Garryowen pro seeks the abolition of 'release'!
22nd Feb - 2012
By Christy Barry
Cuan, Conor and Sourney Kilroy
IF one could be granted a rugby wish it would (for this writer anyway) be the deletion of the word “RELEASE” from the rugby vocabulary. No matter what the fixture, no matter what the level it is played at, this dreaded and un-enlightened “word” has become a real thorn in the side of players, referees and most of all rugby supporters. Even the substitution of “ He’s holding on to the ball referee…he has to let it go” would by virtue of it’s length be preferable to the “R” word, particularly when the ball is probably not even in contact or has in fact been released for the next phase anyway. It would be stretching it a bit far to also hope that “crouch…touch…pause…(zzz)…engage” might at some stage be replaced by “crouch…engage…push!!!. Shades of Beckett’s “Godot” me thinks. Anyway, back to last week's action.
Our seniors certainly gave it their all before going down 21-15 to Young Munster in the AIL at Tom Clifford Park last Saturday. The attendance, as always, was large and colourful with the usual banter and exhortations from the light blue and black and amber fraternities on opposite sides of the pitch. Rarely will both teams have to endure a most vile and pernicious wind which turned many a “garryowen” into a cameo sideshow of beach volleyball.
A losing bonus point is really scant reward for a tremendous performance by our pack who matched the home eight for most of the game, the exception being the first 10 minutes when the Cookies held the whip hand. While penalties had already been awarded for a high tackle and offside, Willie Staunton made doubly sure by dropping two neat goals on 8 and 22 minutes Paul Neville has been in outstanding form this season and it was his great run and feed to Ian Hanly which laid down a marker in the 15th minute. Neil Cronin was very alert on half way when he linked brilliantly with the No. 6 who carried well for 30 metres before releasing Hanly to apply the finish in the right corner. Declan Cusack would have needed a cannon to force the conversion through the wind from a wide angle and the tall drifted well right of the posts. He did find the range from the 22 on 30 minutes when our front row got the nudge on in a scrum and Cusack made it 8-6. Peter O'Shea did very well on the tight head side. There was a lot of ball kicked by both sides and at times it was a bit of a lottery as to where the ball might end up. Munsters regained the lead just before the break when Staunton kicked a penalty for a deliberate knock on near our 22. One might have considered 9-8 to be a slim enough lead for the home team with the light blues set to enjoy whatever wind (dis) advantage in the second period.
Some aerial ping pong ensued for a while but a turning point arrived in the 48th minute when a speculative kick was knocked on near the right wing and Munsters exacted the maximum from this enforced error. A couple of scrums were followed by 5 metre line-outs (arising out of penalties) and even though the light blue defence manned up, there was an inevitability about the try when it came. Eventually Staunton deftly rolled the ball behind the midfield and Andrew Burke got the verdict on the touchdown beside the padding. A tap-over conversion meant two scores were required to save the day. What followed was some outstanding work by our pack and in particular the Sherry brothers, J P Cooney and Neville who drove straight back into the heart of the Munsters defence. There is no soft underbelly in this ever improving light blue eight and the game took on a different complexion when some bewildering inter passing released replacement Alan Gaughan in the 65th minute to outstrip the cover and provide Cusack with an easy conversion.
16-15 and the level of intensity rising by the second. (expletives) Come on Munsters, get back into it” was met by “Ye have them now Garryowen (more expletives). Some loose translations being used by the writer here!. Unfortunately the black and amber did not have to work very hard to get back into it when from the restart; an innocuous looking penalty was conceded on 35 metres. With everyone waiting for the game to stop for a kick, the ball shot out of the mini-ruck and the alert Andrew Burke availed of the advantage to waltz over the line. It was a very soft try to concede at this level of rugby. It would prove a sickening blow for any team and even though Staunton was just wide with the conversion, the light blues needed a converted try to take the points. Give full credit to this team. They tried everything in the remaining minutes, only to concede penalties in vital positions when a score looked an “odds-on” certainty. These penalties immediately gave the initiative back to the home team who rightly played it tight to Paul Haycock's final whistle. The result keeps the black and amber nip and tuck with St. Mary’s and Clontarf and these three would appear to have detached themselves from the chasing pack.
Paul Cunningham was pragmatic and sporting as always in his assessment of proceedings and will aim to have his charges finish in the upper half of the table. However, there are still a lot of games left to be played, most notably back to back jousts with Shannon, commencing on Friday 2nd March in Dooradoyle at 19.30.
