24.01.2009 J4 XV v Lansdowne (H)

24/01/20092.30pmLeagueSt. Marys J4 XV26 – 12LansdowneHome

The J4’s maintained their unbeaten run in Pool 1 of the J4 League with a 26-12 win over Lansdowne at Templeville Road.

We set ourselves a goal of eliminating the slow start that has effected us in recent matches and we certainly did that. The first 20 minutes were spent in Lansdowne’s half with plenty of possession secured by the pack both in the loose and out of touch.

The opening score came as centre Wally Moran broke a weak tackle in the 22 and then stepped the last man to score under the posts for a 7-0 lead. The second try cam from a clever kick by out-half Teddy in mid-field, as he put in a diagonal kick in behind the Lansdowne wing. Our winger Nick Cunningham sprinted after it, beat the cover and profited from a nice bounce to gather and score under the posts with a swallow dive (luckily he held on to the ball). Ted slotted the points for 14-0 after 15 minutes.

Unfortunately the foot came off the pedal a bit and Lansdowne finally got their hands on the ball. They came into the game more through their out half and a missed tackle in our own half allowed them score near the posts to make it 14-7. They continued to take advantage of some good possession and scored out wide to make it 14-12 at half time.

Some stern words saw an improved performance from Mary’s in second half and our top try scorers this season, Wally and Nick managed to get on the scoresheet again in the second half and we held Lansdowne scoreless. Ted missed the easy conversion but slotted the tricky one to give Mary’s the win, 26-12.

15. P. Whyte 14. N. Cunningham 13. R. Pyne (D. Carpenter) 12. P. Moran 11. C. Hui (D. O’Neill) 10. B. Moran 9. R. Wynne 8. P. Nestor 7. T. Henderson (J. Nolan) 6. E. Moran 5. P. Conway (A. McCarthy) 4. J. Doddy 3. R. Kelly 2. W. Andreucetti 1. A. Godfrey