The Thirds lost a typically open game against Queen’s 38-31. In a seesaw match Quins managed to lose 38-31,having been up 31-21 with 15 minutes to go.
The Thirds lost a typically open game against Queen’s 38-31. In a seesaw match Quins managed to lose 38-31,having been up 31-21 with 15 minutes to go. The game was very frustrating to watch with Quins playing into the hands of the lively but inexperiened Queen’s side.
CLICK HERE for I XV shots v Buccaneers
Queen’s were to open the scoring after a poor kick chase from Quins let their fullback run through unopposed. They were soon to double their lead again following poor tackling from Quins. Queen’s had done very little for their 14-0 lead and were really struggling to deal with the running of Matty Dass and Charlie Campalini.
Quins were to get on the score sheet through a great penalty from matthew mullan. From the kick off, Quins were to be embarrassed as the ball was fumbled, and then as the Quins out half tried a neat pick up near his own line when the sensible option would be for to have gone down on the ball to secure it. Instead the ball was ripped from his hands and Queen’s were now 21-3 up, leaving the Quins team with a difficult task.
Indiviudally, Quins had been making great breaks all over the pitch throughout the half, unfortunately nobody else had been running support lines. The first time this happens in the match resulted in a try, with Charlie running a simple switch and Stu Lecky supporting to get on the scoresheet, 21-10.
A great team try followed with Australian debutant, Nick Connolly making a great galloping break, showing the acceleration of a mid-range estate car. Somehow Queen’s got the ball back and kicked down field, Ollie made another break, the ball was recycled to Jonny McEwean who got the ball to Batman to score. A great team try leaving the halftime score 21-17.
Quins began the second half with renewed confidence and were soon to be rewarded by a great try by Stu Leckey. Quins were finally in the lead 24-17. At this point it looked like Quins were going to run away with it. They were utterly dominate in the scrums, winning a number against the head, while a whole pack effort, the front row of Nick, Paul and Matt were outstanding.
Quins last try was the pick of the bunch with number 8 Jonny Carey chipping and collecting the ball to score under the posts, for Quins to lead 31-21.Unfortunately Matty Dass was to go off with 20 minutes to go, at the time it didn’t appear that it would make much of a difference as Quins were in such control but in hindsight it was critical.
Quins began to run out of steam and let Queen’s in following a succession of tap penalties, to leave the score 31-28, having missed the conversion. Unfortunately the two good match balls had been kicked onto the roof which may explain how matthew mullan missed a kickable penalty attempt from the 22. It was hard luck for Matthew as his kicking had been excellent up to this point.
Following the miss, Queen’s scored another try, they weren’t successful with the conversion after Kevin Fogerty put the kicker under severe pressure. Queen’s were in the lead 33-31. There was still time for more drama however as Quins were awarded a penalty on the 10 meter line towards the touchline. Now, it not the job of the match reporter to question the decisions of the players but WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!!!! The ball was so flat you would be lucky to have got it off the kicking tee, let alone over the posts. I was very very nearly proved wrong as the ball just landed under the cross bar (Thats not a UFO, actual match footage).
matthew mullan’s decision-making seems a deliberate attempt to feature more prominantly in match reports. While he could have been forgiven for his penalty attempt, going for a drop goal from the half way line when a counter attack was on the cards is much harder to forgive. This is an experience that Matthew will hopefully learn from in future. Queen’s were then off to score another try and the match over 38-31.
A game of high drama but without a win at the end of it was mightily disappointing. The effort put in from 1-15 was fantastic to see and will ensure that this team has a very successful this season. It will require everyone coming to training so that there is more team cohesion. Onwards and upwards. KTQFFH
Minis success at Blackrock!
Minis success at Blackrock! image
The P7’s were invited to Blackrock on Sunday to play in the Under 11’s Eric O’Connor memorial trophy.
Rather than having outrights winners, the tournament was run where points were given to skills proficiency, tries being scored wide out (encouraging players to move the ball rather than just trucking it up the middle) and sportsmanship which included the players, coaches and spectators.
Happily our lads put in some stunning displays of fast sweeping rugby and showed quite incredible skills levels. As a result we were awarded the plate after successful matches against Blackrock 1, Blackrock 2 and Belvedere 1.
