Over the past few weeks had been leading up to the first of two qualifier games for our U20s.
15 L Mannion
14 A Martin
13 M Whelan
12 M McEvoy
11 B O’Mahony
10 S Bourke (C)
9 E Franklin
1 E Massey
2 G Hassett
3 C McElearney
4 E Byrne
5 I Wickham
6 H McSweeney
7 J Nolan
8 M Dillon (VC)
16 E Power
17 K Quinn
18 L Nikolov
19 J Grant
20 S Landy
21 D McAuiffe
22 J McSharry
Sunday the 22nd September saw the St Mary’s under 20s return to competitive action at Angelsea Road. A Belvedere team scattered with representative honours stood before the away side. The early exchanges saw both sides scoring from pace in the wider channels. An intercept try from captain Sean Bourke saw Mary’s edge ahead. Falling foul of the referee Mary’s lost Matteuw Dillon to the sin bin; providing the home side with an opportunity to put away two tries. The sides entered the break at 19-10 to Belvedere.
Periods of sustained pressure looked to promise much for Mary’s in the second half, but some unforced errors, and shrewd game management by belvedere only saw 3 points added to the scoreboard through the trusty boot of SeanBourke. A disappointing result for the visitors on a day where Old Belvedere were perhaps lucky to escape with a victory.
Next game will be like a cup final to decide whether the Under 20s get into the top tier of U20 rugby, St Mary’s College RFC U20s VS Old Wesley U20s is a repeat of a thrilling Purcell Cup Final last season which saw St Marys come out on top. Sunday 6th of October in Templeville Road it is sure to be another thrilling encounter.
The Fitzpatrick Gallagher McEvoy Solicitors man of the match was Harry McSweeney