Moran Cup Final – Old Wesley 29 Coolmine 7
That’s right, it was last season’s Moran Cup postponed to this season. Either way Old Wesley 4ths retained the trophy they won in 2019 – the last time it was played for – making it the fifth time we have gotten our name on the trophy.
Match Report – (player supplied):
You could feel it in the air, a fresh breeze blowing through the hallowed stands of Energia Park as it welcomed back Old Wesley 4ths into a final. The lads arrived in drips and drabs, remarking on how good it felt to have full access to the changing rooms and showers – we are 90% back (the last 10% will come when Leggs reopens).
A crisp warm-up ensued, followed by oh captain my captain Corish admonishing the opposition, claiming he’d never heard of Coolmine – lying to your teammates is surely a grave offence. The intensity gradually built until kick off, where Wesley began to ‘put a stake in the ground’ through some effective carrying and some early penalties.
Wesley opened their account through one of their new recruits Monty, real name Richmond. A lapse in concentration following the restart (Monty still delirious from his first Wesley try allowing the ball to slip through his fingers) allowed Coolmine to make use of their back line, crashing over for their first and only try of the game – thankfully proving inconsequential. A bit of back and forth began to ensue before some good interplay between backs and forwards opened the gates for fellow noob Rory to crash over for his own first try in Wesley 4ths colours.
A quick tactical change in the front row followed whereby this author replaced aging stalwart Logger, whose first silverware in this competition occurred back in the 02/03 season; which he took great delight in telling people. What followed was a moment to forget; having spotted space on the blindside, this author was gifted a pass from Guy before sprinting down the line showing a very clean pair of heels before stepping back inside the Coolmine scrum half; however his momentum was halted momentarily allowing the fullback to callously slap the ball down in contact on the try line; could happen to anyone really… Using this failure as motivation, Wesley began to punish the field position resulting in “Jean-Paul Gaultier” himself crashing through the middle of a ruck to dot down for another 5 pointer.
Half Time
Wesley kicked on with the same gusto as they had the first half and began to assert their clear dominance over the young Coolmine side – without any danger of losing the tie. Two more scores followed through some excellent mauling and smart carrying through both Lanky and Guy, capping off stellar performances across the team. Wesley effectively saw the game out and as the final whistle blew, Wesley were only delighted to retain the Moran Cup again. This was followed by what was obviously a pre-prepared speech from Corish thanking everyone in the stadium before the customary trophy lift.
Following all this, everyone began to slowly migrate to the upstairs bar and a vibrant buzz filled the air as Wesley 4ths enjoyed the first of hopefully three tastes of silverware this season.
Next up is the commencement of the league campaign against UCD and the better looking Akpan twin.
Click here for photos by Deryck Vincent
Click here for photos by Ken Richardson