Metro League Div 2 – Old Wesley 46 St. Mary’s 38
An unusually warm and sunny morning for this time of year, made perfect conditions for a high scoring, fast-paced game in Donnybrook. Wesley started very strongly, working their way deep into the St. Mary’s 22 with excellent team play and handling. A try was looking inevitable until a Mary’s interception and full pitch sprint led to the game’s opening try.
7 nil down, Wesley , feeling hard done by , responded aggressively with strong carries from the pack. Captain Michael Hastings , unfortunately , suffered a shoulder injury and had to leave the field. However, after a graceful bit of team play Boydy crossed the line on the wing to make it even. Wesley continued the pressure and out-half Ken McLaughlin ran over another try.
With 10 minutes before half time, Wesley brought on a few impact subs, one of which, Mark Fitzgibbon, with his first touch of the ball in Wesley’s half, broke through the Mary’s defence with ease and ran 50 metres to score under the posts. After yet another interception and full length sprint Mary’s managed to finish the first half with one more try and stay 3 points behind Wesley.
The second half was fast and had multiple tries. Wesley and Mary’s battled from one end to the other. Luke and Dean both got tries for Wesley and Mary’s responded with a try and earned themselves a penalty to bring the score to 29-24. Wesley Deverell slotted a penalty for Wesley to make it a two score lead only for Mary’s to score again. Wesley led narrowly 32-31, and with 15 mins to go, Mark McDonald crossed the line and broke his nose doing so. Mulcaire O’Mara also got a nice try following some excellent movement in the backs. This brought the lead to 46-31, and the win felt closer for Wesley. A late try from Mary’s was not enough, as Wesley closed out the game at 46-38. A successful day all in all, and an exciting game for the crowd watching.