Heroic Tullamore make history as they defend Cup

Courage above all things, is the first quality of a Warrior.

Anderson Cup Final:

Tullamore 20

North Meath 19 

Tullamore J2s have shown courage and resilience all season especially when the chips were down. Tullamore were looking to defend the Anderson Cup which they won last year, and they headed for Navan RFC to take on a powerful North Meath side, knowing that they would have to give a perfect performance if they were to be victorious. 

In the warm up huddle, Team Manager and Army man Ian McGlinchey gave a rousing and emotional speech: “Once more unto the breach men. One last time’’

As the match kicked off team captain John Connolly roared "Follow me or get out of my way." Connolly has led the team for two years and has been an inspirational captain, leading from the front at all times. 

Tullamore started the better and forced the knock on from the kick off. This gave them territory inside the North Meath 22. Eddie Connor crashed the ball up and as he was tackled managed to offload to Connolly who was stopped just short. Tullamore looked destined to score only for the ball to be knocked on. North Meath failed to clear their lines and Tullamore had another try scoring chance when Colin Draper made a half break but the North Meath defence held firm.

Tullamore's big ball carriers of Gav Ridgeway, Frank Lynch and Mark Brolly started to get into the game and make the hard yards. After sustained pressure the ball was fed out the back line and crisp hands from Draper and Colin Hughes out Cathal Brady into space. Just as Brady was about to touch down he was high tackled so Tullamore were awarded the penalty try and North Meath received a yellow card.

Tullamore’s backline have been scoring tries for fun this season, often playing some scintillating rugby and they looked to add to their tally against North Meath. Another feature of this team is the skill level of the forwards, with every player well able to pass and offload the ball under pressure. This is a direct result of the intensive skills training that the club, from 1sts down to J3 levels emphasise and work hard on at training.

‘Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.’ quipped forwards coach Mike Tormey as Tullamore’s swashbuckling number 8 Gav Ridgeway made a fantastic line break and offloaded to Ryan Mealiffe who linked with Dermot Hickey who took play deep into the opposition 22. The ball was swiftly moved wide and Pat Fahey scored a terrific try in the corner.

Dan Cronin was on the subs bench and when he was introduced he was on fire all afternoon, his hunger and desire like a man who had missed his dinner and was then let loose in an all you can eat buffet. The Yorkshireman was only on the pitch a few moments when he caught the ball and set off on a powerful run down the wing. Tullamore were flying now and really should have increased their lead further only for several knock ons to hand possession back to North Meath.

The North Meath open side is a class act and he finally started to get them over the gain line and when he made a half break he had the skill to throw a twenty metre one handed offload for his supporting player to touch down in the corner and suddenly it was game on. Tullamore's discipline started to deteriorate and when they gave away a penalty on half way North Meath kicked to touch and after a series of rumbles they scored a try under the posts. The conversion was kicked and suddenly it was 12-12 at half time. This was a disaster for Tullamore as with the amount of territory and possession they should have been out of sight at half time but instead found themselves level.

"Unleash the dogs of war" roared Ian McGlinchey as Brendan Daly got his subs prepared on the touchline. A real heavyweight bench of Cian Sullivan, Dave Boland and Tom Gilligan made a massive difference when introduced.

Tullamore started the second half the better and on 50 minutes John Tobin won a fantastic penalty at the ruck which he kicked to put Tullamore 15-12 up. North Meath then received another yellow card for a deliberate knock on but Tullamore failed to take advantage and North Meath made a line break and looked destined to score only for terrific scramble defence from Tadgh Dowdall and Rory Lynch to snuff out the chance. 

Tullamore upped the tempo and Cian Sullivan and Dermot Hickey made some big carries which created space for Cathal Brady to storm down the wing and it took a terrific tackle from the North Meath defence to keep him out. With 20 minutes left there really was nothing between the teams.

North Neath started to go through the gears and their 7 was causing all kinds of problems with his ball carrying and when he busted through two tackles it took a thumping tackle from Tiernan Quinn to force the knock on. 

North Meath came again and strung together many phases of play and it took some last ditch defence from Jimmy Rabbitte and Mark Brolly to keep them out. Brolly was like a man possessed and put in some bone crunching tackles. Brolly had missed last year’s final when he got injured in the warm up and he used all of that frustration to fuel his aggression. On the day Brolly was superb both in defence and attack.

