Inishowen beat league leaders
Top spot in the league was up for grabs on Saturday as Inishowen entertained leaders Limavady 3rd XV in Carndonagh. The visitors started the game and instead of kicking for the forwards to chase they opted to kick it to the other side of the pitch trying to catch the Inishowen backline out. The ball was won cleanly by inside centre David Cassidy and recycled quickly as the home side looked to attack from deep inside their own half, Limavady defended well and the first 10 minutes saw possession change hands a number of times before flanker Paul Gallagher crashed over the try line unfortunately he couldn’t ground the ball and knocked it on in the process. Shortly after the Inish men were awarded a penalty and kicked for the corner finding touch 15 metres from the try line. CLICK HERE for atleast 30 squad photos from over the years ~ Magic! From the lineout a maul was setup and the pack drove towards the line with Gary McEleney in possession of the ball at the back, as the maul started to collapse captain Neil Gillespie saw a gap splitting the maul taking Gary with him they powered over the line for the first score of the day. The conversion was missed to give Inishowen a slender 5-0 lead. From the restart the Limavady men again choose to keep the ball away from the forwards this time kicking straight to out half Ritchie Fearon who returned the kick deep into the opposition half, the Inishowen defence were up quick to put pressure on the visitors that resulted in another lineout on the left giving possession back to the Inish men. The ball was spread across the back line with centres Cassidy and McColgan looking to punch holes in the stout defence. Inishowen were pushing hard for a second try with good line breaks from Sweeney and Fearon, scrum half Gregg Byron was using the forwards to make the hard yards and from 5 metres out he popped to Gillespie who was stopped short but managed to pass out of the tackle to his second row partner Matt McCrossan to score. Another difficult conversion was missed to leave the scores by no means comfortable at 10-0.
Another restart and another long kick this time caught by Sweeney under the posts, Inishowen then went through the phases trying to settle the pace of the game. Limavady threw themselves into every ruck looking to disrupt and eventually were awarded a penalty when Inishowen were found guilty of holding on the ground, the out half pointed to the posts and the ball hit the upright before going over. The scoreline was now 10-3. Limavady then went on the attack knowing a converted try would level the scores, their big centres made ground breaking tackles and looked like they could score only for a couple of last ditch tackles from winger Seamus McDaid. Inishowen regained possession and made their way up the pitch, an infringement in the ruck gave them a penalty which Gregg Byron took quickly ducking under a tackle to score a well earned try. McColgan added the extras,and Inishowen now looked comfortable at 17-3 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. Byron went looking for his second try of the match making good ground before the tall fullback stopped him 5 metres from the line, Limavady won a penalty and after a handling error the ref blew for half time.
Gary McEleney added to his personal tally with the only score of second half, a turnover on the 10 metre line caught the defence on the back foot and Gary showed good pace to touch down under the posts. McColgan converted leaving the score 24-3. A great all round performance from all involved especially young winger Seamus McDaid who was impressive both in attack and defence.
Inishowen take a break from the league next week as they travel to Magherafelt to face Rainey old boys 3rd XV in the first round of the McCambley cup.
