Leaving Letterkenny at 9.00 am in the rain with only 11 players and knowing that Newry had at least 15 we were aware that we had to cede the game, and probably were looking at a thrashing.
We got to Newry and the sun shone, the game got started on a full size pitch and the first half was a bit tough with the Newry Number 5 running in two unconverted tries. He was not going to be easy to stop!
The second half came and our guys got it together, better tackling, better passing, better ball handling and all of a sudden we scored three converted tries and were back in the game. Newry also scored two tries, one of which was converted,Β then they rested No 5 for a while.
So a final score of 22 to 21 gave Newry a deserved win, but this was our best game of the season and everybody felt good about it. We missed Hughie, Cillian and Ben and Aaran, which could have made all the difference. Next year π
This was a great finish to a tough season.
Dermot Dunleavy showed great leadership as captain, especially in the second half and drove the forwards. PJ was ‘Tackler of the Day’ and all 3 conversions were successfully made by DermotΒ & Oisin.
Letterkenny team: Andrew West, Dermot Dunleavy, Oisin Rafferty, Sam MacGinty, Ben , Nathan Podynski, Caomhin, Caolan Handy ,PJ ,Conor OβNeill, Martin Molloy
Newry team: Matthew McKevitt, Seamus Brady, Kieran Byrne, Ross Haughey No 5, David McGee, Anton McLoughlin, Ryan O’Connor, Jack McLennon, Colin White, Blaise McKnight, Oisin O’Callaghan, Liam, Niall O’Hare, Declan McNally
Great hospitality at a very friendly club. We look forward to a return visit.