Three first half tries and a 20-3 cushion seemed to indicate a soft passage through to the quarter finals of the Munster Junior Cup for our 2ndXV in Dooradoyle last Sunday. James McInerney opened up the visitors defence after 2 minutes and Shane O’Brien added the easy extras. He added a further penalty on 21 minutes before left wing speedster Shaun Horgan showed excellent pace to score in the right corner at the city end on 30 minutes. O’Brien was just wide with the conversion and Peter Earley finally got the Cork side off the mark with a finely struck penalty on 31 minutes. Dave Rowley (what a cracking game he had) showed great awareness in the 35th minute to snap up a loose ball when our pack laid siege on the ‘Turk line to make it 20-3. A let-off before half time when Kanturk were unlucky not to score in the left corner at the clubhouse end should have been a wake-up call for our players. We appeared a small bit off the pace in the second half and the big ‘Turk forwards had no problem in seizing the initiative. As a result we had to dig very deep to save the game going into extra time. Scrum half Michael Thowig scored under the posts and full back Peter Earley kicked a conversion and a penalty to make it 20-13 with 65 minutes gone. The experience, pace and power of open side Anthony Kavanagh was crucial as we hung on to make the last eight. A win is a win, but I am sure coach Joe Hassett will put the boys through the ringer at training to keep the minds focused for the quarter-final. Among those to catch the eye for Garryowen were Aran Healy, Shane O’Brien, Dave Rowley, James McInerney, Luke and Shaun Horgan and “Kav”.
In the Webb Cup, Garryowen had a 3-14 win over Thurles thanks to tries by Brendan Walsh, Cian Leahy, Ian Shire and a penalty and conversion by Kevin McEvoy)
NML U17
Our U17’s showed wonderful spirit when coming from 14-0 down to beat Ballina/Killaloe 21-14 in the NML in Dooradoyle last Sunday.
St. Patrick’s Day
We are showing the Six Nations Game live in the clubhouse in Dooradoyle on St. Patrick's Day. The three games will beam out from our excellent screen. Italy v Scotland, 12:30 Wales v France, 14:45 England v Ireland, 17:00. To keep the show on the road, a Stew and a Pint is on offer for €10. Where else would you be going with a bargain like that?
Injured Players
We would like to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to our injured players and in particular to club captain Conan Doyle and Mark Melbourne.
The Kids are Alright!
It was great to see so many former players bringing the family to the game last Sunday. The writer met with Damien, Audrey, Dean and Vayda Fahey and also Brenda, Conor, Cuan and Sourney Kilroy. Photographs all round…dispatched promptly via the iphone…Happy Days…Garryowen FC has always been a great family club.
Weekend Fixtures
Sat 25th: AIL U21 SWC, Garryowen v Highfield, Dooradoyle 15.30
Sun 26th: Munster Seconds League Garryowen v Nenagh Ormond, Dooradoyle 14.30.
Our seniors certainly gave it their all before going down 21-15 to Young Munster in the AIL at Tom Clifford Park last Saturday. The attendance, as always, was large and colourful with the usual banter and exhortations from the light blue and black and amber fraternities on opposite sides of the pitch. Rarely will both teams have to endure a most vile and pernicious wind which turned many a “garryowen” into a cameo sideshow of beach volleyball.
A losing bonus point is really scant reward for a tremendous performance by our pack who matched the home eight for most of the game, the exception being the first 10 minutes when the Cookies held the whip hand. While penalties had already been awarded for a high tackle and offside, Willie Staunton made doubly sure by dropping two neat goals on 8 and 22 minutes Paul Neville has been in outstanding form this season and it was his great run and feed to Ian Hanly which laid down a marker in the 15th minute. Neil Cronin was very alert on half way when he linked brilliantly with the No. 6 who carried well for 30 metres before releasing Hanly to apply the finish in the right corner. Declan Cusack would have needed a cannon to force the conversion through the wind from a wide angle and the tall drifted well right of the posts. He did find the range from the 22 on 30 minutes when our front row got the nudge on in a scrum and Cusack made it 8-6. Peter O'Shea did very well on the tight head side. There was a lot of ball kicked by both sides and at times it was a bit of a lottery as to where the ball might end up. Munsters regained the lead just before the break when Staunton kicked a penalty for a deliberate knock on near our 22. One might have considered 9-8 to be a slim enough lead for the home team with the light blues set to enjoy whatever wind (dis) advantage in the second period.
