Monaghan Minis travelled to Lurgan on Saturday a great turnout by all. With minimal resources Monaghan yet again proved they can match the best clubs in Ulster.Well done to all,especially the new coaches for their commitment and hard work.There is only training for the next 2 weeks.I have a limited number of jerseys socks shorts tracksuit bottoms available,1st come basis.
MonaghanRFC U-15’s 72 v BallyclareRFC U-15’s 5
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Monaghan hosted the Ballyclare U17 and U15 sides on Saturday the 4th of January in what were the first competitive games of the year. Following the midweek game away to Buccaneers and two hard training sessions after Christmas, Monaghan went into this game fresh, alert and ready for action. The Monaghan coaches were hammering home the message that we wanted to keep our 100% home record and 100% league record intact, and that was motivation for the boys to give it their all and maintain the run they are on.
Following the horrendous weather during the week, it was feared that this game would fall victim to a postponement or just a slogging match in awful playing conditions. However, the rain held off and it was a remarkably clear, dry day for rugby. Unfortunately, one of the Monaghan coaches had to ref the game, as no other referee was available.
Ballyclare won the toss and elected to receive from the kick off, and doing so launched the first attack. It was a strong, physical away side, definitely up for this game, hurling themselves into every breakdown, and being committed to the tackle. It was just a shame from their point of view that not all 15 travelling players bought into the psyche of the leaders in the side.
As throughout the year, Monaghan forced an early turnover, and had their first attacking option of the game after four minutes. Oisin Campbell tore through the defense in the middle of the field, off loaded to Karl Mc Kenna on the wing to use his unstoppable pace to score. This left Stuart Allen with an easy two point conversion to have Monaghan lead 7-0.
The aggression and physicality from the Ballyclare back row was obvious to see, especially from the number 8, who was carrying very well as Monaghan struggled to contain him in the tackle. He broke the gain line numerous times, using an effective hand off to evade being brought to ground. Ballyclare needed a few more players like him in the side to have any real bearing on the outcome, but it was unlucky for them that they didn’t.
Another turnover resulted in another try for Monaghan, this time on eight minutes. Michael Savage found himself with room to run from his own half and skipping through tackles, he managed to cross for five points. Stuart Allen missed the extras for a score line of 12-0.
From the restart, Monaghan won the ball the cleanly and broke forward again. Because the rucks were being cleaned out effectively by the pack, we were presented with fast ball, just the way the backs like it. Jack Lynch passed to Savage at 12 who spotted no full back at home, chipped through, chased and helped the ball over the try line with a soft kick on and finally fell on the ball for another five points. Allen mishit the kick to leave the score at 17-0 with twelve minutes gone.
Credit to Ballyclare, they never gave up and continued to force Monaghan to be awake and defend, but when trying to play an expansive game, they found themselves isolated too many times which allowed Monaghan the chance to slow the game down and/or turn the ball over. On the other hand, when Monaghan went on attack they looked very dangerous and capable of scoring every time. This time on nineteen minutes, the ruck was secured again by the home pack and the ball was spread out the backs. Nice hands and passing out of the tackle resulted in Stuart Allen to find space on the left to score for a try of his own. His kick looked good, but just his the post at the last second. No two points meant the scoreboard read 22-0.
Four minutes later the impressive Oisin Campbell deservedly got on the score sheet. A Ballyclare clearance kick didn’t find touch, but found the waiting arms of Campbell who collected and went on a weavy run, fooling the defense with the clever use of his sidestep and pace to score and leave Allen with the conversion attempt and miss. Score Monaghan 27 Ballyclare 0.
The penultimate action of the half fell to Michael Savage to score another try. Savage was simply too fast and running to powerfully to be stopped and so it allowed him to canter in under the posts. Allen felt the need to hand the kicking reins over to Kieran Mc Quiad after his ‘one from one’ kicking display against Buccaneers. Mc Quaid kept his 100% record in tact with his attempt to have score reading Monaghan 34-0 Ballyclare.
