1David McKeen 2 Michael Mairs 3 Josh Cregan 4 Kenny Morton © 5 James McCullough 6 Rory McCurry 7 Mark Jones
8 Andy McKeen 9 Matthew Keane 10 Greg Mullany 11 Robbie Kirk 12 Jamie Scott 13 Seamus Mallon 14 Richard Fegan
15 Patrick Irwin Sub Adam McCarthy Sub Johnny Martin Sub Nick McMurray Sub Andrew Mairs Sub Patrick Bell
The opening minutes were by all accounts a bit loose, several handling errors preventing either
team from building any sort of possession, you would have been forgiven for stepping back inside
the clubhouse for some warmth and to get out of the persistent rain and icy winds and then a mini
blizzard occurred on the far side of the pitch as the Instonian backs attacked down the left. It only
took a few seconds and some beautiful running rugby as Paddy Irwin linked with Richard Fegan
who found Paddy again and a try in the corner was scored 5-0 and step one of achieving todays real
target – 5 points dare we say it out loud. The score was right in the corner and so the conversion was
a tricky challenge but Greg Mullany slotted it nonetheless in what was to be a good day of kicking for
him.
Just three minutes later the Instonian pack had worked their way back up the pitch and as try
number two was expected a knock-on led to a scrum just five metres from the Connemara line. The
Instonian scrum found their rhythm and destroyed the opposition, a quick maul round the corner
ensued before Michael Mairs received the pop pass and saw a big gap, three easy yards later and
Mini-Mairs had try number 2 on the board. Again out wide on the left wing the conversion was
no gimme but Greg came good and 14-0 looked good on the score board, ticking over at a point a
minute at this stage.
The next fifteen minutes were not so exciting, possession changed hands all too easy and knock-
ons and penalties were plentiful for both sides, the conditions were not helping. About five minutes
before half-time Instonians found themselves at a ruck 40m out, Matthew Keane looked around
him from the back of the ruck to see where his next pass was going but once again a big gap greeted
the player and Keano was off, despite the chasers he covered those 40m in good order and placed
the ball between the uprights to give Greg Mullany an easy third shot at goal, 21-0. A well-deserved
score for the young number 9 who gave excellent service to his half-back partner all day.
With a healthy score on the board the confidence began to grow realising a five pointer was
definitely on the cards. After some good pressure we saw Kenny Morton take another good line out
ball as he did all day and we marched downfield, the phases were coming together but then just
10m out another knock-on frustrated the brave spectators still watching on expecting that all import
try. Connemara cleared again giving us another line out on the same spot around the Connemara
22 yard line and what happened next must have had the coaches happy for a few minutes at least
– Kenny again took the high ball in the line out, Keano sent it along the backs and Robbie Kirk
thundered down his wing at full speed, a little inside step and a good first phase score right out of
training for the bonus point try. The team was buzzing as halftime was blown. The kick from the
right wing this time defeated the otherwise flawless place-kicking of Greg Mullany so at the half it
was 26-0 and all looked good.
The second half started and expectations were soon dashed (and dashed again!) as we failed to
make ten yards with the kick and so we scrummed down on the centre-spot, a knock on gave Inst
the scrum on the half-way line and we got back to business. The rugby flowed well as the srcum-half
linked with his out-half who found Seamus Mallon as always to take the ball into contact with his
forwards in tight support, a common theme in the match and highly effective with such potent back
row forwards. Sadly the flow was all too often interrupted with knocks ons or penalties in the second
or third waves of attack but when it worked, it worked well. Thankfully Connemara were feeling the
pressure and kicking the ball back rather than running and after just five minutes into the second
half a Connemara clearance was caught on the half-way line and the counter began. A quick maul on
the Connemara ten metre line produced a pop pass for Seamus Mallon to run onto to and realise he
had nobody in front of him just 40m of grass to cover. As expected he placed the ball between the
posts for his No. 10 to have an easy conversion and a comfortable 33-0 score line. If only the match
could have finished at this point as the madness was about to set in and undo much of the good
work. The next thirty minutes saw a handful of penalties and two yellow cards for all the stupid stuff
– obstruction, tackler holing on, offside, offside, offside again! It also sadly saw young Michael Mairs
get a new scar with a cheeky gash to the head – he is doing ok 3 very painful staples I heard.
Once injury time had been factored in Instonians were fifteen minutes away from a job done
celebratory beer, 33-0 up, still, somehow. A raft of substitutions had been made and twenty minutes
of playing with 14 men had given Connemara a bit of breather and they started to contest and their
subs wanted to be noticed – they were. Inst were caught a little unawares when Connemara made
a counter attack down the left wing and put together a few good phases of rucks and mauls as
we gave away advantage they kept going and got a well-deserved try (number 16) and conversion
(number 12) for their efforts. Twelve minutes to go and Connemara were continuing to show
interest, just four minutes later they had managed their way down the right wing this time and
another score (number 13) which was not converted. Connemara came again playing with real fizz
and only for a knock on at the Inst 22 they would have scored again. A scrum suited Inst, a chance
to calm down the Connemara team and get some possession; many of the scrums throughout the
day had been very impressive for the home team. As expected a good scrum, reliable Andy McKeen
picked and went, found his scrum-half who found Jamie Scott who made a good line break and
shifted it on to Seamus Mallon and into contact and then another penalty given away just 30 meters
from our line. Connemara took it quick and two minutes later they took the next one quick also and
their right winger scored in the corner. The conversion was irrelevant, a first point was within grasp
with 3 minutes to get it and an opposition who were not fully committed any longer, Connemara
were on a charge.
The coaches weren’t happy when it was 33-0 so no surprise they were well unhappy as Connemara
searched for their first point of the season and Inst had an apparent mini-collapse at 33-17.
Thankfully some strong rugby from the Instonian 8, 9 and 10 meant the last few minutes were
negated and Connemara were denied a point leaving the pitch with just three scores. Plenty to look
at during the week but perhaps we should close our eyes and be very grateful for a very nice five
points, well done boys.
Teamsheet
1David McKeen 2 Michael Mairs 3 Josh Cregan 4 Kenny Morton © 5 James McCullough 6 Rory McCurry 7 Mark Jones
8 Andy McKeen 9 Matthew Keane 10 Greg Mullany 11 Robbie Kirk 12 Jamie Scott 13 Seamus Mallon 14 Richard Fegan
15 Patrick Irwin Sub Adam McCarthy Sub Johnny Martin Sub Nick McMurray Sub Andrew Mairs Sub Patrick Bell
