J4 XV v Dublin University (A) – 23.11.2019

St. Mary’s College R.F.C. 0 Dublin University 25

23/11/2019 Metro League Div 9 

Trinity Sports Grounds, Santry

St. Mary’s J4’s struggled against a more nimble Trinity side in atrocious conditions. With some terrible recent weather the pitch was very soft underfoot in parts prior to the game. Mary’s boasted a much larger pack than their counterparts but this was probably more a disadvantage as they found themselves struggling to gain forward momentum on a pitch that slowly began to resemble a mixture between a bog and a paddy field.

   Trinity got a very early try after some missed tackles and Mary’s were slower to come into the game. Due to the conditions there were close to 30 scrums and the game was very stop start with so many handling errors related to the conditions. Mary’s did have phases of dominance but failed to convert their chances unfortunately with our back line unable to get clean ball or wade through the Trinity defence the team were less of an attacking threat as they had been in previous games. The game itself was tight up until the final 15 minutes when the Trinity side began to exploit fatigue on the Mary’s side and ran in for two late tries to add some gloss to the score. Trinity were deserving winners overall and had to deal with the same conditions as Mary’s but were quicker around the park and took their chances. Next Saturday St. Mary’s are at home to Newbridge in their last game before Christmas. Both teams are up near the top of the league so it is a crucial game for the team to bounce back from this defeat.