Carlow 24  Gorey 53

Having won the quarter final of this Competition against Naas, there was an assumption from looking at the way the draw was set out, that Gorey had a home draw in the semis.  But this turned out to be different and it was decided by the toss of a coin that gave Carlow the benifit of home advantage.  Both clubs agreed that they would play on Friday night as Gorey were entered in the Harry Gale Under Twenties Competition the following day against Enniscorthy and on the Sunday, the J2's were in their own Plate Competition against New Ross away and this would help spread the games out over the weekend and meant that logistically everybody could attend and get their games.

The last time these two sides met was again in Carlow  and it was in the Division 2A League decider, which  was one of the toughest and most phyical games Gorey have had all season.  That game ended in a draw which  was enough for Gorey to take the title.  So for this Towns Plate Semi Final Gorey were expecting more of the same and Coach, Phil Horan had all but three of his first team squad available (Matt Bater, Jason Emery and Shane O'Leary all out with injuries) and picked a team that reflected the importance of the opposition.

From the kick off it was clear that this was going to be a total different contest from Gorey's last meeting with Carlow. For the first couple of minutes, Carlow put on a big push but once Gorey settled and got the measure of their opponents, they opened the flood gates which started with a penalty and then tries from every part of the pitch. Tries from  PJ Clince, JP Redmond, Ciaran Allen and Michael Woods, all being converted by James Nolan, Gorey had 37pts on the scoreboard at halftime with the only response from Carlow being a try and conversion just before the halftime whistle.  Gorey went into the break 31pts to 7pts up.

The second half  resumed and Gorey continued where they had left off with some lovely back play.  Darren Dunne ran in two tries which were also converted, leaving the scores 43pts to 7pts and Gorey were in total charge of this game at this stage.  However, Gorey seemed to take their collective feet of the pedal or it may have been the wholesale changes that were made to the team which changed their shape, but Carlow made four strong substitutions and started to make a strong come back. They upped the pace of the game and were putting Gorey under some serious pressure, so much so that at one stage Gorey had two men in the bin and Carlow were rewarded with three consecutive tries  bringing the scores back to 43pts to 24pts with about 15 minutes left in the game.  But it was Gorey who finish the strongest and with a penalty by James Nolan followed by a deserving try by Jordan Ahern, who had worked hard all evening around the fringes and Nolan converting, the final whistle went with the scores Carlow 24pts Gorey 53pts.

Gorey are now in the Final against the winners of Portarlington versus Clondalkin, to be played on Sunday.  Let's hope it's a neutral venue, not the toss of a coin to decide the venue, and Hopefully Gorey can bring home another trophy to add to the Division 2A League title.

Team: Tom Tomkins, Barry O'Connor, Ciaran Allen, Adrian Copeland, Darragh O'Leary, Jordan Ahern , Michael Woods (Capt), JP Redmond, Aidan O'Brien, Stephen Duke, James Nolan, Colin Peavoy, PJ Clince, Darren Dunne, Neville Copeland, Fergal Bolger, Dean Redmond, Richard Deering, Sean Byrne, John Condren.