Under 20 Premiership 2 – Old Wesley 56 Greystones 0
It was a case of blink and you miss it as the Old Wesley u20’s amassed 8 tries in the 50 minutes that the fixture was played over, on a fine breezy spring afternoon in Donnybrook. With a lunchtime kick off and swirling breeze the u20s cruised to a 7 try blitz by the end of the first half, leading 49-0 at the interval. The second half only lasted 5 minutes until one of the Greystones players was injured following a great try by Bill Corrigan (which he also converted) and with the score at 56-0 the Greystones coaches agreed with the Referee and the Old Wesley team to end the fixture early with the result never in doubt and the maximum points scored for the home team.
Right from the kick off Old Wesley looked to have their mind set on a high tempo game on the main pitch. Greystones kicked off, and with a Fergus Noonan lineout steal and a break from outhalf Gary Hawe into the visitors 22, it took 2 minutes before Shane O’Hanrahon sold 2 dummies and was over the line for a try; with Cameron Watson converting all 7 kicks while he was on the pitch the score was 7-0 with less than 4 minutes played.
Blind side flanker David Young received a knock to the head after 5 minutes and u20s debutant Cormac “Izzy” Izuchukwu came on. With his first touch of the ball he made a strong break to allow hooker Eoghan Copeland to cross over, and with the conversion it was 14-0 after 8 minutes. Greystones then made some yards into the Old Wesley 22 and with a kick to the corner they grew with belief that with a clean lineout and decent possession the score line could be reduced. However, some fine defending from Motyer, Izzy, Eoin Deegan and Noonan meant that the attack was snubbed out quickly and the 3rd try was quickly scored following a break from the ever active Stephen Keane to put through Izzy in for his 1st of 2 tries of the day. Watson again added the conversion and 25 minutes gone it was 21-0.
From the restart and some nice phased play Old Wesley had a scrum in the Greystones 22. This led to another break by Keane from No 8 and once again Izzy was on hand to canter over for the bonus point try and a 28-0 lead. Within 2 minutes the 5th try was scored by Hawe following strong running by Evan Stephenson and Cam Watson. 35-0.
Once again Greystones failed to manage the restart and one of the best pieces of interplay seen this season saw wingers Luke Sweeney and Evan Stephenson combine from the Welsey 22, until eventually Sweeney crossed the line for the 6th try which was converted by Watson. With half time still to come Old Wesley were 42-0 up and full of running. O’Hanrahan scored the teams 7th try of the half, with the conversion it was 49-0 and the home teams bench was unloaded. Irwin, Watson, Hawe, Copeland and Noonan were all withdrawn after all playing their part. Calum Kavanagh, Cameron Madden, Scott Burleigh, Andrew Egan and Harry Shaw all entered the play just before half time.
Following the interval and the final substitution of John Ridgeway for Luke Sweeney, the second half had only got going when Corrigan scored and then shortly afterwards the match was declared full time. Eight tries and conversions place the u20s 10 points clear at the top of the Prem 2 with the away trip to St Marys in 2nd place looking to be the game of the season for both teams. With Trinity loosing today (they are 11 points behind Old Wesley). 4 games left the u20s have 2 crucial away games to the 2nd and 3rd place teams with home games to Galwegians and Buccaneers also to be played.
No match next week, followed by a trip to Templeville Road for the league leaders, and as much support as can be mustered to cheer on the team as they go with determination to move one step closer to finish the season with a 100% winning record.