27.03.2010 J4 XV v Blackrock (A)
| 27/03/2010 | 1:30pm | Winter’s Cup | Blackrock College | 9 – 21 | St. Marys J4 XV | Away |
The J4’s took on Blackrock on the back pitch in Stradbrook on Saturday in the first round of the Winters Cup and a repeat of last year’s final.
Rock played with the wind at their backs in the first half and that gave them territory in the Mary’s half. Rock took a 3-0 lead after a penalty at a scrum on the Mary’s 22 but missed with a subsequent shot.
Mary’s managed to work the ball into the Rock half and engineered a difficult penalty chance for Teddy and the angle and wind proved too tricky to overcome.
Rock extended their lead to 6-0 on 30 minutes, kicking a penalty from the Mary’s 10m line after the blues had strayed offside.
Mary’s had been coping well against the wind and were comfortable despite the 6-0 scoreline but good vision from Teddy saw him intercept a loose Rock pass on halfway and take off for the Rock line. The cover was gaining so he headed for the corner and embraced the ball NFL-style to ride the tackle and get the touchdown. He was unable to convert his own score but the lead was narrowed to 6-5 at half time.
Mary’s utilised the wind at their backs better than their opponents had in the first with Teddy launching a range of big kicks deep into Rock territory.
The Rock full-back was a powerful runner but was struggling under the high ball, opting to let a number of kicks to bounce rather than catch them first time.
This put Rock under pressure in their own 22 and Ted was soon converting a penalty in front of the posts. 6-8 to Mary’s.
This was still a good Rock team, as we knew from our recent victory here in the league, and they converted a penalty from just inside the Mary’s half, as the wind dropped momentarily, to regain the lead 9-8.
The lead was short-lived though as Rock allowed the Mary’s kick-off to bounce and No. 8 Padraig Nestor claimed it and took off. After a couple of phases of play brought Mary’s deep into Rock territory, scrum-half and captain Ross Wynne popped the ball to loose-head Marc McKay to score in the corner. Teddy converted brilliantly from the touchline to make it 9-15 to the away side.
Rock’s discipline at the breakdown was beginning to let them down and Teddy added another 3 points after one of their front row was yellow carded for a soccer tackle with his leg. 9-18 to Mary’s.
Mary’s added another 3 points from a penalty to make it 21-9 before withstanding a spell of Rock pressure in the Mary’s 22, including some great tackling on our own line.
A good performance and victory for the lads. We play DLSP away in the next round of our cup defence on the 10th April, but first up is our final league fixture under lights in Templeville on Thursday night.
Gavin Rafferty
15. Darragh O’Neill 14. Paul Whyte 13. David Carpenter 12. Paul Moran 11. Chi-Yuen Hui 10. Brian Moran 9. Ross Wynne (c) 8. Padraig Nestor 7. Tim Henderson 6. Andy McCarthy 5. Kenny McArdle 4. Joe Doddy 3. Alan Godfrey 2. Eamon Moran 1. Marc McKay