Leinster Under 15A, Mc Auley Cup, Gorey V Arklow, 16-MAR-2013

A dramatically altered U15 team from Gorey RFC lined out away against Arklow on Saturday last, March 16, at their home ground at The Oval, Ballyrichard. Back in their Clonattin stronghold, the Gorey management of Brian Willoughby and James Tomkins decided on a major tactical change to the first fifteen.

From the first whistle, the powerful Gorey prop, James Hilliard, displayed his great strength and determination in the maul after line outs. Throughout the first half he made considerable yardage. Within minutes of the start, open side flanker Conor Mangan sliced through the defence and made it to within 3 yards of Arklow line. From the scrum, No9 Seamus Tomkins pressurised his counterpart from behind the back of the scrum and kept him under constant surveillance throughout the match. Gorey were on the brink of success plenty of times but silly unforced errors caused disappointment, where the ball was dropped or players came in from the side. Cian Hadden tested the Arklow defence with a little dink over the top, for winger Jamie Doyle to chase down. Time and time again Arklow were allowed to clear their lines as their kicker Dylan Foote relieved the pressure. The high ball was gratefully accepted by Gorey fullback Jack Willoughby who was promoted in the field and captained his team. He dealt exceptionally well with the pressure of command. Twelve minutes in and Chris Bolger ducked, dived and drove on only to be denied by a double movement, a decision awarded by match referee Tadhg O’Scannail. Quick thinking by Michael Wafer, who saw a gap on being awarded a penalty, gained another foothold in the Arklow area only to be dragged to the ground. Arklow Capt Kamil Zienkowski encouraged his men to continue to advance after he himself took them over the half way line for the first time that morning. Ben D’Arcy put paid to his efforts. Before the ensuing line out, Capt Jack circled his men and issued his battle orders. Enough was enough. It was time. Patrick Sinnott kicked through and the Gorey rugby machine cranked up a gear. Robbie Brookes was quickest to the draw, fought hard and won the ball, fed Hadden and on to Luke Willoughby, who cut in to his right. Chris Bolger, who ran in support for long periods, was rewarded at last with a great try. The effort took 20 minutes to eventually breech the walls of Arklow. Fly half Cian Hadden just clipped the upright and put it right and wide. From the restart Conor Mangan fielded well but his offload to Luke was deemed forward and Arklow found themselves with an attacking platform ten yards out from the Gorey line. Their scrum was spoiled when Gorey’s No9 Seamus Tomkins pressurised his opposite number and forced the error. Gorey held this narrow lead to finish off the first half.
During the interval, the Willoughby Tomkins management duo colourfully discussed tactical changes. Bolger had found the key to unlocking the Arklow defence and he passed the combination around. Sweeping changes to personnel and positions were made.

If the first half was a battle the second half was to be a war. 8 minutes in and Mark Hoare and Oscar Falconer combined well to release Hadden who nipped in in the corner for an inspiring try. Moments later he converted. Gorey had found their range. It was to be a long afternoon for the Arklow men. Two minutes later and winger Lucas Stafford brought play to the Arklow 5 meter line and won a scrum but a delayed put-in gave away possession and again Arklow cleared their lines. In the last quarter of the game some fine tuning of the team saw Cian Fortune come on for Michael Wafer and Garry Walshe on for Will Hurley. Dale Rothwell played particularly well in the lineout and unleashed the back line on more than one occasion.
Sixteen minutes into the second half and one of his passes saw Stafford over again. Hadden added two to bring Gorey’s tally up to nineteen. On the side line, Arklow manager Michael Anderson shouted encouragement to his men and urged them to stand their ground. By his stage the damage was done. Hadden grabbed a second try and was to finish out the day with an impressive eighteen points to his credit. Again from the restart Dale Rothwell put in some great work. The crowd egged him on and with legs pumping he made 30 impressive yards, with Arklow men strewn in his wake. The opposition committed too many men to stop him which allowed Luke Willoughby to get over the try line, only to look up to see a double movement indicated. A very unfortunate call. Chris Bolger, in attack, crossed over one of his own men on the twenty two minute mark, gave away a penalty, and compounded the unlucky streak. Moments later he made up for it with a kick through that saw Barry Doyle in for his first try of the season. This was followed swiftly by a great individual try from Mark Hoare who touched down unopposed under the posts. The subsequent conversion tied things up nicely and Arklow, who had fought so valiantly all afternoon, left the field disillusioned and shell shocked, beaten thirty eight points to nil.

The squad would like to thank their parents, friends and families for travelling in support, the management and coaching staff of Brian Willoughby, James Tomkins and Jim Hoare and Arklow RFC for the reception after the game.

The squad consisted of;
1. James Hilliard
2. Ben D’Arcy
3. Patrick Sinnott
4. David Bailey
5. Dale Rothwell
6. Michael Wafer
7. Conor Mangan
8. Chris Bolger (Try)
9. Seamus Tomkins
10. Cian Hadden (2 tries, 4 Conversions)
11. Robbie Brookes
12. Will Hurley
13. Luke Willoughby
14. Jamie Doyle
15. Jack Willoughby , Capt

Replacements;
Mark Hoare (Try)
Barry Doyle (Try)
Oscar Falconer
Cathal Byrne
Cian Fortune
Garry Walshe
Lucas Stafford (Try)

Injured: Ciaran Murphy