Garryowen FC Notes w.e 10^th Dec 2006

Maybe it was the silly season or indeed the cold and blustery conditions that reduced the attendance at our AIL game v Belfast Harlequins last Saturday. Forced to take the field with a number of alterations to the original team, our 14-0 half time cushion proved enough to withstand a resurgent Belfast team throughout a fiercely contested second period. The visitors coach Andy Ward, while disappointed with the 17-0 result, will have left Dooradoyle in the belief that his team can climb out of the nether regions of the AIL. With a little bit of luck they might have snatched a bonus point to ease their long journey back up North. The key score came in the 40 minute when following a series of drives on their line, Gerry Hurley switched the play blind-side and wing Kevin O’Riordan showed admirable guts and no little skill in squeezing in at the corner. Conor Kilroy landed the difficult conversion from the touchline. His task was a little easier when applying the extra points to our opening try. Our pack got up a head of steam and the barnstorming Damien Varley was the last man up when the “high fives” greeted Alain Rolland’s confirmation of the score near the posts. We had to grit our teeth and face the elements in the second half and sure enough the Belfast boys came back at us. Carrying the ball against the wind will always prove fruitful and we seemed to control the game in the opening minutes. However the visitors didn’t want to go quietly and there were quite a few anxious moments when they managed to mix the play up a bit. The defensive covering of our back line and the strength and guile of John O’Sullivan proved decisive when the heat was turned up. Liam Og Casey gave way to John Staunton in the 60th minute and a couple of his hits at scrum time put the skids on a sometimes threatening visiting front row. Having soaked up a lot of pressure our pack again drove deep into the Belfast half and inevitably the resultant pressure drew the penalty which Conor Kilroy expertly controlled into the wind. 17-0 and time to go? .Well not quite and there were many worried faces in the crowd before the final whistle sounded to edge us narrowly ahead at the top of the table. Weather permitting; we can expect more of the same next Saturday when we host the always formidable Lansdowne team. The boys from HQ have proved very sticky in the past and our players will be under no illusions of the task that lies ahead. Each AIL game seems to be going the distance and concentration for the full eighty minutes is vital. This is our last AIL game before the Christmas recess. The pre-match lunch 12.30 promises to welcome the festive season and John Noonan can be contacted to book the first of many turkey and ham dinners. Ouch! Those not attending the lunch can run the eye over our U20’s who play Cork Con in the AIL at 1.00 on the top pitch. They will be hoping to up their performance from last week when they were surprisingly beaten 10-8 by Thomond in a home friendly. The seconds and thirds game were cancelled so the focus for the rest of the weekend was on the under age exploits of the U13’s and U14’s. The 13’s maintained their excellent NML run when beating Thomond 24-5 in Fitzgerald Park. Playing into a gale force wind in the first half, they managed to hold the home team to 5-0 at the break. Our boys took advantage of the conditions in the second half to score four tries and two conversions. Michael Horgan (2), Patrick Furnell, and Jamie Fitzgibbon were the try scorers. Andrew O'Byrne and Eoin Sheedy each converted a try. All 22 squad members contributed to this win and hats off (could you have kept one on?) to both teams for providing such an entertaining contest in very difficult conditions.Given the windy conditions, the U14 ‘s also played a game of two halves when going down to Old Crescent. The light blues led 14 – 7 at half time with tries from Ben Drew and Ian Mooney, both converted by out-half Rory Collins. In the second-half, the wind and a very well drilled Old Crescent pack took its toll and Crescent eventually pulled away to win 29–14. Prior to the match the team conducted a minute’s silence in honour of their coach Tony O’Rourke’s Father, Mossie, who sadly passed away on Saturday night.