MULLINGAR RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

BUILDING A COMMUNITY SINCE 1925.

MULLINGAR RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

BUILDING A COMMUNITY SINCE 1925.

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Mulluingar vs Portlaoise & Mullingar Ladies vs Clondalkin

November 25, 2014

October 5, 2014. Leinster League Div2A.
Mullingar 40 Portlaoise 14

Mulingar come from behind to maintain unbeaten season
By Finian Coghlan
Derek Maybury can well afford to maintain his Cheshire demeanour this week
after his charges came from behind to completely overwhelm a Portlaoise
side that beat Mullingar twice last season.
Mullingar dozed into a first half deficit before someone threw the bucket
of cold water in their metaphorical face, and the final tally of five tries
was at least three short of what it could have been.
The try factory was open for business, and though he eventually bagged his
hattrick late in the game, Andrew Coade was just one bad pass from his
skipper away from achieving this in the first half hour.
However, it would be a touch unfair to harp on this as Andrew is just the
end link in a nearly perfectly oiled machine, and all bar Matt’s solo
effort were all heart-warming team affairs from a side that looks like it
can score at will.
Mullingar opened the scoring in just the second minute when Maxwell went
for a first run, before Brabazon and Kerroum punched the danger holes
before putting the ball simply to the hands of the outside speedster for
his first.
Somewhat worringly, Mullingar decided to grab a few winks over the next 20
minutes and allowed Portlaoise nab two easy tries before they copped back
on to themselves.
Straight away from the re-start Dunne, Mills and Blair rampaged into the
Portlaoise 22 and won a simple penalty for Butler to ease Mullingar back
onto the scoreboard.
Then, on the half hour mark, a Portlaoise clearance kick went straight down
Adi Kerroum’s throat, and he countered sharpish with Matt Coade and Johnny
Butler outside. Butler timed his line and with Andrew outside again backed
him for the chaser which he won well and rewarded Johnny with bringing the
ball round under the posts. Mullingar would not be threatened again.
A penalty either side of half time gave Mullingar a bit of breathing space,
and they now began to threaten from everywhere.
Half time replacement Ritchie Pyke was unlucky not to have engineered a
score down the right wing with the industrious Diarmuid Raleigh in the 54th
minute, but his reward was not long in coming.
Just short of the hour Butler spied a gap when in his own 22 and went for
it. On the front foot and with a speedy recycle, the ball is flashed out
right to the rock of the outfit Alan Brabazon, whose quick hands found a
delighted Pyke at pace off his right shoulder, and he wasn’t going to be
stopped.
And as if to prove the confidence was high, Butler only went and
drop-kicked the conversion after the breeze had dislodged the ball of its
tee.
As the game began to escape them, a little bit of niggle began to creep
into the Portlaoise game, and after shipping an undue amount of shoe pie,
Matt Coade decided to answer them in the finest way possible.
With 20 minutes to go Mullingar had a scrum on the far touchline, halfway
between their 22 and the 10m line.
The junior Coade went on a speculative snipe down the blind, and found
himself in open acres. Portlaoise had a man minding the house, but he was
of no use when offered the snake hips, and Coade scored from all of 70
metres, rubbing a bonus point into the visitor’s wounds.
Mullingar had to see out the last 10 minutes a man down after Jamie Taaffe
reciprocated on the physicality, but such was the home side’s dominance,
that it made not a jot of difference.
Out in midfield Brabazon and Kerroum led the murder patrol, and the
‘this-far-and-no-further’ policy gave Mullingar a collective fillip.
Eagar was the buzzword, and everybody was looking for ball. With moments
remaining Mullingar worked up the left to the Portlaoise 22. The highly
industrious Matt Coade wouldn’t give up and let them clear unhindered and
his charge-down won Mullingar a five-metre scrum.
From this platform the ball was flashed across a series of hands and once
again Andrew Coade was the pacy delivery system on the end of the line for
his sixth and Mullingar’s 30th try of the season.
Other news
It was wins all round for the senior sides at the club this week with the
Seconds notching up their first win of the season with a welcome score from
the returning Eoghan Gantly. 
Elsewhere, another returnee from a year’s injury absence was on the
scoresheet when the redoubtable Louise Kelly bagged her first try of the
season in her team’s very impressive 24-5 Division 1 opener away to
Clondalkin. Indeed, so fierce was her return to the fray that she couldn’t
even finish the first half without breaking her bra. I have never used that
sentence in a match report before.

Scorers:
Tries: Andrew Coade (3), Matt Coade, Ritchie Pyke
Cons: Butler 3
Pens: Butler 3
Team: 1. Jamie Taaffe, 2. Nigel Mills, 3 Ciaran O'Donoghue, 4. Darryl
Quinn, 5. Alex Moran, 6.Paul Maxwell, 7. Cormac Dunne, 8. Sam Blair, 9.
Matthew Coade , 10. Conor Jack, 11. Andrew Coade , 12. Alan Brabazon, 13.
Adam Kerroum , 14. Diarmuid Raleigh, 15. Johnny Butler. Subs used: Ritchie
Pyke, , Davy O’Reilly, Ryan Tighe
Top try scorers: Andrew Coade (6), Matthew Coade (5), Stacy Boland, Olive
Butler, Paul Maxwell, Sam Blair (3), Conor Jack, Johnny Butler, (2), Davy
O’Reilly, Darech Geraghty, Darren Brady, Diarmuid Raleigh, Ronan
Wallace,RyanTighe, Cormac Dunne, Adam Kerroum , Darren Brady, Richie Pyke.
Tries for: 30, Against :9.

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