MATCH REPORT: TCS 12 St Mac Dara's Junior Boys 32, South Dublin Cup Play-Offs.

  A crisp spring Friday afternoon in Tymon Park.  Perfect for some rugby, and a great way to start off the weekend. 
  TCS kicked off, but Luke Hill (lock) gathered well and carried for a couple of steps before going to ground and setting the ball up perfectly for his team-mates.  Mark Renaghan (flanker) thought he was the fullback when the ball came to him and went on a crazy forty metre dash up the middle of the field dragging two or three TCS lads with him.  Charlie Clarke (lock) rucked very strongly, securing the ball for us.  Eventually though TCS had a lineout just on their 22.  Andrew Hayden (flanker) turned the ball over and carried for the line.  We recycled through a few phases until with four minutes on the clock Jake Miller (scrumhalf) crossed the line for our first score.  A good start.
  Jake Carroll (outhalf) bounced the ball off the post taking the conversion (couldn't have done it if he'd meant to!) but no problem.  We were ahead and there were still 56 minutes to play.  Aaron MacDonagh (loosehead prop) gathered the restart kick from TCS and burst ahead.  Once again Mark Renaghan went on a huge break.  Shortly after we spilled the ball and the teacher from TCS ref awarded a scrum to TCS.  We put in a huge shove on the scrum, anchored by Billy Hamilton (tighthead prop), with Aaron holding up the other side and Dylan Hamilton (hooker) helping win the ball against the head.  In the ruck that followed the ref felt we held on to the ball and awarded TCS a penalty.  They took it quickly but fumbled it forward a couple of phases later, giving us another scrum.  Considering how strong our scrum was, we would have been happy to pack down for the whole afternoon.  Okay, so the backs would have been bored, but who cares about them?
  TCS contested very strongly in the rucks following the scrum and forced a turnover.  With nine minutes gone they made their first visit to our half.  It would prove to be a worthwhile visit however as they made a fantastic break and got a great try.  They successfully converted it too, taking them into the lead.  Jake Miller kicked off for us and Jake Carroll somehow managed to get right underneath it twenty metres into the TCS half.  A brilliantly organised piece of play.  A couple of phases later Andrew Hayden (flanker) placed the ball down for us.  Try awarded.
  The rest of the second half went by really quickly, with a couple of scrums and penalties being awarded against us.  We weathered the storm and soaked up the pressure being put on us by TCS, getting a scrum and a penalty of our own to redress the balance.  On 22 minutes TCS had another penalty and took it quickly, putting massive pressure on us.  Mark and his twin, Luke Alford (number 8 & captain), put in a great defense, holding the ball carrier up and forcing him backwards.  From here we put the pressure back on TCS, giving Andrew Hayden another chance to score.  This time the conversion was good.  Half-time, and we were ahead 17 points to 7.
  The first few minutes of the second half were all about set-pieces and dominance there.  We conceded a penalty, they put into the lineout but we stole it.  Two minutes later the same scenario played out.  No matter what they threw at us we were able to absorb it.  Eventually we decided to throw Mark at them.  Another massive break from the forward and this time he didn't stop until he had put the ball down.  Two minutes later and the backs decided that they wanted to play too, with Eoin Flood (left wing) scoring what seemed like a perfect try, but there was a foot in touch on the way in, Sean Redmond (inside centre) was on the end of some quick ball on the other wing and scored.  TCS got a consolation try shortly after, but they still had to endure relentless pressure from St Mac Dara's.  We began to bring on some of our replacements and the fresh legs helped keep the pressure on.  Nathan Devitt had put in a great show as full back, Cillian Smith ensured the scrum remained as strong and stable as it had been and William Kelly added great pace in his now preferred position of outside-centre, Brian Mac Mahon played a great part as a replacement flanker when Mark finally moved into the backs after playing like one for the whole match and one of the highlights of the match was seeing Trevor (Jason Browne) forming a choke tackle with Mark and Andrew after a TCS lineout.
  We finished up winning 32 points to 12, but more important than the scoreline was the great spirit and enthusiasm shown by the lads, in what was an extremely physical match.  Well done to all involved.  Thanks as well to Tallaght Community School for hosting us and to Peter for filling in as referee.

Da Numbaz.
Tries. St Mac Dara's 6 (1), TCS 2 (1)
Possession. St Mac Dara's 43 minutes. 73%. TCS 17m. 27%.
Territory. St Mac Dara's 70%. TCS 30%.

Line-Outs. St Mac Dara's 6 (5) TCS 7 (6)
Scrums. St Mac Dara's 4 (4) TCS 6 (3)
Penalties conceded. St Mac Dara's 7. TCS 5.