12.01.2013 J4 XV v Blackrock (A)

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12/01/201311:30amLeagueBlackrock College7 – 18St. Marys J4 XVAway

The J4’s travelled to Stradbrook to take on a Blackrock team looking for nothing but a win in order to keep them on track in their hunt for the J4 league title. On a cold morning you would be forgiven for expecting a slow start to proceedings but you would have been disappointed. Mary’s opened with some great running and good hands putting the Rock team on the back foot from the off and it wasn’t long before Ronan O’Donnell went over in the left corner after some great work from the pack, special mention to Joe Doddy’s silky hands, and good execution from the backs. It wasn’t long before Mary’s were cutting through the Rock defence again, great work from the centres freed up the space to allow Nick to touch down in the right corner. The two touchline conversions were unsuccessful but a score of 10-0 after ten minutes and it was looking like we could run riot. At this point Rock decided to up their game and we lost our way a bit and the early scoring didn’t transpire into a try fest. 10-0 at half time. A stern talking to at half time meant Mary’s regrouped and tried to get back to their game plan. A lot of the game being played in between the 22’s meant there wasn’t much trouble for the score board operator until Mary’s finally strung a few phases together and Andrew Godfrey scorched onto a miraculous floated pass by Tim Henderson to beat his man and score from 20 yards out. The pass was notable for the fact it managed to leave Tim’s hands more than anything else. Again the touchline conversion was just out of reach. Rock upped the ante after this and after a series of assaults on the Mary’s line managed to barge over after some soft defending and the easy conversion was added, 15-7. It should never have been this close. The team upped the intensity and won a penalty in front of the sticks which Teddy duly slotted. The last few minutes were seen out in the middle of the park and the score finished 18-7. The win keeps us on track to be in the mix for the title especially after leaders Clontarf lost on the same weekend. Next week brings a huge game against Terenure in Lakelands which could make or break the season.