U13’s Cup Competition 2nd round
MonaghanRFC U-13’s 29 v CarrickfergusRFC U-13’s 15
Following a successful league campaign Monaghan U13’s faced a strong Carrickfergus side in the second round of the cup on Saturday 22nd March in Refeenan. Playing into a strong breeze in the first half Monaghan were left with no doubt as to the difficulty of their task when Carrick ran in a good try with only three minutes on the clock.
Monaghan dug in and forcing Carrick back into their 22. Ryan O Neill drove over the line for Monaghan’s opening score following some great work by Kevin Tibby and Conor Smyth. Back came Carrick and following some sustained pressure crossed the Monaghan line for their second try, following some confusion in the Monaghan defence. The game ebbed and flowed now with both sides having good periods with the ball in hand. The outstanding feature of play during this period was the tenacity of the Monaghan tackling and this was to lay the foundation for this great win.
Monaghan turned over possession while under pressure in their own 22 and the quick thinking Jack Brannigan put a long kick in behind the Carrick full back, who found himself under immediate pressure from the onrushing Monaghan players. Simon O Connell won the ball and transferred to James Mc Adam who fed Ben Sheridan who in turn popped an inside pass to the onrushing Jack Brannigan who had covered the length of the pitch to support. Jack crossed the line wide out for a wonderful try. Eoin Treanor who had a fine day with the boot landed the conversion.
It was difficult to separate these two evenly matched sides and at half time it became obvious that this was a going to come down to who blinked first and after about five minutes of the second half it looked as if Carrick might just swing it with another try by their very impressive centre. As has been the case all year this side did not panic. Back they came with great work from James Hughes, Troy Jennings and Niall Carvill carrying into the Carrick 22.The ball came out along the line to Donal Mc Kenna who still had a lot to do but somehow managed to shake off a couple of tacklers and reach out for another excellent score with Eoin Treanor again adding the points.
Back came Carrick however some fine tackling by Simon O Connell, Ben Sheridan, Darragh O Reilly Eoin Watters, Gareth Mc Caffery and a couple of huge hits by Ryan O Neill kept the Monaghan line intact. Monaghan now moved into the Carrick half following some intelligent kicking by Eoin Treanor and Jack Brannigan. Monaghan now started to turn the screw and following some persistent pressure, Ryan O Neill crossed for his second and Monaghan’s fourth try. Monaghan drove straight back at Carrick from the restart with Eoin Treanor and Jack Madden to carrying well. Following a number of phases Ryan O Neill picked and kicked forward. Ryan chased and collected his own kick and crossed the Carrick line for a fine individual effort and the final score of the match.
This was a great all round team performance by a gutsy Monaghan side. However we cannot rest on our laurels and have the next round against Letterkenny on Saturday at home. (Time to be announced elsewhere). A full attendance at training is important.
Team: K. Tibby, J. Mc Adam, D. Mc Kenna, B. Sheridan, E. Watters, J. Brannigan, C. Smyth, R. O Neill, S. O Connell, J. Madden, D. O Reilly, E. Treanor, N. Carvill, T. Jennings, J. Hughes. G. Mc Caffery, R. Wilson, D. Smyth, J. Cambell, D. Maguire, M. Mc Donnell, G. Donohoe.
