Sat 31st Aug 2013

Gorey J1 and J2 squads travelled to Tullow on Saturday to play their South East League ties with depleted squads due to an abnormal amount of injuries, so much so that a call was put out only hours before the match for U19 players to help make up the numbers. The call was answered and the two squads were able to take to the field on Saturday evening.

                            J2 Match -  Gorey 38   Tullow 20

First to take to the field was the J2's with some of the U19's together with some wise and seasoned  rugby players.  Tullow were straight into the game by scoring their opening try and conversion when the game was only a few minutes old.  Tullow  added another try soon after before Gorey started to fight back and play some rugby. After some fine attacking play and pressure Colin French went over to score Gorey's first of many tries.  The conversion was put over by Brooks and soon after that

Ken Rothwell went over the try line in response to a Tullow penalty.  This left Tullow ahead 15 to 12 at half time.  There was some personnel changes at half time and Gorey started to find their range and not long into the second half after a penalty miss by Tullow, Ian Horan went over for the first of his three tries with the the Bull Cussions also getting his name on the score sheet. With some fine place kicking from Micheal Heagerty, the final score was Gorey 38 Tullow 20. All players and substitutions played their part on the day, but players of note were Paul Waffer, Ciaran    Smith, Ian Horan and of the young guns Harry Woods, Donnchadh Carroll and Cathal  O'Neill.

                     J1 Match -   Tullow 29  Gorey 19

Next up were the J1's up against a very slick and well organised Division 1A and Towns Cup finalist from last year and from the whistle they showed their intent by   playing some fast and slick rugby. Tullow's first try however was the result of a wild pass which was kick on for Tullow's No. 11 to pounce on and score, which was followed by a fine conversion.  Soon after the ball was passed through the hands and out to the wing for a pacey No. 13 to score Tullow's second try which was also converted and in no time at all Tullow had 14 pts on the scoreboard.  At this stage Gorey were a bit shell shocked and were struggling to fine their feet, they continued to soak up the pressure, however even with some try saving tackles from Simon Besanson and Robert Harrington, Gorey eventually succumbed to the inevitable after Tullow switched their point of attack and beat Gorey's sterling defence to score in the corner. This left the score 19 nill to Tullow at half time.

Gorey continued to make forced changes and with players coming and going on and off the field even this novice reporter found it hard to keep a track of the changes. But changes of note were Phil Horan for Ben Horan, Conor Hatton for Glen Leeson, Harry Woods, Colin French and Ciaran Smith also put in an appearance. The start of the second half had Gorey going forward with intent and played some nice inter play which ended in JP Redmond going over with help from the forwards to score Gorey's first try. Glen Leeson duly converted and took the scores to 19 pts to 7pts in favour of Tullow . At this stage an injured Matt Bater was taken off and more changes were made.  Gorey continued to push forward and played some very nice rugby, passing the ball about with geart skill and were rewarded when Eddie Horan went over to score Gorey's second try in the corner, the scores were now 19pts to 12pts for Tullow.    Tullow knew they were in a fight and turned up the heat by bringing the play down into Gorey's half and after some solid defence work from Gorey they were eventually  rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts to bring the score to 22pts to 12pts. Tullow followed this up with a try and conversion bringing the score to 29pts to12pts and Gorey were looking a bit deflated. But from the restart Gorey dug deep and piled on the pressure by hounding the Tullow try line and forced the referee to give Tullow a yellow and a somewhat harsh red card to two Tullow players.  Gorey perseverance paid off with Ciaran Smith going over to score and the try was converted to leave the final score 29pts to 19pts in favour of Tullow.

It was a great game to watch and kept the crowd entertained, most people agreed that this Gorey side put on a good show having been riddled with injuries and younger players stepping up to the challange. Going forward, if Gorey can field a full strength squad with players playing in their rightful positions they will certainly be a force to be reckoned. So the future is looking bright for Gorey rugby.