Fri 15^th Nov 2013

Gorey Under 19s Continue Unbeaten Run in Leinster League 

Gorey RFC was the venue for the Friday night clash under lights, as Gorey’s Under 19s welcomed Harlequinns; a team comprised of the best under-19 players from both Tullow and Carlow Rugby clubs. 

Gorey were coming into this game on the back of two impressive wins in their opening two Leinster League games against Wicklow and New Ross, but they knew they would have a tough task ahead of them, particularly with the absence of a number of their pack due to injuries. Harlequinns brought along a large squad both in numbers and size. 

They game kicked off in front of a large crowd, with a sizeable home support turning out to cheer on Gorey. However, Harlequinns dominated the opening exchanges and put Gorey under extreme pressure resulting in a penalty, which their able out-half slotted over to put them 3 points to nil up in just a couple of minutes. 

Harlequinns continued to pile on the pressure after the restart and Gorey were forced to defend wave after wave of attack from Harlequinns strong pack. A number of forced errors by Gorey allowed Harlequinns to show their power in the scrum and it was off one of these scrums that their out-half broke off and get the opening try directly under the posts. This proved an easy conversion and Gorey found themselves trailing 0 – 10 after 15 minutes. 

Gorey seemed to wake up after this onslaught and began to make progress with some great work by flanker Eric Lacey and hooker J.J. Earle. Putting Harlequinns under pressure for the first time in the, Gorey were rewarded with a penalty of their own, which Micheál O’Scannáil put over to bring the score back to 3 – 10. 

Gorey dug deep for the remainder of this first half and had a lineout inside Harlequinns 22, which they won and  drove a determined maul inexorably toward the Harlequinns line, which captain Donnchadh Carroll got over in the corner for his try, with just minutes left in the first half. The tricky conversion was missed but left the score a much more palatable 8 -10 in favour of Harlequinns at halftime. 

Gorey coach Jason Emery had a calming word with his players during the interval in an attempt to settle his team and get them playing their open style of rugby that had put them at the top of their table. 

The second half began with an obvious new spring in the step of this Gorey team and it wasn’t long until they reverted to type, spreading the ball out to the wing and stretching Harlequinns defences. After just five minutes Gorey were rewarded with their second try when some lovely open play brought their winger David Eikrem into play and he got over for a try. Now Gorey took the lead for the first time in the match at 13 – 10 and they didn’t look like they were going to lose it again. 

The scrums were a much more even affair in the second half with Gorey scrum half Chris Martin proving to be a thorn in the side of his opposite number, catching him again and again on the Harlequinn put in. No. 8 Harry Woods made some great line breaks despite suffering from a hamstring injury. 

Out half Micheál O’Scannáil made up for what was an average first half by his standards to have a scintillating second half with clever kicks for touch, some well judged Garryowens, and finally culminating in an exquisite chip through for the lightening fast winger Jack Clear to chase and touch down for his first try and Gorey’s third. Leaving the score at 18 - 10. 

Gorey continued to dominate the later stages of the half, but Harlequinns managed to make a quick line break and looked surely to be through for a try, only to be stopped by a wrap tackle by Gorey’s Cathal O’Neill, which was inexplicably judged to be high and a penalty was awarded to Harlequinns. They chose to kick this, which was successful and brought them back to 18 -13 and a valuable bonus losing point with only minutes to go. 

However, the script was finished just yet, as Harlequinns tried to push forward for one last attack, Gorey’s Eoin Walsh made an important intercept on the half way line and sprinted all the way to place the ball under the posts for an easy conversion by Micheál O’Scannáil, to leave the final score Gorey 25 Harlequinns 13. 

The large home crowd gave both teams a rapturous ovation for a great spectacle of rugby and in particular a spirited performance from the home side to come back and win this important game. 

Gorey Team

(1)        Kallum O’Donoghue

(2)        J.J. Earle

(3)        Seán Mahon

(4)        David Condren

(5)        Josh Bergin

(6)        Eric Lacey

(7)        Donnchadh Carroll (c)

(8)        Harry Woods

(9)        Chris Martin

(10)     Micheál O’Scannáil

(11)     David Eikrem

(12)     Eoin Walsh

(13)     Cathal O’Neill

(14)     Jack Cleary

(15)     David O’Neill

(16)     Joseph O’Loughlin

(17)     Stephen Doyle

(18)     Sam O’Keeffe

(19)     Darren Willoughby

(20)     Blake Jackson