The times are a changin'

The times are a changin'

In the week that Bob Dylan won the noble prize for literature, a line in his song "The Times They are a Changin" comes to mind. For the loser now will be later to win, Cill Dara have turned the tide. Games like this one would have been lost over the last 2 years and in a weekend that Cill Dara fielded 20s for the first time in their history in the JP Fanagan, and saw their youths dominate every opposition, the winning has arrived and the times are indeed a changing.

In a game that was very stop start due to poor discipline and, perhaps, some overzealous officiating, Portarlington struck early scoring from their first real venture into the Cill Dara half, exploiting some poor fringe defence which was to be a theme throughout. Cill Dara responded with a Paddy Cross penalty and then Paudi Wall struck for a try leaving Cill Dara leading 8-7.

Port struck back when more poor fringe defence allowing Robert Pigott break free and feed the support runner for an easy touchdown. Indeed, Pigott was a constant thorn in Cill Dara's side and was the stand-out performer in the game. This is a new Cill Dara this season though, more confident, more belief, and they responded after the break with a superb Ronan Ó Neachtain try restoring the lead to 15-14.

Portarlington though didn't give in and with Tyson Doughty in the bin, they again exploited the fringe defence and Pigott scored in the corner. With Peter O'Neill on, Cill Dara put more structure into their game and quickly responded with 3 points. Going into the 78th minute, Cill Dara struck again with a set piece attack from a scrum allowing Paddy Ryan to touch down the match-winning score .

There is more to come from this young team but three wins from three is not a bad start.

Big weekend this week awaits with hopefully Round Towers returning home from Newbridge with the intermediate championship and Cill Dara doing the Leinster League over their close rivals Newbridge in the Curragh Derby.

J2s who won 41-0 at the weekend kick-off 5 30pm. J1 kick off 7pm.