could not create the opening needed. After ten minutes, a long clearance kick from Ardee and good rucking from their forwards led to an Ardee scrum inside the Dundalk 22. Ardee formed a rolling maul from the scrum and crossed the Dundalk line between the posts. The try was duly converted. 7-0
Play resumed and despite great runs from Ken Coleman and man of the match Pierce Campbell the breakthrough just would not come. On twenty minutes, from a scrum on the half way line Ardee broke and resultant poor tackling led to Ardee crossing the Dundalk line again in the corner. The conversion was missed on this occasion.12-0
Dundalk attacked on the resumption and a pattern of play developed. Chris O Hanlon and Joe Brady began to dominate in the lineout and Darren Mc Guinness’s throw ins began to find their mark. Mc Guinness’s confidence grew and his display, in this his first match, augurs very well for the future. On the 30 minute mark, from a 22 drop out, the Dundalk defence lhad a lapse in concentration and thus allowed Ardee to run in another try between the posts which was converted. 19-0
The second half saw Dundalk regroup and come out more focused. They attacked and probed at the Ardee defence but, despite their great efforts, the break would not come. More accurate final passes and more game time together would no doubt have led to the scores which their efforts deserved.
Overall Ardee’s experience showed through, though all they had to show for it in the second half was a somewhat dubious penalty which they struck very well to leave the final score at 22-0.
Well done lads on your maiden voyage of this season. We are all sure there is better to come. See you at training.
Team:
J.Kerr, D.McGuinness, J.McDonnell, C.O’Hanlon, J.Brady, A.Byrne, N.Kerley, D.Magee, B.Tansey, A.Reilly, S.Matthews, C.McGeady, G.Smyth, P.Campbell, K.Coleman, A.Carr, S.Smyth.
The next Magee Cup outing will be against Athboy.
Golf Classic next Sat in Killin Park Golf Club. Support welcome. More info from Tommy.
Dundalk are finding life in this League, more difficult than other games. They are still trying to settle on their best selection and acknowledge that more work is needed on the training ground but this is a very determined group of players and there is no doubt, that for them, the best is yet to come. Coolmine were the opposition on Sat last and are doing very well in the league, winning two out of three of their previous outings and losing the other one by a single point, so, formidable opponents.
The Dundalk team showed good touches and were much improved and gave a much more solid account of themselves despite the scoreline. Captained on the day by Shane Mc Eneaney, Dundalk contributed to a good entertaining game of rugby.Tackling , particularly first time tackling still needs some work and led to Coolmine scoring a number of times. Dundalk played well early on but Coolmine held out well. Scorers for Dundalk were Errol Boyle,Conor Beattie Dan O Connell with Donal Clare converting all the tries. Laurence Steen led the pack very well with Conor Beattie and Conor Williams to the fore also. The game ended in a 28-48 defeat for the home team. Next opponents Enniscorthy.
Team:
E.Boyle, D.McGuinness, D.O’Connell, S.Clare, D.Clare, S.Matthews, D.McGuinness, J.Whyte, L.Steen, J.Kerr, R.Magee, S.McEneaney, C.Williams, T.Thornton, C.Beattie, C.Scully.
Golf Classic next Sat in Killin Park Golf Club. Support welcome. More info from Tommy
Coolmine were the visitors to Mill Road on Saturday and brought the sunshine with them. Both teams had won their last outings , Dundalk against Garda and Coolmine against Wanderers, and so were eager to continue on winning ways and ensure a place in the top half of the League Table.
Coolmine, with a large physical pack and strong running backs, went on the attack from starting whistle. They pinned Dundalk inside their own half for the first ten minutes but resolute tackling, particularly from the front row of Robert Farrell, Jonathan Grey and Ciaran Brannigan, kept them from crossing the try line. The attacking play of Coolmine eventually brought them a penalty which they choose to kick and so they opened the scoring 3-0.
As the game progressed Dundalk gained more possession and started making inroads into the Coolmine half.The Dundalk centre Afa Fa’atau broke the Coolmine line of defence with a charging run. Thomas Campbell quickly following up put the ball through two phases of play and found Ene Fa’atau whose strong run brought him to just short of the Coolmine line where he managed a pop pass to wing forward Stephen Martin, who dived over to score Dundalk’s opening try. Ultan Murphy stepped up to convert and give the home team a 7-3 lead after 15 minutes.