From the restart the Ballyclare kick didn’t go 10 so it offered Monaghan a scrum on half way. The scrum was secure and Ethan Murphy fed Lynch, who gave to Savage and with a nice off load, found Campbell. Using his sidestep and evasiveness, Campbell added to his tally to cross the white wash. Mc Quaid under hit his conversion attempt. That signaled the interval whistle and the half time score was 39-0.
Monaghan introduced Jaime Sherlock into the back row for Dean Breannan and Stefan Mc Quaid replaced Ciaran Winsryg at half time and only two minutes into the second half we lost Karl Mc Kenna through injury. The referees’ whistle sounded and it wasn’t heard by some of the players. As the play continued for a few seconds Karl injured his neck in a collision, it wasn’t serious and thankfully he’s ok. It was a precautionary measure that he came off. Dean Mc Guigan came as a replacement on the wing.
During the break, it was clear that the Ballyclare coaches had some strong words with their players as they came out with a new vigor and intensity. They were causing havoc at the breakdown, not letting Monaghan have it all their own way in this half. More of their players seemed to step up to the mark. This new found aggression meant that it took Monaghan nearly ten minutes to even get on the attack, and with that attack they scored. Michael Savage was again finding space to run, and when he gets room, it’s lethal for the opposition as it proved again. Savage crossed for his fourth five pointer. Allen kicked the conversion. 46-0.
Even though Monaghan were winning well, they allowed Ballyclare to get inside their heads. Given the commitment in tackle area from Ballyclare, which coinciding with Monaghans offloading game, it resulted in hits made split seconds after the ball was gone. Nothing illegal at all, and Monaghan were unhappy with it.
When Monaghan were finished giving out, Shane Gilbane had ball in hand in his own half and made a break. He was brought to ground but managed to pop the ball to an oncoming support runner who in turn kept the ball alive. It was a superb piece of attacking rugby from the home side as Jaime Sherlock scrambled over the line and score to end the play. Monaghan ran the ball from their own half, and with little or no phases, ended up scoring. This is testament to the willingness to keep the ball in alive and avoid too much contact. 41 minutes gone Monaghan led 53-0.
Ryan Kenny replaced Oisin Murphy 15 minutes into the second half in the front row and four minutes after the sub, Monaghan were awarded a five meter penalty which was a tap and go option. The ball eventually fell to Shane Gilbane to bundled over the line to score for himself, Allen made sure of the full seven points to have Monaghan lead 60-0. James Cleary replaced Kieran Mc Quaid after that play.
Twenty-five minutes into the game and Ballyclare found themselves in their best attacking position of the game. They were awarded a penalty and elected to go down the line. From the resulting lineout they went short to the front, catching Monaghan unaware. There was slight controversy over the straightness of the ball in, but play continued and the player was tackled, ball recycled and the first time carrier off the ruck crashed over to the delight of the travelling players and coaches. The conversion attempt was just short and it left the score 60-5.
The pleasing element from a Monaghan point of view was that the players were very eager to get the game back under way. There was no yapping or whinging and the lads all ran as group back to half way, wasting no time with the restart, even catching the ref off guard! From the quick restart, Monaghan managed to put Ballyclare under sufficient pressure and win the ball back. Play was spread wide and Ethan Murphy got hands on, on the wing. He crossed the try line but an excellent last-ditch tackle attempt from a Ballyclare defender forced him out of play. The resulting 22 was a poor one, Shane Gilbane collected and passed to Jamie Sherlock who added to his earlier effort to touch down. Stuart missed the conversion, score 65-5.
The final action of the game fell to James Briney to score under the posts. Another break from our own half resulted in an overlap on the left side of the pitch, Oisin Campbell fed Briney and he had the pace and energy to run half the field to give Allen the easiest of kicks to sound the final whistle. Final score Monaghan 72-5 Ballyclare.
