Wicklow 1st XV 27 Portlaoise RFC 1st XV 3
Wicklow 1st XV produced an excellent second half performance to beat a dogged Portlaoise side at Ashtown Lane on Sunday. The game was played on a warm dry day with a strong breeze that slightly favoured the Midlanders in the first half.
Having beaten Ashbourne the week before Wicklow were very keen to get another win under their belts. Portlaoise are always a difficult side to beat and it took Wicklow a long time to wear them down before they could pull away. Portlaoise started the stronger of the two sides and had Wicklow under some pressure in the early stages. They had an early shot at goal after five minutes but pushed the kick narrowly wide.
Wicklow were first on the scoreboard with a well taken penalty by Barry Lynn after twenty minutes. Porlaoises response was immediate . A well taken penalty from their out half and captain levelled the scores at 3 all.
Wicklow responded well and another two penalties from Barry Lynn brought the score to 9 – 3 in Wicklows favour at the break. Wicklow had been the better team in the first half but there wasn’t a lot between the sides. The set piece was strong with both scrum and lineout working well but all too often simple handling errors led to Wicklow attacks breaking down.
In the second half Wicklow took the game by the scruff of the neck and put Portlaoise to the sword. Two further penalties from the excellent Lynn stretched Wicklows lead to 15 – 3. Portlaoise threatened on occasion but Barry Lyyn put the result beyond doubt when he broke through to score a fine try with twenty minutes left on the clock. The conversion brought the score to 22 – 3. With five minutes to go Lynn rounded off an outstanding performance with a fine individual score that left the final score at 27 – 3 in Wicklow favour.
Wicklow have to be pleased with the nature of this win and performance particularly in the second half. The pack were excellent from 1 to 8 with Noel Green, Brian Quinn and Barry Hurley outstanding. Stephen Roberts tackled his heart out and Liam Hughes was superb in the lineout. The front row of Paddy Jameson, Sean O’Brien, Timmy Donovan and David Quinn delivered quality ball and disrupted the opposition scrum all day. In the backs Dennis Higgins and the lively Alan Byrne were the pick of the bunch along with man of the match Barry Lynn.
Wicklow currently stand in third place in what looks like being an ultra competitive league. Next week Wicklow have an important South East game against Wexford at home before resuming Leinster League duty the following Sunday with a tough away trip to face unbeaten league leaders Co Carlow. Kick Off Against Wexford is at 3pm.
Congratulations are due to Wicklows Shane Byrne who played for Leinster U18s who wont the interprovincial championship by beating Ulster at Donnybrook last week. Also to Ben Porter, Jason Byrne, Ben Mangan and Judd Byrne who played for Leinster A schools side recently. All of these fine young players are an absolute credit to the club and Wicklow RFC are very proud of them.
Team: Paddy Jameson, Sean O’Brien, Timmy O’Donovan, Noel Greene, , Liam Hughes, Barry Hurley , Stephen Roberts, Brian Quinn Barry Hurley, Denis Higgins, Mark Higgins, Chris Sillery, Barry Lynn, Ronan Hurley, Russel Andrew, Alan Byrne Jr, Subs David Quinn, Stephen Duffy, Leslie Copeland, Paddy O’Flaherty, Alvaro Rivas Callejas.
