Under 16s
Matches
Sun 07 Dec 2014
Ratoath RFC
Under 16s
10:30
Ardee / Ratoath
A Win & a Draw up at the Border

A Win & a Draw up at the Border

Conor Kiely7 Dec 2014 - 20:39
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It was a cold morning for Rugby – and the early Dundalk sunshine for our first game up vs Ardee gave way to cold wind & rain as we took on the hosts.

We had 16 players who made the long trek up – and they certainly didn’t disappoint, with everyone playing their part. Ben, Emmet, Gavin, Matthew, Mintaras, Ross & Tom asked a lot of questions up front, and there was great skill on show from backs Adam, Brian, Cian B, Cian C, Harry, Laurie, Sean. As for Michael & Ryan, they can, and did, play just about anywhere.

First up was Ardee. After going behind early, our lads fronted up well in defense and stopped Ardee in their tracks. They cleared their lines with some good clearing kicks, and chased well up field to regain territory. This tactic gave us some good momentum, and with Ben doing a Sean O’Brien impression in the loose, some smart play in midfield got us on the board for a few scores. While Ardee came back to score again, we continued to defend bravely. A lot of the passing work in training recently paid dividends, and we move the ball through the hands well to run in some more scores, with Harry, Ben, Mint, Brian & Ryan all touching down for Ratoath to seal the win.

Next we took on the hosts, who were a much bigger outfit than our lads. As the skies turned grey and the cold rain started falling, things looked ominous for us. Dundalk were very strong in the ruck and we found it difficult to compete. They secured their own rucks easily, shunted us off a lot of our own ball, and took their own scores well. But to their eternal credit, or lads heads never dropped and they continued to scrap well and defend bravely. Harry took a high ball and carved through the Dundalk cover, beating 4 or 5 men for the score of the morning. And after already scoring from a rip & run, Ross got a 2nd thanks to some god running & retention up the wing by Brian & Adam to snatch a late draw.

Over the 2 games, Michael, Emmet & Ryan did great work in the middle of the park, and set a platform. Both Cians took heavy knocks while playing well, and were eager to return to help the team. Tom, Matthew & Gavin rumbled well with the ball, and Sean & Laurie played like terriers. Most pleasing of all was the bravery and commitment in defense.

Things to work on:
The players had their say after the game and they identified rucking as an area we need to pay attention to, so we will work on this on Wednesday. Ryan also mentioned that our low tackling needs to improve. Remember also lads that we need to keep a good deep attacking line when we are in possession – we’ve a tendency to bunch up around the ball carrier and we’re losing out on opportunities to stretch the opposition when we have them under pressure.

Overall a great mornings work, and another step towards developing towards the 15 man game next season. Well done all & thanks again to Stephen for reffing, Teresa for the photos, and all the parents who made the trek & cheered the lads on in the cold!

Match details

Match date

Sun 07 Dec 2014

Kickoff

10:30

Meet time

01:00

Location

Instructions

Meet supervalu 09.00 9 ( yes its very early) or if going directly meet Dundalk 10.00
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Commercial Photographer  - Leinster Photography