13.11.2010 J5 XV v Terenure (A)
| 13/11/2010 | 11:30am | League | St. Marys J5 XV | 28 – 16 | Terenure | Home |
J5’s 28-16 Terenure
On Saturday the J5’s took to the field for their biggest game so far this season against our neighbours Terenure. There was huge competition for places in the squad for this game. It was evidenced by our biggest turn out so far at training on Wednesday when 26 players turned up to fight for their place in the match day 20.
The team was very determined and focused for this game. Eager to keep up the winning streak, but also to put to bed the ghost of last season when we were on the end of two heavy defeats to Terenure.
We started off the strongest and brightest of the two sides. Great play from scrum half Kieran Morrissey saw him take advantage of a gap in the Terenure defence, slip through a couple of tackles to score in the corner. 5-0 Mary’s. The next 15 minutes of the game were tight, but we still dominated. Our pack killed Terenure in numerous early scrums which led to them taking off a prop and therefore making the scrums uncontested. Good play again brought us into the Terenure 22. However Terenure got lucky and incepted a miss placed pass to run the length of the field and go over under the posts. The conversion was successful. 5-7 Terenure. The lads were not phased by this and continued to battle hard. With 10 minutes left in the half we put Terenure under pressure inside their 22 and won a penalty. The kick was scored by David Crowley. 8-7 Mary’s. The first half scoring was not finished yet. Scrum half Morrissey again made a break and ran through the Ternure defence to go over for his 2nd try of the game. Crowley got the conversion. 15-7 to Mary’s. Its stayed that way at half time.
The aim at half time was to keep focused and continue to put Terenure under pressure. Early in the 2nd half that didn’t seem what was going to happen when Terenure got a penalty and scored the 3 points. 15-10 Mary’s. Again the lads weren’t phased and yet again took the battle to Terenure. Straight from the kick off the ball was turned over. Backs and forwards combined together and worked the ball down beside the touchline and into the Terenure 22. The move finished off with prop Steve Walkin going over for the try. 20-10 Mary’s. For the next 20 minutes the team continued to work hard together and force Terenure into some mistakes. One suck mistake led to a penalty opportunity with Crowley getting another 3 points. 23-10 Mary’s. The last 10 minutes were very nervous to watch. Terenure continuously tried to force themselves back into the game. Defence held strong but were unlucky to give away two penalties which Terenure converted. 23-16 Mary’s. Terenure tried to keep working the ball into our half. A wild pass was thrown which was intercepted by Gary Crawford who ran all the way to the line to score the try. A huge roar of relief when out from our side of the pitch as we knew we had finally got our victory over Terenure which we have been waiting way to long for. Final score 28-16 Mary’s.
The lads were delighted at the final whistle. Great performance from the team as a whole including the subs when they came into the game. That is 9 wins in a row for the team (4 friendlies and 5 league games) which see us remain at the top of the table. Still a long way to go in the league with another 13 games to go.
Scorers:
Tries – Kieran Morrissey (2), Steve Walkin & Gary Crawford.
Conv – Crowley
Pens – Crowley (2)
15 Daniel McEvoy
14 Gary Crawford
13 Shane Hourigan
12 Michael Daly
11 Marco Pietri
10 David Crowley
9 Kieran Morrissey
8 Paul Travers
7 James Hynes
6 Anthony O’Hanlon (Captain)
5 Eamonn Walsh
4 Mark Byrne
3 Steve Walkin
2 Hugh Lyons
1 Michael Clarke
Subs:
16 David Browne, 17 Jody Brooks, 18 Ian McCarthy, 19 Shane Levins, 20 David Millard.