St Marys amassed 24 unanswered points in 60 minutes and they had a confidence which was a worry from our point of view. They were striking from long range, short range and in fact any range. We will though go back to the start of the game when it was us that looked most likely to open the scoring. We had a very productive opening 20 minutes which saw within strike range a couple of times. That however was the problem; within range, but no scores. Turnovers cost, in whatever guise they come, and in fairness we probably went through the full range available when embedded in Marys 22 in that opening quarter. That in itself is something to rue, but then when your opponents score tries that could well have been defended better , than the odds of victory keep stacking up. A good opening 20 minutes , a very good closing 15 minutes, but the bits in between we could do without. That was really the game in a nutshell. Marys had they bonus try just before teh 60th minute mark and it was one of our former players that stuck the knife on so to speak. Marcus O'Driscoll try was probably the only one of the four that you could say was undependable after several phases of play, but after that the lads began to have a go with little to lose. And that turned out to be a positive feature of the game. Two tries, and two very good ones at that , were scored before the full time whistle, with James Murphy scoring one, and providing the final pass for Conor Cunnane. We may well have sneaked another in the dying moments , but it wasn't to be and we left empty handed with much to reflect upon. The mantra of disappointed but not deflated is one we have continually expressed in the face of some of defeats this season , and its one we can realistically continue with. No doubt our supporters and members have valid questions regarding our run of form , and we can only say that the lads are so close to performances of consistency. We know that time is running out with 6 games to go there is still much that can be done to secure our premier grade status . A break this week is probably no harm, and Garryowen under lights is our next port of call on the 2nd of March.
Throughout the game we were getting updates from Coonagh with regard to our thirds and unfortunately they were unable to provide bright spot in our day. Bruff were just too strong for them in the Webb cup and they were defeated by 22-0. We trailed by 12 nil at the break , but there was a feeling that the very strong wind might provide and advantage in the second half. It wasn't to be and Bruff not only battened down the hatches, but added to their tally and were nothing but comfortable throughout. It's not the end of the road for the thirds at this early stage as they have a Munster quarter final to look forward to down the line.
We had it tough in Newcastlewest for our opening game of the junior cup and our next outing was equally as difficult, and despite being at home, our interest in this competition has once again diminished at an early stage. Thomond were always going to be tough and their historic pedigree in the junior cup will always have them well motivated. The fact that the game ended in stalemate at 23-23 , even after extra time , meant little to us as the count back on tries decided the outcome. Not ideal , but who are we to complain after winning an AIL final on such a ruling. The game was definitely one of differing halves , not so much as one team dominated either 40 minutes, but it was just that the first period was fairly dire to watch. But then we had something akin to an epiphany and the game exploded to life in the second half. We trailed by 5 points after the first half and if truth be told , not playing very well. We did have one shining light throughout the whole game, and that was our scrumhalf, Michael Darcy , who almost single handedly kept us in the game. He was everywhere and anywhere and while he didn't score , he was why we went to extra time. The game went to a stage where Thomond looked highly likely to advance after the scored two further tries to leave the score at 20-10 with 7 minutes remaining. Our two tries came from Willie O'Connor and Aaron Spring, but it looked as if they would only provide padding for the final score. A penalty awarded , sense prevailed and the easy shot was taken to give us a converted try to chase. It still looked like mission impossible, even when Thomond had a scrum in their 22 with seconds remaining. However the harassment from Michael Darcy on their scrum half and No8 produced the turn over and quick as a flash Willie O'Connor was in again. It was almost unbelievable to see, but still there was more and John Clogan had to get the conversion to level. In fairness to Clogan, place kicking wouldn't be high up on his CV, but he calmly he slotted over the shot to extend the drama.
Extra time came and one would say that the momentum was with us and when Clogan landed another penalty in the first period of extra time , it then looked as if we could hold tough. Didn't turn out like that though and one last effort from Thomond yielded a simple shot at goal to draw the game, but ultimately progressed then to the next round. It was hard to swallow alright, but them's the rules and the lads will have another crack at the soda cakes on Sunday in the seconds league, which by the way they are still very much in contention for.
Reports from underage games are sparse this week, but we did have wins for the U/14's had a good 12-5 win in a friendly over Bruff and the Shannon/St Marys U/16 team beat Newport in their first outing as an amalgamation.
Munster return to Thomond Park on Friday night and we have a few Category A stand Tickets remaining for this game . Call Tadgh Crowe on 087 6524958
Adult Fixtures
Saturday
U20 SWC, AIL V Dolphin Coonagh 3.30pm
Sunday
Seconds MSS.Lg V Thomond Coonagh 2.30pm
Underage Fixtures,
Sunday
U/16 Lg Shannon/St Marys V Bruff Corbally 11.30am
