Tullamore RFC Notes

Provincial Towns 2nd Cup Semi-Final Tullamore 18, Balbriggan 15 Tullamore 2nd "s travelled to the Kildare club of Cill Dara for their semi final of the Provincial Towns 2nds Cup against Balbriggan last Saturday. The day was perfect with sunshine, a light breeze and a dry pitch for what turned out to be a hard fought contest with Tullamore team overcoming a dogged and resilient Balbriggan side. From the kick off Tullamore attacked the opposition and the strong running Philip Gardnier released Gary O"Dea for the right wing to score in the first three minutes.The attempted conversion from near the touchline went wide and score was 5-0 in favour of Tullamore. Tullamore continued to pressurise Balbriggan with a kick blocked down by Tullamore resulting in a quick lineout. Derek Farrell jinxed past in the Balbriggan defence and resulted in winning a penalty for Tullamore. The subsequent penalty attempt went wide of the posts letting Balbriggan off the hook. Balbriggan slowly came into the game and were awarded a penalty in the fifthteenth minute in front of the Tullamore posts for hands in the ruck which they converted to leave the score 5-3 in favour of Tullamore. Tullamore replied immediately winning a penalty from the restart which Derek Farrell converted to leave the score 8-3. Ten minutes later Nigel Ravenhill had to withdraw due to injury and was replaced by Andy Melville. The game became somewhat scrappy and on twenty nine minutes Balbriggan converted another penalty to leave the score 8-6. Just before half time David Deering kicked ahead which was chased by Tullamore, the ball came to the hands of Cian O"Sullivan and he was held up just short the Balbriggan line. From the ensuing ruck a penalty resulted for Tullamore but the intervention of the linesman saw the referee reversing the decision and therefore letting Balbriggan of the hook. Both captains were spoken to again by the referee in order reduce the niggling that had entered the game. The second half started well for Balbriggan with the North Dublin side converting a penalty to see them leading 8-9. Six minutes into the second half Cian O"Sullivan retired due to injury and was replaced by the experienced veteran Paul Deering. A Tullamore scrum just outside their twenty two saw Andy Melville pick the ball from the base of the scrum; draw the opposition before passing to Mick Harte who released Adrian Dalton to score in the corner, the missed conversion left the Tullamore leading 13-9. Minutes later a Tullamore forward was sinned binned which was advantageous for Balbriggan as they converted a penalty to leave them trailing 13-12. Eddie O"Connor was replaced in the sixtieth minute by Barry Lynam and in the seventieth minute a Balbriggan penalty awarded on half way was advanced by the referee for dissent and Balbriggan took the lead 13-15 from the successful conversion. Realising that time was running Andy Melville received the ball just outside Tullamore"s twenty two and with the Balbriggan defence out of line started to run along the touchline, and with Adrian Dalton in support a Tullamore try seemed to be certainty for the winger but Andy had other ideas. The player coach swatted off two Balbriggan defenders and the twenty stone plus forward ran like a gazelle down the touchline before crashing over in the corner with opposition hanging out of him to score the winning try. With the conversion missed Tullamore lead 18-15. Balbriggan had other ideas and in the last minute they decided to reenact the scenes from the Millennium Stadium when they had a penalty attempt from just inside the Tullamore half to level the match, but the kick was short and wide and the game ended with Tullamore victorious. Tullamore will now play Dundalk in the final, the date and venue undecided at time of report being made. The Harbour Bar man of the match could have been a number of players including try hero Andy 'the gazelle' Melville but it was decided to award Dermot Galvin with the honour as he preformed calmly in defence, confident under the high balls, astute in attack and elusive in tight play. Team: Dermot Galvin, Gary O"Dea, Philip Gardiner, David Deering, Adrian Dalton, Paul White, Derek Farrell, Darragh Lowry, Eddie Connor, Ronan Scally, Nigel Ravenhill, Ciaran McNeil, Cian O"Sullivan, Aidan O"Reilly, Mick Harte. Replacements Used: Andy Melville, Barry Lynam, Paul Deering Conditions right for Tullamore 3rds Anderson Cup Tullamore 9, Mullingar 0 Having seen off favourites Athy in the previous round, Good Friday at 6pm saw the arrival of the defending Champions Mullingar to the hallowed Spollenstown turf for what had the makings of a tough encounter. If Tullamore are to win this Cup, they will win it the hard way. This was a physical and dogged type of game with both sides truly ready for the fight. Tullamore were dealt with an early blow when seasons talliesman Archie Lynam picked up a reoccurring shoulder injury when he took man and ball to concede a penalty and forced an early change that saw the introduction of the a young rising star in Brian Kelly. Mullingar were dictating the game in the early stages and Tullamore were allowing them to do so, however when Tullamore attacked they did so with precision and determination. Tullamore were rewarded for their counter attacking rugby with a penalty slotted by another of the veterans in Eric Conway on 16 mins. On 26 minutes Eric was again on hand to add to his points after sustained pressure by the home pack as they began to boss the game. Tullamore were reduced to 14 when a member of the pack was given a ten minute rest period for apparent offside, but Mullingar weren"t able to capitalise on this and Tullamore went in at halftime 6-0. The second have saw the introduction of club veteran Paul Deering and the young gun David Cleary to the pack. Tullamore inspired by the half time talk played a lot of attacking rugby in the opening 15mins and were unlucky not to come away with a few tries with John Scanlon coming close down the right flank and later failing to put away a clear opportunity. Fifteen minutes from time Tullamore were awarded a penalty for offside at the halfway and young Brian Kelly converted which would force Mullingar to score at least twice to win this game. Mullingar came back fighting and camped themselves in the Tullamore 22 for the remainder of the game. Huge defence from Alan Lawlor and the pack drove back the Mullingar pack when they looked certain to score and the team held out for a huge win. A massive thanks must go to this squad that have gelled so nicely since late January with on average 20 plus lads training. Training again this Wednesday at 8pm and it is expected the 3rds and 4ths will be there with both teams facing huge semi finals. The 3rds will face Wicklow either this Friday or Saturday,with time and venue yet to be determined. Team: E. Clavin, J. Scanlon, B. Smith, A. Lynam, G. Hensey, E. Conway, B. Mahon, B. Lynam, E. Kerin, J. Connolly, S. Connolly, M.Guinan, E. Bracken (Cpt), F. Kenna, M. Tormey. Subs: P. Deering, A. Lawlor, D. Cleary, M. Fox, B. Kelly, E. Hooper, K. Gorman & S. Todd.