Tullamore Rugby Club bow out of Provincial Towns Cup

Provincial Towns Cup: Dundalk 48, Tullamore 26

On Saturday evening last, Tullamore J1's made the long trek to Dundalk to play the hosts in the famous old Cup's 1st round.
This season has been a challenging one, players promoted to the 1st squad, retirements, injuries and commitment issues meant that Tulliers travelled in hope more than expectation.
Tullamore got the perfect start though, awarded a penalty under the posts after a super line break from Rory Lynch, Adam Molloy stepped and jinked after a quick 'tap', one or two recycles and Conor McGuinness barrels over. Gary converts and 7-0 to Tulliers.
Unfortunately this quick start seemed to poke the Dundalk bear, three quick tries and a penalty rocked Tullamore.

Lesser teams would have folded under this onslaught but led from the front by Captain Paul Galvin and superbly marshalled by half backs Molloy and Lynch, this young squad refused to lie down and another 7 points were their reward after Galvin crossed and Gary tapped over the extras.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, both teams making a mockery of the bitterly cold, wet and windy conditions to play some brilliant attacking rugby.
Liam Dunne ran all evening like a man late to mass and was rewarded early in the second half when he smashed through the Dundalk defence to touch down. 36-21. Dunne has a raw strength garnered from his many years footing turf on the Daingean boglands and he continues to catch the eye since his return from injury.
Both teams emptied the bench in the second half, Sammy Dunne continued his fine debut season when introduced and James Griffin tackled half of County Louth upon his introduction. One mighty tackle and roar by the feral Griffin could probably be heard back in Tullamore.
With Tulliers in need of inspiration, Coach Daly rolled the dice, firing in Odhran McIntyre. McIntyre showed he still has much to offer and he almost pulled a rabbit out of his ass with one lovely show and go.
Dundalk stretched their lead late in the second half, a huge pack and well organised lineout giving them a solid base all evening but the young Tulliers battled to the bitter end with McGuinness once more crashing over, a try which capped a fine individual display and rewarded Tullamore for a fine 80 minutes of top class rugby.
Final score Dundalk 48-26 Tullamore
Man of the Match:
Too close to call, both back rows, Dunne and Mcguinness had exceptional games.
No shortage of tackles, hits, line breaks, rampaging runs, tries and sheer honest hard work from 6 and 7 plagued Dundalk all evening.

Metro League Division 7: Tullamore J2s 47, Swords 7

Tullamore J2s welcomed Swords RFC to Spollenstown on Saturday afternoon in round 9 of the Metro League.
There was a stiff breeze blowing across the pitch, making conditions tough for free flowing rugby.
The opening 20 minutes reflected the conditions with lots of drop balls & inaccuracies when Tullamore would enter the Swords 22.
There were 25 minutes on the clock when teak tough hooker, Jimmy Rabbitte punched over for the first score of the game.
This was followed by 2 quick fire tries by Geoff Scully. The Art Therapist has been in rampaging form this season, and was bouncing Swords boys for fun, until his game was cut short 5 minutes before half time with an ankle injury. This left the score 17.0 at half time with Tullamore playing towards their favoured club house end in the 2nd half.
The J2s got into their groove early in the 2nd half. John Dooley showed great pace to run around the elderly Swords full back and touch down in the corner.Teirnan Mealiffe scored next after an unselfish offload from Cormac Moloney with the line at his mercy. “Chuckles” added another soon after. Similar build up play, allowed the Teacher touch down under the posts.
Further scores from Jerome Scully & Jimmy Rabbitte rounded off the tries for Tullamore. A combination of Shane Brennan, Mealiffe, Jerome & John Tobin chipped in with conversions throughout the game. Final score 47.7.
Up front, John Dooley & Ethan Hanlon had fine games. In the backs, Scully, Maloney & Mealiffe had lovely moments that lit up a quiet game.
The writers Player of the match is Cormac Maloney. The club stalwart showed quality & composure time & time again with soft & hard touches to unlock the swords defence.
It was great to see all 24 players who togged on Saturday get meaningful game time, in particular Cian Flood, Alex Birmingham & Cian OSullivan (on his adult team debut) all impressed. Shout out to the bullocking Jack Hanlon who returned from a recent knee injury.
The J2s can now enjoy a 2 week break before traveling to Navan on Friday 14th of February.

U18.5 girls: Tullamore 29, Mullingar 24

Tullamore u18.5 girls, back in Leinster’s premier division after an absence of a couple of seasons, took a huge scalp when they beat Mullingar on Saturday.A strong start to the season end with a first defeat two weeks ago to a fancied PortDara.
On Saturday they faced their high flying local rivals, the best team in Leinster; Mullingar RFC,in Spollanstown.

Playing good rugby but unable to take their chances after flying out of the blocks with a try from team captain, #12 Lauryn O’Reilly, Tullamore found themselves down by four tries to one at half time.

Having played well they needed to execute their chances in the second half. Urged on by the home support, momentum switched to Tullamore and tries from their exceptional scrum half Aoibhe Kelly, the incredible hard running #7 Hannah Kennedy and flying full back Sorcha Tierney brought the match level with time running out and a draw likely.

Last play had been called when centre Kayla Hanlon picked off an intercept near midfield and beat the covering defenders to the try line. A remarkable win with fantastic performances from the entire squad and a step towards a league semi final spot. Bogey-team beaten and myth that Mullingar are unbeatable is dispelled!

Results

AIL 2C: Bruff 20, Tullamore 15

Towns Cup: Dundalk 48, Tullamore J1s 26

Metro 7: Tullamore J2s 47 Swords 7

Women's LL Wicklow 30 Tullamore 24

U18 boys Leinster League Division 1: Tullamore 15, Edenderry 33

U-16 girls Leinster League Premier Division: Tullamore 33, Portlaoise 39

U-18 girls: Tullamore 29, Mullingar 24.

U16 boys: Tullamore 12 North Meath 29

U15 boys: Tullamore 28 Wexford 25

U14 Girls: PortDara 35 Tullamore 5