| 27/09/2013 | 8:00pm | F | De La Salle Palmerstown | 13 – 0 | St. Marys J5 XV | Away |
Marys J5’s (now div 10) opened their season with a friendly against DLSP in Kiltiernan but despite a brave, spirited performance, they went down to an experienced Salmo team with a big pack. It was close in the opening half with DLSP’s superior strength making it difficult for Marys to recycle quick ball and as a result, we struggled to bring our speedy backs into the game.
There were crunching tackles on both sides with Jamie MacRae, David Owen Mahon & Gareth Lloyd to the forefront of a committed defensive performance. The backs also played their part as DLSP unleashed wave after wave of big runners at our midfield and never broke through.
A number of players were playing in their first rugby match and a few others were only playing in their second but you wouldn’t have known it such was the commitment on display. The lineout was generally good and won good ball all night as well as depriving DLSP of a consistent platform.
It was only 0-3 at half time but the physical effort required to compete with a bigger team told in the second half as a Salmo pick & drive yielded a try with 20 to go. With a few minutes to go, a defensive system failure let in a second try. 13-0 is not really a fair reflection of the contest and the effort put into it by Marys but there’s lots to work on for the squad and hopefully they can kick on to have a successful year.