Some aerial ping pong ensued for a while but a turning point arrived in the 48th minute when a speculative kick was knocked on near the right wing and Munsters exacted the maximum from this enforced error. A couple of scrums were followed by 5 metre line-outs (arising out of penalties) and even though the light blue defence manned up, there was an inevitability about the try when it came. Eventually Staunton deftly rolled the ball behind the midfield and Andrew Burke got the verdict on the touchdown beside the padding. A tap-over conversion meant two scores were required to save the day. What followed was some outstanding work by our pack and in particular the Sherry brothers, J P Cooney and Neville who drove straight back into the heart of the Munsters defence. There is no soft underbelly in this ever improving light blue eight and the game took on a different complexion when some bewildering inter passing released replacement Alan Gaughan in the 65th minute to outstrip the cover and provide Cusack with an easy conversion.
16-15 and the level of intensity rising by the second. (expletives) Come on Munsters, get back into it” was met by “Ye have them now Garryowen (more expletives). Some loose translations being used by the writer here!. Unfortunately the black and amber did not have to work very hard to get back into it when from the restart; an innocuous looking penalty was conceded on 35 metres. With everyone waiting for the game to stop for a kick, the ball shot out of the mini-ruck and the alert Andrew Burke availed of the advantage to waltz over the line. It was a very soft try to concede at this level of rugby. It would prove a sickening blow for any team and even though Staunton was just wide with the conversion, the light blues needed a converted try to take the points. Give full credit to this team. They tried everything in the remaining minutes, only to concede penalties in vital positions when a score looked an “odds-on” certainty. These penalties immediately gave the initiative back to the home team who rightly played it tight to Paul Haycock's final whistle. The result keeps the black and amber nip and tuck with St. Mary’s and Clontarf and these three would appear to have detached themselves from the chasing pack.
Paul Cunningham was pragmatic and sporting as always in his assessment of proceedings and will aim to have his charges finish in the upper half of the table. However, there are still a lot of games left to be played, most notably back to back jousts with Shannon, commencing on Friday 2nd March in Dooradoyle at 19.30.
Three first half tries and a 20-3 cushion seemed to indicate a soft passage through to the quarter finals of the Munster Junior Cup for our 2ndXV in Dooradoyle last Sunday. James McInerney opened up the visitors defence after 2 minutes and Shane O’Brien added the easy extras. He added a further penalty on 21 minutes before left wing speedster Shaun Horgan showed excellent pace to score in the right corner at the city end on 30 minutes. O’Brien was just wide with the conversion and Peter Earley finally got the Cork side off the mark with a finely struck penalty on 31 minutes. Dave Rowley (what a cracking game he had) showed great awareness in the 35th minute to snap up a loose ball when our pack laid siege on the ‘Turk line to make it 20-3. A let-off before half time when Kanturk were unlucky not to score in the left corner at the clubhouse end should have been a wake-up call for our players. We appeared a small bit off the pace in the second half and the big ‘Turk forwards had no problem in seizing the initiative. As a result we had to dig very deep to save the game going into extra time. Scrum half Michael Thowig scored under the posts and full back Peter Earley kicked a conversion and a penalty to make it 20-13 with 65 minutes gone. The experience, pace and power of open side Anthony Kavanagh was crucial as we hung on to make the last eight. A win is a win, but I am sure coach Joe Hassett will put the boys through the ringer at training to keep the minds focused for the quarter-final. Among those to catch the eye for Garryowen were Aran Healy, Shane O’Brien, Dave Rowley, James McInerney, Luke and Shaun Horgan and “Kav”.
In the Webb Cup, Garryowen had a 3-14 win over Thurles thanks to tries by Brendan Walsh, Cian Leahy, Ian Shire and a penalty and conversion by Kevin McEvoy)
NML U17
Our U17’s showed wonderful spirit when coming from 14-0 down to beat Ballina/Killaloe 21-14 in the NML in Dooradoyle last Sunday.
St. Patrick’s Day
We are showing the Six Nations Game live in the clubhouse in Dooradoyle on St. Patrick's Day. The three games will beam out from our excellent screen. Italy v Scotland, 12:30 Wales v France, 14:45 England v Ireland, 17:00. To keep the show on the road, a Stew and a Pint is on offer for €10. Where else would you be going with a bargain like that?
Injured Players
We would like to send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to our injured players and in particular to club captain Conan Doyle and Mark Melbourne.
The Kids are Alright!
It was great to see so many former players bringing the family to the game last Sunday. The writer met with Damien, Audrey, Dean and Vayda Fahey and also Brenda, Conor, Cuan and Sourney Kilroy. Photographs all round…dispatched promptly via the iphone…Happy Days…Garryowen FC has always been a great family club.
Weekend Fixtures
Sat 25th: AIL U21 SWC, Garryowen v Highfield, Dooradoyle 15.30
Sun 26th: Munster Seconds League Garryowen v Nenagh Ormond, Dooradoyle 14.30.
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