The second pool game of the boys’ Junior Cup campaign took place in Monastery Field this week against St Jarlaths of Tuam. The team, captained by Sam Carey, won the game 22-12, finishing 2nd in their pool and qualifying for the knock out stages of the competition.
We started the game very strongly, playing some lovely expansive rugby, culminating in a well worked try out wide by no.8 James Conroy. James went on to have a massive impact on the game, tackling anything that came his way and making some very important turnovers. Unfortunately, James's game was cut short due to a bad knee injury; we wish him the best in his recovery.
The strong start continued with some fantastic open field running from full back Ronan Mannion, who scored a brilliant long distance, solo effort try. As the game went on, we kept the pace of the game up with some great quick tap penalties from out-half Malachy Gorham, some strong carries from Sam Carey, Conor McDonagh and Daniel Warbout.
Jarlaths finished the first half well, with a score against the run of play. They started the second half with the same energy and scored again. Now the game was level and we were under pressure for the first time. After gaining some momentum back, the boys then got the ball wide again to Ronan Mannion and he touched down for his second of the day. The try was converted by Finlay Yule, to put us 7 points clear.
The game finished with some incredible defensive displays from Ben Bartley, Kyle Byrne and Finlay Yule. Man of the match Finlay Yule then kicked a penalty from just inside his own half to make it a 10 point game. The boys held out and didn't concede dispute being camped on their own line for the last 5 mins of the game.