TRINITY WIN IN THE MUD!!
10/02/2007


Trinity 33pts Midleton 15pts

It seems a season in Trinity rugby is not complete with out At least one game in wet and muddy conditions at College Park. Last Saturday was going to be that day for this season. The students took the field in very muddy and near impossible conditions, fortunately the morning rain had abated just before kick off and Trinity played some impressive rugby considering the state of the field.

In recent weeks the students have come out flat and have fallen behind. This game was the opposite when in the early minutes, Trinity were awarded a penalty kicked the ball to the corner and drove the ball in from a well worked line out drive. The students did let up though and Midleton who are fighting to avoid relegation, scored a try off their own line out drive after several minutes of sustained pressure on the Trinity line.

Trinity then came back and dominated proceedings, playing some superb running rugby and showing great continuity skills in the process. The forwards drove well at line out time and recycled the ball quickly in the loose. The backs handled the ball well in the slippery conditions and they looked dangerous whenever they moved the ball. Out half Johnny Watt played the conditions superbly - mixing his kicking and running games. Scrum half Joey Burns playing his first game since before Christmas, kept the game flowing with high tempo. The heavy pressure told on Midleton as they struggled to keep with the pace of the game. They infringed repeatedly and Johnny Watt kicked three penalties before half time.

Just before half time centre Conor Donohue scored an excellent individual try, when he picked up a low pass and sliced through the home defence for a great score. Trinity also went close when full back Paul Gillespie brilliantly caught a well placed cross kick from Johnny Watt after the forwards had driven thirty metres. Gillespie drew the cover for wing Killian Stafford to get bundled into touch. Trinity led 21-10 at half time.

In the second half Trinity kept up their quick tempo game, and found many gaps in the home defence. Their continuity play was outstanding in this period. Ten minutes into the second half Trinity scored two superbly taken tries in two minutes to effectively kill the game off as a contest.

The first try was from a scrum when the back row drove the ball on powerfully though a series of rucks before Johnny Watt switched the play back to the blind side and Conor Donohue dashed over for his second try.

Trinity scored the best try of the match when from the restart, they caught a ball deep in their own half. The forwards drove the ball 40 metres from this Joey Burns put in a high box kick that wing George Byron chased hard and along with some of the forwards turned over the receiving Midleton wing. The ball was taken up by flanker Ross Condren off the turnover, scrum half Joey Burns then created space with an inside pass too hooker Ben Cunningham enjoying his first start for the 1st XV, Cunningham ran strongly before off loading to big second row Roger Young who showed an impressive turn of speed to score by the goalpost. This was Roger’s first ever try for the club and in the process securing a bonus point for his team for scoring four tries – Johnny Watt converted.

The game lost shape after this score, and Midleton managed another try from a line out later on in the game. Trinity went close when Johnny Watt looked to have scored by the posts after a characteristic break. Full back Paul Gillespie along with Conor Donohue both came with in inches of scoring tries after great continuity by the entire team.

This was an important win for Trinity who at times played some of their best rugby of the season against tough, desperate opponents and in horrible conditions. They now travel to Carlow next weekend. A win in Carlow would put them back in the picture for a top four play off place in April.

Trinity team; 15 Paul Gillespie, 14 George Byron, 13 Brian Hastings, 12 Conor Donohue (Bill Walsh 74), 11 Killian Stafford, 10 Johnny Watt, 9 Joey Burns (Eddie Hamilton 74), 1 Graham Murphy (Tristan Goodbody 62), 2 Ben Cunningham (Marc Cooney 62), 3 Andy King, 4 Roger Young (John Byrne 62), 5 Max Cantrell, 6 Shane Young, 7 Ross Condren, 8 Peter McFeely

All Ireland Division Two table
PLD W D L PF pa bp bp PTS
1 Old Belvedere 11 10 0 1 267 134 5 0 45
2 Greystones 10 8 0 2 271 136 6 2 40
3 Barnhall 11 7 0 4 258 211 4 2 34
4 Clonakilty 10 7 0 3 204 133 3 1 32
5 U.C.C. 11 6 1 4 189 175 2 1 29
6 Dublin University 11 6 0 5 211 210 2 1 27
7 Highfield 10 6 0 4 172 171 0 1 25
8 Suttonians 11 5 0 6 206 229 3 2 25
9 Young Munster 10 5 1 4 204 184 0 2 24
10 Old Crescent 11 4 1 6 145 197 0 3 21
11 Malone 11 4 0 7 164 180 1 3 20
12 Thomond 11 4 1 6 158 202 1 1 20
13 Bective Rangers 10 4 0 6 179 220 0 3 19
14 D.L.S.P. 10 3 0 7 167 219 3 3 18
15 Co. Carlow 11 2 0 9 161 217 0 5 13
16 Midleton 11 2 0 9 118 256 0 2 10





Trinity U20s A continued their good run of form with an impressive win over Terenure 38-11 gaining the valuable bonus point for four tries they actually scored six. The A’s with games in hand are well placed to compete for the JP Fanagan Premier league championship. They have three games to play, including games against other championship contenders St Marys next Sunday and Blackrock College on March 4th. The champion team goes directly to the All Ireland quarter finals. The next four play off for the two remaining spots to represent Leinster.

JP Fanagan U20s Premier league
Pld W L D PF PA P.Diff bp PTS
Blackrock College 8 7 1 0 219 67 152 6 34
St. Marys College 9 7 2 0 199 88 111 5 33
UCD 8 7 1 0 192 83 109 4 32
Dublin University 7 6 1 0 231 80 151 5 29
Lansdowne 8 5 2 1 211 128 83 6 28
Clontarf 6 3 3 0 88 103 -15 2 14
Greystones 9 2 7 0 124 179 -55 2 10
Old Belvedere 7 2 5 0 96 184 -88 1 9
Terenure College 6 1 4 1 90 145 -28 2 8
Old Wesley 8 0 8 0 75 307 -232 1 1
Seapoint 6 0 6 0 38 199 -161 0 0


Trinity U20s B also got the bonus point when they won well at DLSP 33-11. They are in second place in the JP Fanagan first division. They are three points behind Barnhall but with a game in hand and three games to play. This competition is a straight league with no play offs.

JP Fanagan U20s First Division;
PLD W L D PF PA p-diff bp PTS
Barnhall 10 9 1 0 268 73 195 5 41
Dublin University 9 8 1 0 290 116 174 6 38
De La Salle Palmerston 10 7 3 0 188 126 62 5 33
Naas 8 7 1 0 127 62 65 3 31
Skerries 7 5 2 0 158 90 68 3 23
Blackrock College 9 4 5 0 166 143 23 6 22
Suttonians 8 3 5 0 162 123 39 6 18
Coolmine 8 3 5 0 130 124 6 6 18
Clondalkin/Tallaght 8 1 7 0 84 193 -109 5 9
St. Marys College 4 2 2 0 43 100 -57 0 8
UCD 9 2 7 0 90 238 -148 -1 7
Old Belvedere 8 1 7 0 99 206 -107 2 6
Wanderers 6 0 6 0 20 231 -211 1 1

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