Mullingar Second XV lose out to strong running Roscrea

Mullingar 19 - Roscrea 39

On Friday evening at Shay Murtagh Park under lights, Mullingar seconds began their Leinster League campaign with an opening loss to Roscrea

Roscrea got off to the quicker start and with some direct play, scored a try in he first three minutes which was followed by a penalty on ten minutes for a solid 8 nil lead. Mullingar went on the attack from the kick off but lost possession and Roscrea looked to have an overlap but Cian Burke took a slick intercept to race clear for Robbie Allen to convert and reduce the lead to 8-7.

Then midway through the half, poor defence at the edge of the ruck saw the Roscrea number 9 break clear and his try was converted to put the score at 15-7. Worse followed when a rolling maul and just one pass was not defended well with a couple of missed tackles allowing anther try on the half hour, 22 - 7. Worse followed as Mullingar attacked with purpose, but when losing the ball were exposed out wide. A combination of direct strong running and attacking numbers resulted in the bonus point try for Roscrea and a rather worrying scoreline of 29 – 7.

In fairness, Mullingar pre season remaining and a bit of relation in defence improved the balance in Mullingars favour for periods. The forwards were giving it a good go and Geraghty, Nixon and Smith were gaining ground consistently. Reward followed territory when Robbie Allen chipped ahead and gathered to be held up short, But Darragh Geraghty muscled over from the base of the resultant scrum. Allens conversion brought the score to 29 -14 where it remained until half time.

The second half was a much tighter affair as coach Kevin O’Brien rotated the subs and Mullingar generally improved their defence. Although Roscrea initially extended their lead with an early penalty, the score stood at 32-14 for most of the half. Eoin King, team captain Cillian Kavanagh and Darragh Clogher put in serious defensive work to keep Roscrea out and the standard of rugby improved. Darragh Geraghty added a second try for the home team and brought the score to a more respectable 32-19. But unfortunately Roscrea had the final say with a late converted try to leave the final score at 39-19.

So, plenty of work to be done but a good base established to do so. Congratulations to captain Eugene Smyth on his wedding and our best wishes to Eoin King on a full and speedy recovery from his injury on Friday evening.

Team: Darragh Clogher, Kevin Smith, John Nixon, Peter Hall, W Hayes, Cashel Slevin, Cilian Kavanagh (Capt), Darragh Geraghty, Cian Burke, Robbie Allen, Andy McNay, Craig Swanson, Ross Tormey, John Egan, Mark Brennan. Subs: Greg Potterton, Eoin King, Andy Smith, Bob Nixon.