All of those late Thursday afternoons training with Mere, all of the muck and dirt and bruises, all of the sore legs, arms, and heads had come down to this. It was tournament day in Railway Union!
The morning was glorious, and we were looking forward to a great afternoon and evening of 7s rugby, but it started to rain on our way to Sandymount and it kept raining! We spent almost an hour in the clubhouse looking out at the deluge coming down and listening to people saying it would pass soon!
We had two teams entered; Junior and Senior, and we were facing opposition from St Louis, Muckross and Newpark college. Our juniors were first up to play and took to the field against St Louis' Juniors. Jessica Keating was nominated as our captain for the day and kicked the match off. She was joined on the pitch by Aoife McGowan, Laura "Abercrombie" Creighton, Holly Baker, Laura Crossan, Eva Keller and Vicki Browne. Despite an early break and a quick dash across their try-line we weren't able to convert our opportunities. Defensively we were very strong with Abercrombie putting in some awesome tackles. A 7s pitch is a wide pitch unfortunately and Louis were able to get past us for their first score. We lost Holly along the way unfortunately as her ability to run and create space was sorely missed. Despite Jess getting a try just after half-time we lost 10 points to 5. Still, there was plenty left to play for.
 |
| Holly Baker and her bust nose! |
The seniors were up next, again against St Louis. Lisa Callan (captain) took to the field in her preferred number 2 jersey, bringing Rebekah Hayden, Kelly Walsh, Sarah Carroll, Caoimhe Guerin, Katie McGowan and Roisín Tindall with her. Louis got off to a blistering start and were able to push around us with far too much ease. Before we even had a chance to catch our breath it was half-time and we were down by four tries. The second -half started off equally as fast, but we were better prepared this time. Louis were stopped by great tackling on Lisa and Katie's parts. Claire Harrington was subbed on and also helped us sustain the pressure. They did get through though, but Lisa was able to break through their lines and give us some respectability. At the end we had lost five tries to one.
We had some time off to recover and refresh after the matches and also to check out the opposition. The seniors were first up this time, against Muckross. We gave Eve Higgins a place on our squad, and gave Jojo Clune and Fionnuala Wilson their starts. This game went more to plan with some fantastic interplay between our players. Lisa got us on the scoreboard after just a minute and the cheers from our subs and the juniors could be heard all the way back in Templeogue! We were playing into the sun and we were worried about blindly looking about for the ball after restart kicks. Katie McGowan had a fantastic take into the sun and broke down the pitch, leaving everyone staring after her. We also had a textbook offload from Jojo helping us keep pressure on Muckross. At half-time we lead 10 nil. Lisa scored again from the off in the second-half, thanks to great pressure and support from Kelly Walsh. Katie also scored after another trademark pitch-length break. Jojo and Roisín also added to the scoreboard, while Sorcha Kampff came on and used her great fielding skills to help us keep possession. Another great game from a great team.
The juniors had their game against Muckross next. This was a game we struggled in, but we were so impressed by soem fantastic defensive work. Sinead Aspell put in two amazing tackles, one on each side of half-time that really stopped Muckross in their tracks. These were two of the best tackles made all day, and poor Sinead was covered in muck afterwards! Except for her grin that is. Abercrombie also made some important tackles. Saragh Deegan got onto the pitch in this game too, as did Chloe Hutchinson. They development in confidence and ability we saw in all of our girls over the day was immense, and Saragh and Chloe were two great example of this. The result was a loss, but our girls put in a fantastic display.
The seniors were back on, again facing St Louis. Holli Breslin and Cliodhana Edwards got their first starts of the day. This time we were first on the scoreboard with Roisín Tindall putting in an amazing turn on the wing. Unfortunately we lost Katie shortly after this after a clash of heads. Katie has a reputation as a ferocious tackler and we would miss her, but head injuries are too serious to take any risks over. Sorcha Kampff and Claire Harrington proved very able subs though, but unfortunately Louis were able to force themselves across our lines and onto the scoreboard twice.
The juniors had one last game against Newpark. In many ways we were playing just for pride, but a good display could also result in us winning the Plate competition. The girls put in the work that was needed and helped us secure the plate. Well done to them and to all on the team.
The Seniors then took to the field to play the Cup Final. We were facing St Louis for the third time in the contest. The first one we had lost five tries to one, the second two tries to one. This time we were confident. Rebekah, Caoimhe, Sarah, Kelly, Lisa and Jojo went on to the pitch, while Sorcha and Roisín were two big impact subs for us. Louis blitzed past us for the first score of the game and this allowed their confidence to lift. They kept us out throughout the first half, even though we put huge pressure on them and it felt like we lived on their lines! They even managed to get a second score just before the break. In the second half we came out like demons. Roisín gave us a fantastic score. Louis were desperate to slow the ball down as they could sense the momentum building behind Mac Dara's. We knew that if we drew and forced extra-time we would have the psychological advantage. Again we applied massive pressure and a late move by Caoimhe Guerin looked like we had just made it across the line but Louis managed to force her into touch. The whictle blew, the game was over and we had just, just, lost out on the cup. We had the plate though as a consolation, as well as the knowledge that we had played as a great team throughout the day.
We couldn't have been prouder than our junior and senior teams than we were on that rainy, cold, windy. bright Friday in October. They have given up so much of their time and put in huge efforts. Well done to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment