Tullow, Kilkenny and County Carlow were all in action at the weekend in the Leinster League.
Kilkenny
Kilkenny 12 – 10 Dundalk
Another inspired length of the field try finished by Jake, to win the game but a poor game overall said the club.
The first try was scored by Ciaran Sutton & converted by Hugh Corkery.
A win is a win, but Kilkenny will be disappointed having left 11 kickable points behind & had two try’s disallowed, one for a knock-on over the line, the second because of a forward pass in the assist.
Gary Dunne was immense at No.8 again, as were his back row partners Shane O’Riordan & Roy Stanley.
The Kilkenny seconds lost 18 – 23.
Carlow
Clondalkin 0 Carlow 20
Superior finishing was the difference between the sides as Carlow maintained their 100% record in Leinster League Division 1B and condemned the home team Clondalkin to a 3rd successive defeat. However, Carlow will regret that they came away without securing the four-try bonus point.
In perfect autumnal playing conditions, there was little to choose between the sides in the opening exchanges. The match was played between the 22’s with each side guilty of handling errors that stopped the momentum. Carlow however, began to edge the possession battle and after a series of phases, they brought play into the Clondalkin 22 where a missed tackle allowed the wing forward Conor Moore to crash over for the first points of the game.
After a shaky start, the Carlow pack began to dominate in the scrum and in the loose. A successful penalty from Richard Whyte pushed the score out to 8 points to nil. With time running out in the first half, Clondalkin spread the ball wide but a last-ditch tackle from Carlow prevented a certain score in the left corner.
At the start of the second half, another fine tackle stopped a Clondalkin centre two metres from the line after a 40-metre burst. The Carlow cover was pinged for offside just to the right of the posts. Clondalkin tapped and went, but the Carlow defence drove them backwards, turned over possession and cleared their lines.
The home team’s heads seem to drop after this and Carlow drove on gaining both territory and possession. Centre Dan Crotty rounded some despairing tacklers to score to the left of the posts. This was converted by Richard Whyte to give the visitors a 15 point lead.
Worse was to come for the Dublin side when their replacement hooker saw red for a strike, in what had been a game played without any niggle to that point.
A Carlow kick through saw a further try awarded, but this was disallowed when the Referee realised it was a Clondalkin yellow jersey rather than a Carlow one of similar colour that got the touchdown.
However, Carlow was not to be denied a third try when Dan Crotty was again at the end of an excellent offload and scored an unconverted try to the right of the posts. Despite pushing for a bonus point score, Carlow was unable to make the most of their numerical superiority and the game finished 20 points to 0 for the away side.
The win has lifted Carlow to third in the table after three games. There are good numbers training and this is leading to competition for team places.
However next week for the first time the Oakpark side will face a team ahead of them on the table when Wicklow come visiting.
Carlow J1
Richard Whyte, Johnny Crossley, Caomhan Brennan, Dan Crotty, Sam Cullen, John Whyte, Cormac Murray, Alan Byrne, Evan Gordon, Ross Byrne, John Lyons, Owen Edgehill, Conor Moore, Paddy Mackey, Conor Treacy
Subs: John Farrell, Larry McGrath, Conal Slater, Isaac Daly Liam Slater
Tullow
The Tullow firsts entertained Boyne at the Black Gates on Sunday but they were defeated.
The final score was 21-46 in favour of Boyne.
The Tullow women’s team were beaten 33-23 in the Leinster League by Railway Union.
