J2'S BOW OUT OF CUP
24/03/2014
Kilkenny 12 Gorey 9
Gorey J2's travelled to Kilkenny last Sunday for the first round of the Provincial Towns 2nds Cup as an unbeaten side and were eager to get their Cup campaign off to a winning start. It had been two weeks since the J2's last competitive game and with some of the regular squad injured and others players unavailable Coach Lloyd Furlong, had to call upon the services of some of the more experienced under 19 players to strengthen his squad. The game kicked off under a clear sky and even the sun made a good appearance to brighten up the day.
Gorey started the game with plenty of good go forward ball and looked to be the better side. They forced Kilkenny to conceed an early penalty, which Clinton Furney put over to take the lead. Gorey continued in this vein and were by far the better team. Clinton added another penalty and Sean O'Connor had a long range attempt on the stroke of half time but it just fell short hitting the post padding and left Gorey leading 6pts to nil.
When the game resumed Gorey continued where they left off and forced an early penalty from Kilkenny for over the top at the ruck and Clinton Furney obliged but this would be Gorey's last score of the day. Some clever substitutions for Kilkenny seemed to give them added vigour and they never looked back. They were camped in Gorey's 22 for long periods and Gorey were defending strongly but eventually gave way to a Kilkenny try and conversion bring the score to 9pts to 7pts and Kilkenny were on the front foot. Soon after the restart they resumed the pressure and again Gorey's defence gave way to a Kilkenny push over try and with the conversion missed the scores were Kilkenny 12pts to Gorey 9pts. At this stage Gorey were still in the game but when they had a player red carded and another sin bined, the best they could do was hold out at this score line till the final whistle. This unfortunately brings Gorey J2's unbeaten record for the season to a end.
Team: James Mulligan, Fergal Bolger, Richard Deering, Colin French, Kieran Hennessy, Darragh O'Leary, Killian Breen, Paul Wafer, Robert Harrington, Aidan O'Brien, Sean Byrne, PJ Clince, John Condren, Clinton Furney, Sean O'Connor, JJ Earle, Nigel Rothwell, Wayne Peavoy, Glen Leeson, Dean Redmond.