Gorey RFC under 14's welcomed Athy to Clonattan last Sunday in their latest Leinster League encounter.
Having comfortably defeated Nass the previous week the Gorey players were in determined mood to up
the intensity significantly in this important fixture.

From Athy the kick off Gorey gathered well and attacked the defensive line with fierce forward rucking winning an early scrum after just two phases of
controlled forward play. Scrum half Eoin Buckley delivered fast ball out wide with excellent Gorey backline handling from 10 to 13 releasing
full back Conor O'Toole into space to score the game's first try after only three minutes of play.

Gorey gathered cleanly from the restart and went through a fine passage of forward rucking with strong running and ball carrying from number 8 Shane Stokes and Eoin Molloy taking play well into the Athy 22. The Gorey pressure was rewarded with a penalty, a quick tap and go by out half Charlie McGuckin who offloaded cleanly to second row P.J. Barnes running an excellent line outside the Athy number 10 to open up a clear run to the posts. His try was converted cleanly by Fionn O'Loughlin. Twelve points on the board for Gorey without reply reflected well the Gorey team's workrate. From the restart Gorey winger Jack Cullen fielded the ball out wide and set off on a magnificent run down the left, handing off two Athy defenders along the way before crashing over the tryline. Fionn O'Loughlin slotted the conversion.

On 20 minutes, Athy were under serious pressure and Gorey were hungry for more with Charlie McGuckin breaking off the back of a Gorey scrum
on the ten metre line to touch down under the posts. Fionn O'Loughlin now had his range and once again calmly added the points. From the restart Cameron Reynolds gathered superbly, carrying well over the gainline with excellent support rucking by his pack driving Gorey deep into Athy territory. Excellent second phase work by hooker, Aaron Donnelly,and the Gorey pack of Dylan Slator, Sean Dunne, Tom Higgins, Carl Clarke, P.J Barnes, Owen Molloy and Shane Stokes drove 15 metres into Athy territory before presenting clean ball to scrum half Eoin Buckley who released his backline attack. Running good lines and handling superbly in heavy wet conditions, impressive debut centre Alan Kelly crashed through the cover to register his first Gorey RFC try which O'Loughlin converted to bring first half proceedings to a close.

Gorey team changes at half time saw Jack O'Mahony come in at scrum half, Mikey Duke at 12 and Fionn O'Loughlin switch from 12 to full back.
Gorey restarted, the second period, hanging the ball high, allowing the their attacking line time to get right into the faces of the Athy forwards. A crunching tackle from centre Alan Kelly forced an Athy knock-on giving Gorey an early scrum on half way. Good work from the Gorey pack allowed Jack O'Mahony time to release out half Charlie McGuckin who carried and offloaded to the explosive Gorey number 8 Shane Stokes who gathered and hit the Athy defensive line at speed splitting the centres to run in the try of the game after just 3 minutes.
It was all Gorey from here on in with a rampant display of rucking, scrummaging and phase play from the Gorey pack sending prop Dylan Slator over for his teams sixth try after 10 minutes. Five minutes later an excellent pick and go by Stokes made 15 metres before offloading to support runner Sean Barden who's strength and awareness broke the Athy cover before finishing impressively under the posts with O'Loughlin again adding the points. Gorey registered two more converted tries in the latter stages from centre Alan Kelly and replacement winger Daragh Brooks, both players capping off impressive performances with deserved well taken scores. The entire Gorey team performed superbly on the day with their hard work in training really showing through in this clinical performance in testing conditions. Athy to their credit kept their heads up and fought hard to the final whistle.

Final score Gorey RFC 62 - 0 Athy RFC

Many thanks to Athy RFC , match officials and to all supporters in attendance who added greatly to the very sporting
atmosphere in which the game was played. A special thanks to the Gorey clubhouse team for the refreshments served after the match.

Gorey Squad; Andy Kinsella, Eoin Molloy, Dylan Slator, Liam Molloy, Lloyd Stephens, Cameron Reynolds, Tom Cleary, Carl Clarke, Tom Higgins, Shane Stokes, Killian Pierce, Joseph Naughton, Jack Minogue, Sean Bardon, Michael Duke, Eoin Buckley, Jack Cullen, Sean Dunne, Aaron Donnelly, Charlie McGuckin, Conor O'Toole, Jack O' Mahony, P.J. Barnes, Cathal O'Reilly,
Rory Heffernan, Daragh Brooks, Alan Kelly.