Dundalk’s game improved and more cohesion came into their play and their handling,gaining more ground with each attack. A line break from Ene Fa’atau found man of the match Stephen Martin again on his shoulder. Martin took the pass and handed off defenders before finding the hard running Stephen Murphy with a difficult pass which Murphy held onto with great skill.
Murphy was tackled heavily but managed to keep control of the ball to allow a ruck to be formed. Quick thinking Afa Fa’atau arrived, picked the ball and went over for Dundalk’s second try. The try went unconverted and the score after 20 minutes was 12-3.
Dundalk’s confidence improved and they were pushing hard for further tries. In the centre Fa’atau’s strong running continued to create problems for Coolmine and they could not get to grips with his running lines. Fa’atau got into the opposition 22 before passing to Murphy ,who drew his tackler to bring in Ciaran Sloan who found Robert Shields, at speed, on the wing with the line at his mercy. The referee however deemed the final pass to be forward and disallowed the try.
Just before half time a mix up in the defensive line of the home team left a gap for the Coolmine outhalf to come through and find his supporting full back with a good pass. The Coolmine player drew his opposite number on the Dundalk team to release his winger to score under the posts closing the gap to 12-10 at half time.
Dundalk started the second period the stronger team and launched attack after attack on the Coolmine line with Greg Whately to the fore in these efforts.Out-half Johnny Williams bounced off tacklers to gain vital yards and a score seemed inevitable after six phases of play with excellent handling but an intercept and clearance by the Coolmine winger relieved the pressure on the visitors line.
Coolmine were awarded a penalty on the halfway line and as their alert scrum half tapped and went second row Simon Crawford tackled him to save a certain try. However Crawford was sin binned for the tackle as he was not the requisite ten metres away from where the penalty was awarded. Dundalk were now down to 14 men early in the second half but they dug deep to keep the visitors at bay. Coolmine got a lineout close to the Dundalk line and with the extra man in the pack decided to maul the ball from the lineout. Trojan work from Jonathan Grey and Ciaran Sloan, who drove the ball carrier backwards,led to Dundalk being awarded a penalty. This relieved the pressure and a good kick put the pressure straight back on Coolmine. Dundalk worked their way up the field to the opposition 10 metre line where Coolmine conceded a penalty which Ultan Murphy slotted over to leave the score at 15-10 on 55 minutes. A Coolmine penalty from the 22metre line left the score 15-13 on 60 minutes.
Coolmine, encouraged by the narrow gap in the scoreline, took the ball from the kick off and drove towards the home line. Their efforts led to a Coolmine scrum ten metres out from the Dundalk line. The Dundalk defence was superb and working hard they got their hands on the ball and cleared their line. Ultan Murphy chased the cleatrance and deep inside the Coolmine half he tackled the catcher who was penalised for not releasing. Murphy completed his good work by converting the penalty 18-13.
From the kick off Coolmine got possession, mauled up the pitch and after several phases attacked down the blind side for their winger to score out wide. The conversion was missed leaving the scoreline 18-18 with ten minutes to go. Game on!
Shortly after the kick off Dundalk were awarded a penalty near the half way line, just inside the Coolmine half. Murphy stepped up to have a shot at the posts but despite having the distance the ball drifted just wide of the post. Encouraged, Dundalk continued to play in the Coolmine half of the field.
Coolmine resisted and launched an attack of their own, breaking up the pitch to the half way line. Dundalk hero, Jonathan Williams intercepted, turned and sprinted down the wing to the Coolmine line with opposition players in hot pursuit. He was not to be caught and home supporters cheered as he touched down for a very important Dundalk try. Murphy converted 25-18.
Coolmine launched a final attack but great cover tackling kept them out leaving Dundalk with another hard won victory and a very tired team. Well done all and keep up the good work. Dundalk now share third place in the league table with our next opponents Enniscorthy.