All in all this was a very satisfying performance by Monaghan and they really took the chances when they were presented. The final score was a bit harsh on the away side, but Monaghan were just much more clinical. It was pleasing to see a positive reaction from the lads to a more aggressive Ballyclare second half performance. This will stand to the boys in the future.
SEASON FRIENDLY
BuccaneersRFC U-15’s 0 v MonaghanRFC U-15’s 47
Monaghan U15s travelled down the country to play the return friendly fixture against Athlone side, Buccaneers.
This was the first game since before Christmas for the boys so we were expecting a rusty showing, especially given that the players seemed distracted, a little hyper and excited about the holiday period. Luckily, the coaches’ fears were unfounded, and the performance was completely different to what was expected.
The game got under way with Monaghan kicking into Buccs and almost straight away Monaghan won the ball back and put the early pressure on the home side. Two minutes had passed when Ryan Mooney touched down for his first of the game with Stuart Allen missing the conversion. The ball was spread out the back line and a nice interchange of passing and clever lines resulted in an overlap with Mooney scoring in the right corner.
Buccaneers built up a head of steam, and began to build more and more into the game. Seven minutes into the game they found themselves attacking on the Monaghan 5 meter line and looking dangerous. Out of no where, James Briney surfaced with the ball from the back of the ruck and released Oisin Campbell who ran the length of the pitch, weaving his way around the opposition, and confusing the defenders by simply holding the ball in two hands and having options both sides. Oisin touched down under the posts and Stuart Allen hit the conversion.
Not long after this score, Athlone were punished at the breakdown, which resulted in a penalty for Monaghan. Jack Lynch was the most alert person on the pitch and tapped quickly to James Briney. The defense was caught napping and Briney cantered past them all to cross under the posts, and again, the extra two were added by Allen.
At this stage Monaghan were really starting to force their dominance on the game and Buccs really struggled to get any foothold in the match. This dominance was rewarded by another try, this time from Ethan Murphy. A feature of Murphys game of late has been his ability to snipe at the back of the ruck and he did it to perfection this time to evade the “pillars.” The full seven points were secured when Allen kicked over.
Half time score saw Monaghan lead 26 points to 0.
Soon into the second half, Monaghan introduced the first of their subs. Abdullah Sabri replaced Stefan Mc Quaid, Dean Brennan replaced Ryan Mooney and Stuart Allen went from full back to out half, swapping with Jack Lynch.
The second half was a slow burner and it took ten minutes for anything to happen. Unfortunately it was an injury to a Monaghan player. Oisin Murphy was the unlucky player to have to retire injured when the scrum went down and he came off worse. It was a feature of the match, the scrum was a mess from start to finish and it seemed to be the fault of the home teams tight-head prop. This change forced the scrum to go uncontested, meaning Abdullah went from second row to the front row and Josh Hughes came on in the second row.
One minute later Dean Brennan played the role of super sub to score another try under the posts after good work and offloading out of the tackle from Michael Savage. Conversion came from Stuart. John Mallen replaced, Jamie Sherlock in the back row.
Another tactical move meant that Dean Mc Guigan on the wing, swapped with Stuart Allen at the out half. Nineteen minutes into the second half saw Monaghan score a wonderful team try. Breaking from the 22, nearly all the players were involved in the build up, passing out of the tackles, excellent support play and options for the pass. Stuart Allen was the last man on the receiving end of the move to cross the white wash and add the kick himself. That was Allens final input to the game as Ryan Mooney was reintroduced.
James Mallen claimed the kick off and ran straight through the whole Buccs team, only to be tackled five meters short, Ryan Mooney was on hand for the off load and touched down to record his second of the match. With Stuart off the pitch, prop Kieran Mc Quiad stepped up to hit the conversion and nailed it.
That was the final action of the match as Monaghan ran out convincing winners on a score line of 47 points to nil.
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