GOREY RFC U17s vs. NORTH KILDARE RFC U17s
Leinster League Premier Division – Phase II

Sat 7th Jan 2017

GOREY RFC’S U17s CONTINUE UNBEATEN RUN IN PREMIER LEAGUE

It was time to dust off the Christmas cobwebs and get back down to business as Gorey RFC’s U17s welcomed North Kildare to Clonattin to continue their campaign in Leinster League’s Premier Division.

Perfect conditions welcomed both teams with not a hint of wind and soft conditions underfoot.

Gorey started off well playing the majority of the opening phases in North Kildare’s half, and while the visitors found it hard to get into the opposition’s territory, they weren’t conceding any points as they defended well. Gorey couldn’t break down their defence and gave away a number of penalties to relieve the pressure on the visitors.

North Kildare’s large pack caused problems for Gorey in the scrum and they managed to turnover possession on several occasions in the rucks.

With 20 minutes gone Gorey were awarded a penalty just outside the 22, but the ball sailed just wide of the posts.

Gorey’s out half, Mark Kehoe, began to direct matters and their talented backs came more into the game. Frank Kavanagh stole a ball from a North Kildare ruck and forced an infringement by North Kildare, which resulted in a Gorey scrum. From the back of this scrum the ball was delivered to Full Back, Henry Kennedy, who came screaming like a steam train demanding the ball. North Kildare didn’t have time to react, as Kennedy sliced through the entire defence to place the ball under the posts for the first try. He then converted his own try to leave the home team in the lead 7 – 0.

However, North Kildare didn’t let their heads drop and they put Gorey under pressure for the remainder of the half. Their gifted out-half caused many problems and they looked like equalling the scoreline on a number of occasions, but stout Gorey defence, and a couple of try-saving tackles from both Mark Kehoe and Mark Boyle denied them. Gorey were happy to kick the ball into enemy territory to relieve the pressure until the referee finally blew up for the break.

The second-half kicked off with the visitors continuing the pressure on Gorey. As the home side desperately defended, they lost their usual composure and got dragged in, leaving the visitors with a four-man overlap out wide and an easy run-in for their first try of the game. (Gorey 7 – North Kildare 7)

It was clear the Gorey needed to up their game quickly before this strong North Kildare team ran amuck.

And 15 minutes into the half they began to string a number of passes together and stretch North Kildare’s defensive line. It was from one of these moves that the ball was spread at speed from Out-half Mark Kehoe, to Centre Sean Wafer and on to Second Row Tadhg O’Neill, who in turn fed it out to his fellow second-rower Cian Kenny to squeeze in to the corner for Gorey’s second try.  Henry Kennedy’s conversion was a thing of beauty that any international kicker would have been proud of. (Gorey 14 – North Kildare 7)

Gorey now seemed to have found their rhythm and they began to thread more and more passes together, which the visitors were struggling to cope with. 

With 25 minutes of the second-half gone, replacement Full Back Oisín Fortune gathered a long ball that had been kicked upfield by North Kildare. He made a great run, breaking several tackles before passing out to Wafer and on to Greg Bolger who passed back to Wafer who made sure of his try. (Gorey 19 – North Kildare 7)

With just minutes left on the clock, Mark Kehoe fed the ball from the base of a ruck in North Kildare’s 22 to the hurtling Frank Kavanagh in what seemed like a carbon copy of Gorey’s first try and it was clear for all to see that nobody was going to stop this particular bullet train. (Gorey 24 – North Kildare 7)

The referee sounded the final whistle minutes later.

While Gorey will be happy to come away with another win against a very strong North Kildare team to keep their unbeaten run in place, they will be very much aware that there is much room for improvement. Hopefully the errors can be put down to a bit of ring-rustiness after the long Christmas break, but they will definitely have to up their game for next week’s much anticipated clash against near rivals Wicklow on Saturday.

GOREY TEAM

1. Niall Kenny
2. Toby Falconer
3. Kyle Donnelly
4. Cian Kenny
5. Tadhg O’Neill
6. Ryan Gibney
7. Darragh Canavan
8. Frank Kavanagh
9. Cillian Tomkins
10. Mark Kehoe
11. Ryan Kinsella
12. Mark Boyle
13. Seán Wafer (Captain)
14. Flynn Donnelly
15. Henry Kennedy

Subs.

16. Cian Sullivan
17. Jack Ryan
18. Alex Rothwell
19. Thomas Devereaux
20. Mark Doyle
21. Greg Bolger
22. Adam Byrne
23. Oisín Fortune