Writing that headline took 3 seconds. Achieving the result was 80 minutes of total dedication to the basics, the build up of phases, the magical off load, the solid scrum, it was 80 minutes of relentless pressure and the will to victory!
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RAINEY OLD BOYS RUGBY
RESULTS -Sat.,3 March.
Forster Cup Clogher Valley 3 10-43 Rainey O.B. 3
Minor : South Cavan 2 9-15 Rainey O.B. 4
RAINEY HOLD ON FOR BONUS WIN
Rainey Old Boys had a bonus point in the bag well before the end of the third quarter,but struggled to put the game to bed and had to settle for a 20-14 victory over Kildare opponents Naas at Hatrick Park.
Naas,with a stiff breeze behind them,opened the scoring with a penalty after only three minutes,but from the restart O’Kane and Heaney led a forward surge which forced the visitors into conceding a penalty.Rainey opted to kick to the corner where a controlled catch and drive resulted in a ty for hooker Sufferin.Naas regained the lead with a somewhat fortunate try after 12 minutes.They moved the ball smartly to the wing from a scrum in midfield and snapped up the loose ball when an inside pass came off the head of a Rainey defender.
Shiels, Heaney and Sciascia combined to give Rainey a good field position,but when they attacked from a lineout,a reverse pass was not held.On the intervention of a touch judge,a penalty for a high tackle gave Naas another three points and they went close with a drop at goal as Rainey’s misdirected kicking made life easy for them.Rainey’s impressive scrummaging came to their rescue when Sciascia was forced into carrying over and they scored a vital try on the stroke of half-time when O’Kane put them on the front foot for Sciascia to cross in the corner.
Within two minutes of the restart Rainey were back in front,Hawe breaking through to send the supporting Sufferin over for his second try.A high tackle cost them another three points,but they responded well with Campbell stopped on the line after a dart from Sciascia and a pop up pass was dropped following quick ruck ball.The try they were looking for arrived in the 54th minute.Sciascia set off from a tap penalty to find O’Kane and looped around on the outside to take a lovely offload from the big prop.Rainey were exoected to turn the screw at this stage,but failed to do the basics,turning over a lot of ball with over-ambitious attempts at offloading.Their kicking game was hugely disappointing and wings Campbell and Wilson saw little of the ball in attack.Campbell was called upon to call a vital mark on the retreat as Naas thrived in the space they were given and the home crowd were relieved when Martin seized a loose ball to put in a long clearance.
Despite their obvious supremacy in the set pieces,Rainey’s poor decision making prevented them from turning territory into points.Twice they chose to go to the corner instead of attempting kickable penalties and came away with nothing.When Naas allowed a high kick to bounce,Stewart and Campbell almost took advantage.A Naas player was yellow carded for illegally preventing a likely try,but Rainey were unable to cash in.A series of scrums and penalties gave them the perfect platform,but the closest they came was when second-row Stewart was held up.
TEAM : A.Clarke,A.Campbell,W.Montgomery,R.Paul,P.Wilson,G,Martin,P.Sciascia,S.Mc Dowell,S.Sufferin,N.O’Kane,D.Dawson,N.Rankin,P.Heaney,S.Hawe,M.Shiels.
REPLACEMENTS : R.Hall ( McDowell 40 ) P.Boyle ( Rankin 40 ) P.Stewart ( O’Kane 55 ) M.Mc Clelland ( Wilson 73 ) A.Harbinson ( Heaney 73 )
Other Division 2 B results : Ards 13-28 Highfield Barnhall 24-25 Cashel Connemara 20-31 Banbridge Nenagh 8-14 Armagh Sunday’s Well 19-19 Navan Suttonians 33-20 Sligo Wanderers 19-18 Boyne
THIRDS INTO SEMIS
After a slow start,Rainey O.B. 3 pulled well clear in the second-half to beat Clogher Valley 3 by 43-10 in the quarter-final of the Forster Cup on the school pitch at Fivemiletown.Their late arrival gave them little time for a warm-up and they struggled to get going.Valley were the better team and deservedly scored the first try.Rainey were happy to turn round on level terms when centre Stirling put them on the scoreboard.
Rainey added six more tries after the break through flankers Walls and Davis,hooker Mc Kenna,full-back O’Neill,wing Johnston and centre Moran who kicked four conversions.
CAVAN 2 9-15 RAINEY O.B. 4
Raney O.B. 4 enhanced their prospects of a high finish in the league with a workmanlike 15-9 victory over Cavan 2 at Swellan Park.Cavan kicked an early penalty,but ot-half Mc Goldrick broke from his own half to create a try for scrum-half Taylor.Late in the half,centre O’Neill made the most of quick ruck ball to leave Rainey 10-3 ahead at half-time.
Two penalties brought Cavan closer as a hailstone shower made the playing surface even trickier.Rainey were able to move up a gear and with ten minutes remaining scored again when Mc Goldrick ran in from the 22′.
In the first of their three league cup matches,Rainey U 19 beat City of Derry 15-7 at Judges Road.They led 15-0 at half-time with tries from scrum-half Donaghy and centre Nelson and a conversion from Coleman and a penalty from Donaghy.
Underage league cup results : U 17 Ballymena 0-20 Rainey
U 15 Ballymena 5-25 Rainey
FIXTURES – Sat.,10 March.
1st XV v CITY of DERRY Ulster League away 2.30 p.m.
2nd XV v DERRY away 1.00 p.m.
3rd XV v COLERAINE 4 home 2.30 p.m.
4th XV v OMAGH 4 home
COOKSTOWN and MAGHERAFELT LIONS TABLE QUIZ – Thursday,15 March ( 8.30 p.m. )
