J3 XV v Seapoint RFC Division 7 Final

J3 XV v Seapoint RFC

Metro League Division 8 Final

Kilgobbett Park , Seapoint RFC

Saturday 13.04.2024

St. Mary’s College RFC (13) v Seapoint RFC (6)

Last Saturday presented another league final for the club and this time it was the chance for our impressive J3 side to claim a trophy. The final brought us to Seapoint RFC as they had finished top of division 7 after blitzing the first half of the league season. After a huge start to the season with a win down in  Navan our J3 squad faced this side  on a windy day in killiney with Seapoint edging the result. Seapoint went on to put together an impressive run and from an early stage they were the team to beat. The league remained tight and competitive below them with Mary’s , Navan and Belvo fighting for second. With a loss to Belvo very early in the season this Mary’s squad knew that big home results would be required against each of these teams. The squad grew into the league as the season progressed with players improving all over the park and when the big run of Navan, Belvo and Seapoint at home came only 3 wins would do. That’s exactly what was delivered and with other results going Mary’s way , the road to a league final was drawing to its conclusion, although Navan made the race very tight in the end.

From the bus to the warm up there was a focus on the job at hand and as with most players there was a desire to get out on that pitch and get the job done.

Mary’s received the kick off against a ferocious breeze with campo collecting , carrying hard and setting up clean ball. The ideal start to settle the nerves. SP again had     solid carriers and one up runners but with nils , Boyler and dom on the pitch on Saturday they were up against it. SP carriers were met hard on the game line with a huge workrate and intensity from the Mary’s pack , Boyler and nils chopping everything in sight and dom the tackle Machine putting in a huge shift over the whole game. He smashed 3 tackles in the last 3 minutes of the game in quick succession keeping SP out. It was truely a final performance for our resident saffa Dom who rightly earned the man of the match award. From the sideline it was fantastic to watch this pack performance, big carries from Lucas , campo and the Likes of Rory, Boyler, dom constantly on their shoulder. The organisation and appetite to defend and carry was more than worthy of any final and we knew it was needed against that breeze in the first half. Mary’s had a strong start to the game although mostly played in their half and were unlucky to loose campo to an unintentional high tackle yellow. Mary’s held firm in defence throughout the first half and put in a huge performance with SP only putting 6 points on the board through a high tackle penalty and penalty for not releasing. This was a huge results for Mary’s against some very challenging conditions.

6-0 Seapoint half time

After the half time chat from Dave , Fran, murph and Richie , the squad knew that this game was there for the taking and we were now playing with a huge breeze. It was now Mary’s turn to run the ball and unleash this great backline. SP had no choice but to have their back three sit deep in the backfield and as soon as the Seapoint backline came up flat on the Mary’s attack space opened up and within a few minutes of half starting quick passing out the backline and ball to Denis at speed was enough for him to hit the gap in the Seapoint defence to get over the line.

6-5 Seapoint

As the squad returned to the half way line , captain Richie gave the all important order which has been vital all season for game management which was to remain composed and focus on the next job. Mary’s again retained ball and slowly worked their way up the pitch. As the pack now controlled the battle up front more and more clean ruck ball was produced for wogie and Harry who had another solid performance in the halfback line. With Mary’s now shifting the ball out the back line with SP under pressure to defend, it wasn’t long before Denis broke the gameline again and scored.

10-6 Mary’s

Soon after with the momentum in Mary’s favour , a penalty was awarded and the opportunity was used to take the 3 points and keep the scoreboard ticking over and this was a vital score now looking back on the game and the closing minutes. With the huge pack effort it was again time for our bench to make its impact with Christian , Cian and Jayden all coming on and making an impact. Our back 3 held firm with Jack and walshy putting in some good carries and tackles , Reno held the 15 position while carrying an injury and worked well with Shero and Denis at centre. Malo also came on to close out the game and was under pressure in defence immediately. SP also relalised changes were required up front and made a late surge toward the Mary’s line which was defended with every last ounce of energy. It was a huge performance and memorable day for the Mary’s men and the squad would like to thank the huge crowd that turned up to support this day. Another trophy in the club in a huge season. Well done lads.

Chris o connor