J4 XV v Barnhall (H) 11.11.2017

Barnhall RFC J4 (16)        St Marys J4 (16)

November 11, 2017

Parsonstown

St Marys travelled to Barnhall for an early kick-off looking to build some momentum for an up-coming busy pre-Christmas fixture list. We came away with a hard fought draw, 2 points, which might have been 4 or could also easily have been 0. Some say a draw match is like kissing your sister, god knows what comparison Cal would use!

Barnhall started strong and established a solid foothold in the Mary’s half, following some strong drives from their pack and big no.8, they spread it wide and scored in the corner, missing the conversion. Thankfully Mary’s young pack responded well and following a good quick tap from Cal Grey and a strong carry from Rob Trew, Andy Flats powered over from the 22 for a try under the posts. Barnhall responded quickly with a penalty and Mary’s risked getting on the wrong side of the ref.

Following another super break from Flats, Mary’s had a sustained period of pressure in the Barnhall 22, following some cynical fouls from an experienced Barnhall pack we failed to captialise. Barnhall relieved the pressure and their flying 10 broke from half way and side stepped his way skillfully to another 5 pointer in the corner. The half ended 13 – 10 to Barnhall after James Burke knocked over a superb penalty from distance.

The second half saw Mary’s with sustained pressure and some strong play but some unfortunate mistakes and a faltering lineout restricted our scoring opportunities. We were rewarded with two further top class long range penalties from Burkie to put us ahead. Our bench was starting to have a positive impact and close to full time our bullocking Cork fullback Sean O’Riordan made some excellent ground and put Niall O’Donovan down the wing who was just put into touch.

Despite a yellow card for a luckless Barnhall substitute, who spent about 15 second on the pitch, Barnhall got back down the field and earned a leveling penalty.

We can take a lot of positives from our trip to Kildare, with a huge performance from our young backrow (celebrating tonight at a teenage disco), a developing relationship from our half backs, good discipline and a great impact from the bench. We will need another big team performance next week as we go away to Coolmine.

Team: 1. Browner, 2. Kane, 3. McGill, 4. Fagan, 5. Balfour, 6. Kelly, 7. Trew, 8. O’Flaherty, 9. Gray, 10. Burke, 11. Basso, 12. Pyne, 13. O’Donovan, 14. Walsh (C), 15. O’Riordan