Tullamore junior 3s hold onto top spot in Metro 6

Tullamore Rugby Club was the place to be on Saturday afternoon. All three senior mens teams were playing at home on the same day for the first time this season, and what a days rugby it was. Come 5pm, and with the bar full, all three teams were celebrating single score victories.

Metro 6: Tullamore 15, St. Mary's 8

Tullamore J3s were playing their first match of the calendar year after a good break over the festive period. Their opposition, St. Mary's, were fresh from victory the previous week and the Dublin outfit showed their greater level of sharpness in the early exchanges. St. Mary's had some very strong ball carriers in the forwards and their scrum half and out half controlled their play very well. Tullamore were playing up the hill in the first half but were struggling to nail their first phase plays and regular knock-ons littered their first half performance.

Saying that, as is standard with this team, there were extremely strong performances in defence. The back row of Ryan, Dave and John McQuade were to the fore in racking up the tackles and really taking the fight to their larger opposition. They were ably backed up by the returning John Connolly and veteran Cathal Feighery in the forwards while Rory Lynch and Jarlath Glynn were strong in the contact zone all day in the centre.

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Tullamore were finding the going tough and they weren’t helping themselves in getting on the wrong side of the referee. This allowed St. Mary's build phases and territory in the Tullamore half. It was in this period of sustained pressure that St. Mary's chose to go for the posts when awarded a penalty. Their calm out half slotted the penalty to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. St. Mary's were quick to return to the Tullamore half to build on their advantage. Further infringements provided them with a lineout from the 5-metre line and they were successful in using their maul to power over the Tullamore line. The conversion was missed to leave the score at 8-0 to the visitors.

Tullamore started to blow off their early rustiness with Dan Cronin and Dave Mann carrying very well and the back three of Niall McCabe, Mark McGrath and Eoin Dixon dealing very well with the St. Mary's kicks. It took until the final 5 minutes of the first half for Tullamore to put multiple phases together. It was no surprise that this brought about a period of pressure in the St. Marys half as Tullamore’s forwards eked out every available yard through smart footwork and power. With the St.Mary's defence being sucked into the rucks the space started to open up for Tullamore to utilise. After some excellent recycling, scrum half Ronan Hooper fed outhalf Colin Draper who gave the classic ‘show-and-go’ to the drifting defence and dotted down under the posts. The conversion from Rory left the halftime score at 8-7 to the visitors. Tullamore were well aware they were lucky to be only the solitary point behind but were confident that they would perform better in the second half. 

This they did as they used the hill to their advantage in bringing the game to St. Mary's. Experienced players like Rob Conor, Adam Hughes and the returning Cian O’Sullivan brought calm heads to the game in helping bring Tullamore into St. Mary's territory for sustained periods of time. While Tullamore were playing better with the ball, knock-ons and misplaced passes were frustratingly common. Eventually, the pressure exerted on the Dublin outfit told as they were penalised just inside their half. Tullamore chose to go for the posts in this incredibly tight game and Rory Lynch stepped forward to beautifully strike the ball over the bar. This left the score at 10-8 with 10 minutes to go.

To their credit, St. Mary's rallied well and regathered possession in the Tullamore half from the ensuing kick-off. They worked their phases well and put pressure on the Tullamore defence. Despite numerous tackles and an overall masterclass in defending, Tullamore eventually infringed at the rusk which gave thee Dublin outfit a shot at the posts. Their outhalf, who kicked well all afternoon, started his kick just too far to the right of the posts and eventually hit the right hand post and bounced out. 

Tullamore finished the game with a flourish. After putting some good phases together, Eoghan OConnor found some space and offloaded to Draper who scampered down the touchline. Much to the annoyance of the St. Mary's bench, he managed to stay in play and eventually feed Jarlath Glynn on his inside who ran in the winning try. It was a contentious moment as both sides argued over whether he stayed in play or not, but the linesman on that side was adamant he hadn’t touched the line, or the mud where the line should have been. Despite all the shoving and pushing, the try stood and Tullamore led by 7. 

The final act of the game fell to the ever-reliable Mann who upended the St. Marys ball carrier to steal one last ball. The ball was subsequently kicked out and Tullamore had survived. 

With that result, Tullamore remain top of the table in what is a very competitive league. They welcome Clontarf to Spollenstown next Saturday where they will look to avenge their defeat in Dublin before Christmas. Tullamore will be all too aware of their requirement to improve on this week’s showing given how rusty they were. Despite that rustiness it was grit, determination and skill at the important times that got the job done for this Tullamore side.

In terms of choosing a player of the match, the front rows of Ben Hensey, Cathal Feighery, Cian O’ Sullivan and James Roe made telling contributions while Rory Lynch combined strong tackling with some nice touches with the ball in hand. Niall McCabe provided much needed solidity at full back in dealing with the St. Marys kicks, while Dave Mann yet again provided a masterclass in back row play. 

Super-sub Darren Brady came very close to winning the Player of the Match given his telling contribution to the match winning try, but it was John McQuade who brought home the accolade. The first kick-off of the game brought John into contact with their powerful no.8, who perhaps saw a young man who might shirk a tackle.  Unfortunately for the Mary's man, he felt all of the young Blueball man who upended him with a textbook tackle that brought about a break in play as the no.8 had to receive some medical attention. John continued in much the same vein for the entire match and carried the ball very well in using his footwork to great effect. On to next week.