As the clock ticked down North Meath threw everything they had at Tullamore. With just 3 minutes left disaster struck as North Meath scored a try which they converted for a 19-15 lead. Tullamore now had three minutes to find a score. Tullamore kicked off and when North Meath kicked the ball downfield Rory Lynch had to run the ball from his own try line. Rory made a fantastic break which took play outside the Tullamore 22. The ball was fed out to John Tobin who broke a tackle and linked with Cathal Brady and suddenly Tullamore were up to the North Meath 10 metre line. Tullamore needed a try to win it and Pat Fahey made a jinking run before being put to ground. Cian Sullivan then crashed the ball up to take Tullamore over the gain-line. With quick ball secured, Draper fed Rory Lynch who took play up to the North Meath 22. Tiernan Quinn threw a bullet pass to the right and when Frank Lynch ran a terrific line to break a tackle, Tullamore were just 10 metres out. The ball was flashed wide for Draper to throw a perfect 20 metre pass to Cathal Brady who surged towards the line. North Meath put in a thumping tackle on Brady but he had the strength and awareness to pass the ball back inside to John Tobin who just managed to touch down for the try with the last play of the game. It was a brilliant end to a terrific final. Tullamore shower incredible belief and resilience to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

He stepped off his left foot, he stepped off his right, when he reached for the try-line with seconds to play, we knew we would be alright! Winning ruck turnovers all afternoon, and with his kicks a probing, that incredibly determined Johnny Tobin!

On the day the entire pack put in a huge shift with John Connolly immense when the chips were down. Connolly led from the front all afternoon and worked tirelessly both in defence and attack. Frank Lynch and Gav Ridgeway made the hard yards with carrying all afternoon and constantly got over the gainline. Tadgh Dowdall made countless tackles and worked his socks off.  

 Pat Fahey was yet again electric with ball in hand and put his opposite number through hell, running rings around him each time he got the ball. Cathal Brady had a great match. Brady only took up rugby 6 months ago and used his size and athleticism to constantly make ground with ball in hand. 

Colin Draper missed last year's final through injury and was determined to make up for it this year. Draper was heroic in defence all afternoon and also possessed the strength of character to throw the match winning pass right at the end that enabled Tullamore to score the match winning try. Tiernan Quinn was magnificent, his all round play and hard tackling really made the difference and Tiernan is a worthy man of the match.

Team Manager Ian McGlinchey has been instrumental in the success of the team over the last two years where Tullamore have now won back to back promotions, winning Metro 9 last season and Metro 8 this year as well as securing back to back Anderson Cup triumphs for the first time in the club's history.

Remarkably, Tullamore have never lost a home match in these two years, only beaten away three times in over 30 competitive matches over the two seasons. Ian now moves up to help with the first team squad next season and leaves behind him a legacy of success that can be built on in the years to come. Brendan Daly also put huge effort into both the J2 and J3 teams and ensured that the team was fit and supple and well drilled. Mike Tormey, after suffering an unfortunate season ending injury at Christmas, offered huge experience and assistance on match days and at training and is a great asset as forwards coach. J1 coach Rob Connor and 1sts team coach Dave Hanlon both put a lot of time and effort into developing and training this team over the course of the season and deserve massive credit for the effort that they put in to help improve these players skills, game management and decision making.

This team is composed of a mixture of experienced heads and young players playing adult rugby for the first time. Veterans Eddie Connor, John Connolly, Gav Ridgeway, Colin Draper, Colin Hughes and Tom Gilligan provided the experience and leadership that allowed the younger players to thrive in this environment.

‘Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight, you’ll ever know.’ quipped Eddie Connor, who at the tender age of 43 years old finally called it a day after the full-time whistle and will hang up the boots. This final win was his last rugby match, and it was a fitting way for the old warrior to bow out. Along with Ryan Mealiffe, Connor was the only player to have started every match this season.

Youngsters Ryan Mealiffe, Jimmy Rabbitte,  Pat Fahey, Frank and Rory Lynch, Tadgh Dowdall and Cathal Brady all had fine seasons and will be huge assets for many years to come for the club. Mealiffe in particular was exceptional, and at just 18 years old more than held his own at scrum time against far older and heavier opponents. 

In the wider squad, Odhran Hickey, Ben Hensey, Niall McCabe, Alex Gleeson, Eoghan O’Connor, Dean Broderick, Conor Langton and James Griffin all made valuable contributions throughout the season and will look to push on and become regular starters next season.

So another two trophies for the cabinet in Spollenstown. Tullamore will surely fancy their chances of adding more silverware next season when they compete in Metro 7 and will look to do the treble in the Anderson Cup.

Team: Mark Brolly, Ryan Mealiffe, Eddie Connor, John Connolly, Dermot Hickey, Tadgh Dowdall, Frank Lynch,  Gav Ridgeway, Tiernan Quinn, Colin Draper, Cathal Brady, John Tobin, Colin Hughes, Pat Fahey. Rory Lynch

Subs: Dan Cronin, Cian Sullivan, Dave Boland, Tom Gilligan,  James Rabbitte, Odhran Hickey, Sean Dunne, Ben Hensey, Alex Gleeson

Team Manager: Ian McGlinchey. 

Head Coach: Dave Hanlon.

Forwards coach: Mike Tormey.

Fitness coach: Brendan Daly