All Ireland League – Old Wesley 10 St. Mary’s 15
Old Wesley had the better of the early stages of this Dublin derby. They were awarded two early penalties and after four minutes were up to the goal line; but the ball was held up in the tackle. Shortly after Wesley had the first penalty goal attempt but the kick went wide. So, despite their superiority Wesley were unable to convert it into points. In fact, it was Mary’s who struck first when, on their first visit to the Wesley 22, Conor Dean found a gap in the defence and ran in untouched for a try. He converted his own try to give the visitors a 7-nil lead.
Wesley responded with some good ball carries but again they remained scoreless. Then the break came after 19 minutes with a typical Alex Molloy run through the centre. David Motyer was in support and took the pass to sprint over 20 metres to cross for a try. Ian Cassidy converted to level the sides. A knock on inside the Wesley 22 gave Mary’s a scoring opportunity however it came to naught after they conceded a penalty. On the stroke of half time Cassidy had the opportunity to put Wesley into the lead with a penalty, however the kick went wide leaving the score 7 all at half time.
St. Mary’s started the second half, as they did the first, by conceding a penalty. Cassidy kicked for a 20-metre touch but again no score ensued. Mick O’Gara and Ian Cassidy exchanged penalty goals to make it 10 all. But as the second half went on Mary’s started to asserted their authority. In fact for the final quarter they had the lions share of possession and territory. With the Wesley team absorbing huge pressure Mary’s had a penalty advantage inside the Wesley 22. They ran the ball wide and Hugo Conway scored in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed but the visitors now had their tails up. They went on to have three unsuccessful attempts to further extend their lead, with two penalty goal attempts and a drop-goal that hit the upright.
Old Wesley did have a final flourish but in the end had to settle for a loser’s bonus point.
Next week is the final match before the mid-season break, away to Banbridge.
Scorers: David Motyer, try; Ian Cassidy, con, pen.
Team: Alex Molloy; Nathan Randles, James O’Donovan, Eoin Deegan, David Poff; Ian Cassidy, Keith Kavanagh; Harry Noonan, Howard Noonan, Cronan Gleeson, David Motyer, Iain McGann (capt), Sam Pim, Will Fay, Reuben Pim. Replacements: Finn Tierney, Sam Kenny, Brian Short, Josh O’Hare, Eoin Monahan, Josh Miller.
Click here for photos by Ken Richardson