GOREY U20s THROUGH TO HARRY GALE CUP SEMI-FINAL

Gorey's U20s took to the field on Sunday afternoon to face Tullamore in the Harry Gale Cup following their win over a depleted Seapoint side the previous week.

A good crowd gathered for the game, but before it began, Gorey lost two of their players in the warm-up when Sean Wafer and Henry Kennedy had to withdraw from the game due to flare-ups of old injuries.

A re-jigged team took to the field and played against the wind to start. It didn't take long for Gorey's strong pack to assert themselves, as they put Tullamore under pressure from the off. After just seven minutes of play, and repeated phases in Tullamore's '22, Tadhg O'Neill went over the line but was held up by Tullamore in a last gap defensive effort. From the resulting scrum Gorey continued to camp in the visitors' '22 and after a number of penalties against Tullamore, which Gorey outhalf Mark Kehoe kicked to the corner, Lloyd Stephens eventually opened Gorey's account with a fine try with quarter of an hour on the clock. (Gorey 5 - Tullamore 0)

Gorey seemed fairly comfortable now, operating off an incredibly strong scrum and a solid lineout, which captain Tom Jameson dominated.

Tullamore valiantly launched attack after attack, but staunch defence from the likes of Frank Kavanagh, Dylan Sawyer and Lloyd Stephens stopped them in their tracks.

Gorey's scrum-half Seamus Tomkins was spreading the ball quickly and orchestrating the back line well. Full back Mikey Dukes took an a ball and went on a solo run, before cleverly chipping the ball over the two oncoming defenders. Whilst he couldn't regather the ball cleanly, it fortunately came off his boot, which he chased down and scored to extend Gorey's lead. (Gorey 12 - Tullamore 0)

Tullamore fought hard to try to get back into the game and as the clock ticked towards half-time, they were rewarded for their efforts with two penalties in quick succession, which narrowed the gap to six points. (Gorey 12 - Tullamore 6).  But Gorey were awarded a penalty of their own in the last minutes of the half, which Mark Kehoe swept between the posts to leave the score; Gorey 15 - Tullamore 6 as they went into the break.

The second half started with Gorey the strongest again. After ten minutes of the second half, Gorey hooker Liam Molloy took hold of a ball and headed straight for the Tullamore line, bringing several defenders with him. At short range he was completely unstoppable. (Gorey 20 - Tullamore 6)

Seamus Tomkins added a fine individual try 10 minutes later, just before being sin-binned for a high tackle, after the referee had warned Gorey for a previous infringement. Mark Kehoe add the conversion. (Gorey 27 - Tullamore 6).

The remainder of the game became a bit of an arm wrestle in the middle of the pitch, as both teams tired and injuries took their toll. However, Tullamore managed to get over for a late consolation try after a sterling effort to finish off the game at Gorey 27 - Tullamore 13.

Some tremendous performances across the entire team for Gorey, but the Man of the Match is awarded to Tom Jameson for his great performance in the loose and his unrivalled lineout display.

Gorey welcome Clontarf RFC to Clonattin next Saturday 20th April for the semi-final, which kicks-off at 1:30pm.

GOREY

1. Dylan Sawyer

2. Liam Molloy

3. Frank Kavanagh

4. Tom Jameson (Capt.)

5. Lloyd Stephens

6. Tadhg O'Neill

7. Cormac Walsh

8. Harry Stacey

9. Seamus Tomkins

10. Mar Kehoe

11. Cillian Tomkins

12. Joe Naughton

13. Jason Rothwell

14. Flynn Donnelly

15. Michael Duke

16. Adam Earl

17. Rhys Slator