Inishowen 22-0 Derry YM
Inishowen welcomed near neighbours Derry YM 2nd XV to Carndonagh on Saturday looking to continue their recent run of good form that has them once again battling at the top of the league table. The visitors only recently rejoined the league and with a number of injurys have struggled to fulfil all their fixtures, this was not a problem on Saturday as their 1st XV had no game meaning the Drumahoe based side was much changed from the team in the previous fixture The home side had a few players unavailable away on international duty, Anthony Cantwell copying All Black Sonny Bill Williams and competing in numerous sports with a boxing match in the coming weeks he didn’t want to risk injury. Influential out-half Mark McLaughlin (Glasha) moved to scrum half to replace Gregg Byron who was unavailable due to work commitments. In turn Ritchie Fearon moved to 10 and battering ram David Cassidy went to inside centre.
Inishowen kicked off with their jersey’s turned inside out at the request of the referee who felt the club colours were too similar and would cause him problems at the breakdown. The home side kept YM penned back inside the 22 metre line for the start, forcing the turnover and looking for an early score only for individual handling errors to give possession back to the visitors. From a YM scrum Inishowen drove and put pressure on the defence, the opposition number 10 had his clearance kick from the 5 metre line blocked down by James Carr who seemed to win the race to the ball for a score but the referee thought YM reached it first and awarded a 22 metre drop out. From the restart Inishowen were held up in the tackle and the following maul collapsed with a pile of bodies lying on top of Mark Glasha who suffered a rib injury and had to be helped from the pitch, the cause of the injury was unexplained due to the mass of bodies but Glasha has a suspicion that one of his own team mates caused the damage. He narrowed his suspicions to either a Grey or blonde haired person leaving only 4 suspects, the most likely being his own nephew vice captain Gary McEleney. Glasha was taken to hospital where it was confirmed he had a fractured rib, all at the club wish him a speedy recovery.
With no established scrum half things weren’t looking good for the Inish men, captain Neil Gillespie had to reshuffle the backline hoping not to disrupt things too much. Ritchie Fearon answered the SOS and moved to the unfamiliar role of scrum half, hooker Maurice Harkin moved to 10 allowing the slightly (very) intoxicated John Kelly to join the proceedings. Inishowen kept attacking only for soft penalties and handling errors allowing YM to kick for distance and relieve some of the pressure. A maul from a lineout saw the Inish men surge towards the try line stopping metres short before Ritchie showed good strength to drive over the line for a well earned try. The conversion by James McColgan was missed leaving the score 5-0 at halftime, the peninsula men went into the break knowing that they were easily the better team but needed to cut out the penalties and the forwards needed to up the work rate.
The second half started with the same intensity as the first, from the back of a ruck Ritchie kicked and chased winning the ball back and making good ground in the process. The ball was recycled quickly and stand in out half Maurice Harkin keep deep into the corner, Inishowen pressured the lineout and were awarded a penalty. The home side went through a couple of phases before Gary McEleney added another try this time converted by McColgan. The home side were awarded a penalty shortly after and opted for the posts, the successful kick stretched the lead to 15-0 meaning YM needed three scores to win. From the restart James Carr made good ground before passing to Gillespie who broke through a number of tackles stopping inches from the line with the pass not going to hand the ball went into touch. Substitute Seamus (Ned) McDaid was unlucky not to score his first senior try when he crossed the whitewash but couldn’t ground the ball.
A yellow card for Harkin offered a chink of light for the visitors but this was soon thwarted when McColgan hacked a loose ball and beat the retreating defence to score, showing good footballing skills in the process. The conversion was added leaving the score line at 22-0 to Inishowen. Another clean sheet proved that Inishowen have one of the meanest defences in the league, with table toppers Limavady travelling to Carndonagh next Saturday Inishowen will need to be on top form again and will be hoping to make amends for the loss on the first day of the season. Limavady coming on the back of two defeats will be looking to get their season back on track and a tough match is expected.
In other news reporter Jeremy Blackman is MIA, last seen driving towards Malin town in his camouflaged Massey Ferguson 35. If you know of his whereabouts please contact the club.
