J4 XV v Guinness (H) 03.10.2015

Match Report: 

Leinster Metro League Division 6

St Marys College RFC 36 Guinness RFC

Mary’s J4s bounced back from their opening day defeat to Old Wesley in some style on Saturday as they comprehensively defeated a brave Guinness outfit at Templeville Road to get their league campaign up and running.

The Guinness side arrived at the ground with a massive pack leading the way and as anticipated the early exchanges in the game were hugely physical as both sides battled to lay down a marker, but it was Mary’s who drew first blood when a penalty at the breakdown was coolly slotted away by fly-half James Bourke.

The Mary’s defence was solid across the board as Guinness sent wave after wave of big ball carriers down the middle of the park and the home side got their just rewards when a fortuitous stroke of luck saw a ball knocked forward in the air by winger Daniel Hanlon bounce up into the arms of Cillian Walsh who showed a clean pair of heels as he stormed in untouched for the opening try of the afternoon.

Following Bourke’s conversion the Mary’s backline took control, spreading the Guinness defence all over the park with some beautiful passing and determined running eventually culminating in a fantastic bit of individual skill from inside centre Mick Daly who crossed for Mary’s second which was again converted by Bourke to leave the score 17-0 at half time.

The introduction of Aaron O’Connor at the break saw the pace of the game increase in tempo as he whizzed from ruck to ruck keeping the ball flowing and with the backs running the Guinness side ragged gaps quickly began to show in the visiting sides’ defence.

Cue hooker James McHugh stepping up to the plate as he rampaged through a hole in the defence to chalk up the first of a brilliant brace of tries which were well deserved during a typically hard working display and put away in quick succession as Bourke converted one and narrowly missed the other to leave the score at 29-0.

The brave Guinness side threw everything they had at Mary’s in the dying minutes and were unlucky not to come away with a score from the game but the home side’s determined defence and refusal to lie down, personified by captain Shane Fanning meant that it was going to be a whitewash on the day.

With the game drawing towards a close and the Mary’s side still firing out wide it was under 20s centre Alex Smirnov who put the final icing on the cake as the ball was spread wide and he ran in for a fine try that the brilliant Bourke converted to leave the score 36-0 and a job well done on the day by an impressive Marys J4 effort.