Mini/Youths Club Weekend

Last Sunday saw the inaugural “Club Weekend” to mark the beginning of the 2016/2017 Rugby season.

On Saturday our U15’s played against Buccaneers followed by the 1st XV playing Monkstown. These games set the scene for a Rugby fest on Sunday which saw over 450 underage players descend on CPL Park. Terenure came with U7’s, U8’s, U9’s, U10’s, U11’s, U12’s and U13’s as Dublin 6 experienced a short term depopulation over the weekend. Ballinasloe came with their U16 side and Ballina travelled with U17’s and U18’s. There was a Carnival atmosphere as the weather stayed dry contrary to expectations and the Bar B Que’s were running at maximum capacity. A big huge thank you to everyone who helped put the day together and fielding 12 teams on a single weekend is a unique achievement for the club.    

Match Reports:

Longford’s U15’s had an impressive win on Saturday, albeit against the somewhat weakened Buccaneers side, but with some of the tries scored right out of the top drawer.  The performance was not without its failings, however, particularly in the first half.  Among the glaring problems was the penalty count – probably in the order of 10–1 against when Longford were repeatedly penalised at the breakdown, failing to get sufficient numbers to the ruck with the result that the ball carrier was often penalised for failure to release.  The workrate off the ball, therefore, needs to be upped considerably, particularly among the front five who need to commit quicker, and in greater numbers.  Another failing, more so in the first period than the second, was the quality of tackling.  Both Buccaneers tries came from slack tackling when defenders used outstretched arms instead of shoulders and legs.  In fairness, the penalty count was significantly lessened in the second period, testament to a greater level of commitment up front and with something of an improvement in the tackling technique Longford ran in four unanswered tries to build upon their 24 – 14 half time lead.

The tone for the day was set virtually from the first move when Longford looked like they were in for an early score only for Shane Mallon to be tap tackled just short of the line by the visitor’s number 13.  When the first score came it was courtesy of, in the first instance, excellent work at the breakdown from Longford’s arch poachers, Conor Cox and Dylan Fay and with quick ball available Shane Mallon exploited the blind side to draw the only defender and pass to Ciaran McCormack for a relatively simple touchdown.  With the extra points from the conversion attempt Longford were 7 – 0 up and the second score came straight from the Buccaneers restart.  Again, it was the product of good individual skills coupled with an awareness of space.  The drop off was collected cleanly by Maks Napieralski and when he set the ball perfectly Longford were off again on the blind side, quick ball from Mossie McDermott to Shane Mallon who executed a perfect offload out of the tackle to Jamie Byrne who repeated the feat with a perfect offload to Mossie McDermott.  With four players in close support and alert to the opportunity which now presented itself behind the Buccaneers defence Mossie McDermott regained his own chip ahead and the ever industrious Shane Mallon was on hand to pop over from a few yards. 

Whether it was an element of complacency setting in or not, Longford slackened off in their work rate and Buccaneers enjoyed their best period of play.  With Longford failing to commit sufficient numbers to the ruck the penalty count increased.  So also did the amount of possession secured by the Buccaneers forwards and it was no surprise when they crossed the line for their first try after 15 minutes.  Even then, however, the try could have been prevented had a number of attempted tackles been executed in the proper fashion.  Within minutes, however, Longford had extended their lead to 10 points with Mossie McDermott’s awareness of space on the blind side following quick ruck ball but it was his own double skip pass to Killian Rawle on the wide outside which created the opening for the third try of the day.  Buccaneers got themselves back into the game minutes later with a converted try beside the posts but, once again, it was a number of missed first up tackles which gave the Buccaneers player the impetus to crash over despite a last ditch effort from Matt Steadaman and Jamie Bryne.  Longford finished the half in the ascendancy with probably the best engineered try of the afternoon.  With a solid scrum on the Buccaneers 10 meter line Longford moved the ball quickly down the narrow side with Shane Mallon and Charlie Pattison making good ground and with the Buccaneers defence all crabbing sideways in that direction Longford moved the ball back to the open side where the space had opened up and Jamie Byrne capped another impressive performance with a try wide on the right.

With the score at 24 – 14 it was still all to play for but Longford ramped up their performance in the second period, committing more personnel to the rucks, thereby reducing significantly the penalty count, improving the tackling technique and all of which served to produce a somewhat one sided half.  The floodgates opened after 10 minutes when Buccaneers found themselves in a bit of a mess following a lineout and as they tried to scramble the ball away Shane Mallon was alert to an intercept for a try beneath the posts.  The scoreline was extended to 34 – 14 with a sustained period of pressure in the Buccaneers 22 and it was J J Jackson who bagged the touchdown from close range following good carrying by Ciaran McCormack.  Another period of pressure saw Longford take play through the phases and, once again, they were alert to the opportunity which presented itself on the narrow side, J J Jackson and Shane Mallon both committing defenders to the tackler leaving another overlap wide on the right for Killian Rawle to bag his second try of the day.  The scoring was complete when Shane Mallon got his third of the day at the death. 

All in all it was a very impressive performance with a much greater level of awareness of try scoring opportunities and if the team can up its workrate off the ball, cut down on individual errors and improve tackling technique they will be a difficult side to beat in the Midland League which is due to commence shortly.

Squad:  Mark McHugh, J J Jackson, Dylan Fay, Conor Cox, Ciaran McCormack, Ben Carthy, Matt Steadman, Ultan O’Sullivan, Mossie McDermott, Shane Mallon, James Doyle, Ryan Dempsey, Killian Rawle, Jamie Byrne, Frank Patterson, Charley Patterson, Maks Napieralski, Johnny Grier.