30.10.2010 J4 XV v Greystones (A)
| 30/10/2010 | 3:00pm | League | Greystones | 5 – 15 | St. Marys J4 XV | Away |
The J4’s travelled to Dr. Hickey Park to take on Greystones on Saturday afternoon. The rain on Friday had softened up the pitch but conditions were perfect.
After an even opening ten minutes, Mary’s lineout started to dominate and the maul was gaining good ground inside the ‘Stones 22. A steady stream of possession to our backs exposed weaknesses in the home team’s backline defence with centre David Carpenter consistently breaking tackles and making ground. Carpo’s centre partner Wally Moran ran a good support line off one of these breaks and broke deep into Greystones territory. The ball was recycled quickly and taken on by skipper Phil Conway. Quick hands from out-half Teddy Moran and Carpo gave winger Nick Cunningham a chance in the corner and he showed good strength to break a covering tackle and score. Teddy couldn’t convert the tricky kick from the touchline. 20 minutes in, Mary’s 5-0 Greystones.
Mary’s continued to pile on the pressure and just a couple of minutes later, after another midfield line break from Carpo and Wally and some great continuity, we got a penalty inside the 22. After a break for injury, Ted tapped quickly and passed to Nick on the wing who managed to squeeze in at the corner again. Despite never indicating that he was taking a shot at goal, Greystones complained that the kicking tee had been on the pitch. The ref agreed and awarded them a scrum back.
Mary’s didn’t allow this to disrupt their momentum and after another Carpo break, this time supported by second row Joe Doddy, Greystones killed the ball close to their line and the ref duly produced the yellow card.
After successive penalties on the Greystones 5 metre line, Wally crashed over to score by the posts. Teddy converted to give Mary’s a 12-0 lead at half time.
Unfortunately, the second half never really delivered on the promise of the first. Teddy converted and early penalty chance for 15-0 but after that Greystones played the ball in close to their pack. Greystones managed to get a score out wide very late on to make it 15-5, but Mary’s made it 3 wins from 3 in the first stage of the league and are in a good position to finish in the top 3 and qualify for the Super 6 stage in a few weeks time.
15. Darragh O’Neill 14. Nick Cunningham 13. David Carpenter 12. Paul Moran 11. Paul Whyte 10. Teddy Moran 9. Ross Wynne 8. Padraig Nestor 7. Phil Conway (c) 6. Rory O’Neill 5. Joe Doddy 4. John Twomey 3. Ross Kelly 2. Eamon Moran 1. Alan Godfrey