Team:
U.Murphy, R.Shields, R.Williams, A.Fa’atau, S.Murphy, J.Williams, T.Campbell, R.Farrell, J. Grey, C.Brannigan, S.Crawford, C.Sloan, E.Fa’atau, S.Martin, G.Whately, Subs: D.O’Connell, L.Steen, E.Boyle, J.Smith, D.Sloan
Golf Classic next Sat in Killin Park Golf Club. Support welcome. See you there. More info from Tommy.
Dundalk U10s travelled to the IRFU All-Ireland U10 Blitz held at Ashbourne on Saturday. This blitz was attended by the best U10 teams from all 4 provinces with 19 clubs in total attending on the day. In Dundalk’s group were Corrib from Connaught, Cobh and Fethard from Munster and Lisburn from Ulster. Dundalk brought 27 players on the day fielding 3 teams.
The weather proved to be fantastic on the day with sunshine throughout and no wind. In their first match against Corrib, Dundalk showed some nice rucking being quick to the breakdown and presenting secure ball for scrumhalf Jack Lynch to distribute to his backs. Dundalk’s greater experience told in this match running out easy winners with Elijah Faapito showing some nice footwork.
In the 2nd match, Dundalk came across a well drilled Lisburn side with a ‘monster’ pack. This was very much a step up in the standard for the boys and Dundalk looked poised for a result with the game poised at 1-1 at halftime the highlight being a try by Kieran McArdle – a well worked move from Daragh Toner with a scrum straight off the training paddock. However, Lisburn’s gargantuan pack eventually broke through despite a gallant defensive performance by the Sharks to run out winners late in the 2nd half.
For their 3rd match against Cobh, Dundalk were determined to bring more focus to their tackling and fought out a tough match to take a 1-0 lead into half-time. Dundalk added to their tally to make it 2-0 but Cobh fought back to take it to 2-1 with an intercept. With the lads ‘pumped up’ going into dying minutes of the 2nd half, a last minute heroic tackle by Jake McNamara to hold out for the win was the highlight of this match with the boys delighted with their win.
The final match against Fethard proved to be the best performance of the day with a number of players ‘stepping up to the plate’. Jonah Power lead from the front securing ball after ball in the ruck with Cathal Malone showing ‘terrier’ like determination with some nice steals and break outs to ease the pressure on Dundalk. Ryan McGee came to the fore in mauls showing good ball protection with Fionn Martin proving a real handful for the opposition with 2 and 3 tacklers kept busy in pursuit. Lee O’Carroll’s determined counter rucking was a regular source of possession for Dundalk and late in the match a determined run by Jack Mulroy breaking a number of tackles sealed it for Dundalk. A great day all round with rugby played in great spirit and the boys a credit to their club and town.
Dundalk U9’s welcomed Bective Rangers to the Mill Road on Sunday morning. Twenty six players took part in what was the first game of the Metro league. Two games were played and Dundalk stole the show on both occasions. Dundalk displayed great examples of tackling and rucking and the addition of mid-week training this year already looks like it is paying off.
Training at 6.30pm on Tuesday continues with new members always welcome.
The Dundalk U8s travelled to Ardee on Sunday morning with a very healthy squad of 23 players. Dundalk fielded two teams who competed against Ardee, North Meath and two Navan teams.
Dundalk A played Navan A, North Meath and Navan B for their three matches. After a slow start in the first game, which was drawn, the team finally got into their groove and won the two remaining matches with some fine interplay and some magnificent tries.
Dundalk B came up against Ardee and the two Navan teams. After edging the first game by the odd try, the team really opened up and produced some scintillating rugby to win their other two matches convincingly. Training continues on Saturdays at 10.30 sharp at the club.
Dundalk A: DD Reilly, Adam McCoy, David Coyle, Oisin Nash, Tom McCourt, Oisin McBride, Rory Wallace, Max Valentine, Conal Mullins Smartt, Shane Smyth, William Conyngham, Enda Dooley.
Dundalk B: Jake Kenny, Donal Lavery, Ewan Kelly, Calum Lambe, Luke O Connell, Daire Thomas, David Crilly, Tom O Brien, Michael Carroll, Will Smith, Eoin Purton.
