Under 20s Friendly Old Wesley 29 Shannon 28
Playing into a strong breeze Old Wesley had the better of the opening exchanges with early breaks from Zak Bursey and David Moyter. After 20 mins Shannon had a penalty kicked to the corner and rucked the ball well to score under the posts. With the conversion to follow 7-0 to the home team. Following an up and under and cross field kick to the Shannon winger they scored again with the extras 14-0 after 25 mins. Gary Hawe playing on the left wing fielded a big Shannon kick and countered with a clever grubber kick to put Fionn O’Loughlin in, 14-5 with the conversion narrowly missing . Just before half time after sustained pressure Shannon scored and converted to go in at half time 21-5. The tale of two halves kicked off with pressure from Old Wesley and a fine break by Eoin Copeland to score under the posts and converted by Bill Corrigan. 21-12. On 52 mins Shannon countered well and made a crucial score making it 28-12 With the advantage of the wind and some great direct rugby Old Wesley scored under the posts with capt Shane O’Hanrahan scoring the try and converting to make it 28-19. More pressure from Old Wesley made Shannon concede a number of penalties and following a line out and great rucking saw Dave Moyter go over from close range. With the conversion added with less than 10 mins left it was 28-26. After some excellent pressure Old Wesley were awarded a penalty on the left hand side of the pitch close to the 10 metre line. Capt OHanrahon stepped up and didn’t use the opportunity to go to the corner but with 3 mins left decided to take on the kick for the win. With his left foot he slotted the ball through the uprights for Wesley to go ahead for the first time and ultimately win 29-28 in a memorable victory and bring the McCoy Tucker trophy back to Donnybrook.
The Under 20s have had a great start to the season with 3 wins out of 3. These may be friendlies but wins against Terenure, Lansdowne and Shannon is no mean feat. Well done to all and keep up the good results.
Old Wesley Captain Shane O’Hanrahan receiving the trophy.
Shane O’Hanrahan with Shannon Captain Colin Deane.