Gorey Under 13s Win at Cill Dara RFC

Gorey's under 13s acted as a curtain-raiser for the 2nd Round of the Provincial Towns Cup with a friendly against Cill Dara RFC Under 13s.

Coming after a great performance the previous week Gorey's boys were feeling confident and raring to go after the long journey from Clonattin. On a bright crisp day, with a gusting wind, Gorey shot out of the traps and immediately put Cill Dara under pressure. They didn't give the home side a moment to settle and were literally in their faces from the off.

It wasn't long before second rower Jack Ryan burst over for the first try of the game after just 5 minutes. The wind meant it wasn't really a day for kicking and Gorey failed to convert.

Gorey's forwards dominated the early phases and won almost every ruck with Cian Sullivan and Tadhg O'Neill securing ball time after time to frustrate Cill Dara. This work paid off, as Dylan Sawyer once again pierced the Cill Dara defences to get his name on the scoresheet ten minutes later.

All credit must go to Cill Dara for keeping their heads up and some good passing paid off for the them on the 22 minute mark, as they stunned Gorey with a try of their own.

This seemed to spark Gorey back into life and it only took Pauric Hughes a couple of minutes to reply with a well worked try, Paudi sprinted all the way under the posts to make the conversion as easy as possible, which Henry Kennedy duly slotted over.

James Lawlor carried great ball all day and allowed Jack Ryan was to add another try to his tally on the stroke of half time, the big second row forward proving too difficult to stop.

Half time score: Cill Dara 5 Gorey 22

The second half saw Cill Dara fight back with some good movement from their backs and good runs along the wing. But Gorey's resolute defence proved impenetrable with player after player putting their body on the line to keep Cill Dara out. Tremendous tackles by Cormac Walsh, Ryan Gibney, Greg Bolger and in particular Captain Mark Kehoe meant Cill Dara couldn't get over the whitewash.

It wasn't long before another surge by Gorey forwards allowed Toby Falconer to drive over for a super try that would happily have graced any Six Nations game.

Finally after 46 minutes a great run by Mark Kehoe and a well-timed pass outside released full back Henry Kennedy to show his turn of pace and he side stepped several Cill Dara players to get his try. Niall Murphy added the conversion to a fine display from him on the day.

All credit must go to a well organised Cill Dara team who never gave up and continued to make life difficult for Gorey until the final whistle.

Final Score : Cill Dara 5 Gorey 34

Click Here for more match photos in our gallery.

STARTING TEAM:

1: CIAN SULLIVAN

2. TOBY FALCOLNER

3. DYLAN SAWYER

4. JACK RYAN

5. TADHG O' NEILL

6. CORMAC WALSH

7. RYAN GIBNEY

8. JAMES LAWLOR

9. CILLIAN TOMKINS

10. PAUDI HUGHES

11. TADGH KIRWAN

12. NIALL MURPHY

13. GREG BOLGER

14. MARK KEHOE (C)

15. HENRY KENNEDY

SUBS:

16. THOMAS DOYLE ( FOR CIAN SULLIVAN - HALF TIME)

17. SEAN NEWENS (FOR TADHG O' NEILL - HALF TIME)

18. SEAN WAFER (FOR TADGH KIRWAN - HALF TIME)

19. FLYNN (FOR GREG BOLGER - 40 MINUTES)

20. DONOGH MCGIVERN (FOR CILLIAN TOMKINS - 45 MINUTES)

21. PAUL O ‘REILLY (FOR JACK RYAN - 45 MINUTES)