Under 18.5’s beat Tullamore 45 - 5

Cill Dara kicks off Leinster League with a win against Tullamore

Cill Dara continued their good start to the season with another victory, this time in the Leinster League. Tullamore were the visitors to Silken Thomas Park and as they travelled with one man short the game was played 14 v 14. The Tullamore pack were the dominant force in the first half and only for heroic defence from Cill Dara they would have been ahead on the score board. Despite being the better team they were unlucky to go into the break a score down. That score came courtesy of a kick and chase from inside the Cill Dara half that Cian Buckley got to ahead of his opposite number, dribbled it forward and pounced over the line.

Half Time: Cill Dara 5 Tullamore 0

Cill Dara made a number of switches at half-time and the fresh legs proved to be the difference in the second half as the Tullamore pack tired. Two minutes in Conor Smyth crashed over for a converted try. That seemed to dishearten the Tullamore boys and once they were reduced to 13 men following an injury to their second row, the flood gates open and Cill Dara dominated the last twenty minutes. Darragh Whelan was next to score from close range followed by a sweeping backs move finished by Adam Meehan. Second half sub Fionn Heffernan got the first of his two tries shortly afterwards with Conor Smyth getting the second of his between scores. In the end the scoreline flattered the Cill Dara lads but as this team begins to gel together every result counts.
Next Saturday the lads travel to Naas and based on the area league game a few weeks ago, this is sure to be a tight affair.

Full Time: Cill Dara 45 Tullamore 5

Team: Adam Meehan, Cian Buckley, Tadhg Murtagh, Eoin O’Loughlin, Sean Conway, Ryan Curran, David Vaughan, Rory Mahon, Robert Millar, Matthew Conway, Jake Conway, Daniel Giltrap, Ross Dooley, Michael John Prendergast, Conor Smyth. Replacements: Padraig Howard, Darragh Whelan, Michael Nash, Matthew Flyod, Christopher Walsh, Taran Clifford-Broughal, Fionn Heffernan, Ben Savage.