J1 XV v Terenure (A) by D. O’Brien – 14.12.2016

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Terenure College RFC J1   V    St Mary’s College RFC J1

26                                  12

Metro League 1

Lakelands Park

Thursday 14th December 2017.

Overall

For the first 50 minutes or so of this game Terenure looked to be in full control and cruising, with four tries up and playing with a strong wind.  In fact in the first half it was mainly Terenure, playing against the wind but making headway most of the time. It has to be said that many of the Marys’ team had not played together regularly, which makes a big difference. Anyway, at half time Former Lion and now J1 coach, Rodney O’Donnell’s analysis and directions proved curative and turned the game into a really tough competition.  From then on the gaps that were in defence seemed to close and the ball was controlled better, running was straight and hard and the scrum was dominant.

It was very good to see several U20 players involved, integrating into the club culture and systems; and they did very well.  In fact there were a number of promising and strong performances.  Mark Fallon and Darragh McDonnell got into stride in the second half and romped through defences, with Darragh having several stampeding runs at great pace, one from near halfway, leading to his scoring a try.  Young U 20s, Ronan Waters, showed his potential as did Niall McEniff (son of Dr Niall), and Mathew Timmons and Conor Gilsenan, behind the scrum, giving their usually assured performances, with Mathew bringing off a try saving cover tackle and scoring himself.

They all now have a break for Xmas and as the team takes shape, we can look forward to continued progress under the expert tutelage of Rodney and Tom Lynch. Appreciation should also be expressed to management, Gareth Roche, Paul Conlon and Mick O’Connor.  They all deserve a happy Xmas.

D O’Brien

Team (Rolling Replacements) 15 J Kennedy, 14 C Smyth, 13 L O’Regan, 12 11 E Clynes, 10 M. Timmons, 9 C Gilsenan, 8 M Fallon, 7. Dan Lyons, 6. D McDonnell, 5 M Ridgeway, 4. E Conroy, 3 B Cullinane, 2 F Magee, 1 P Dundon.  , 17 N McEniff, 18 M. Donnellan, 19 R Waters, 20 James Murphy.