Skerries 36 Thomond 17
UBL Div 2B, February 18th
Skerries got back to winning ways at Holmpatrick on Saturday with a bonus point win over bottom of the table Thomond. It was a measure of revenge for the home team after losing in Limerick earlier in the season, but more importantly it allowed them climb a place in the table as the fight to stay in the division enters a crucial phase.
In good conditions in front of a large crowd, Skerries started the match with intent. An early break from flanker Evan Sherlock was a statement of intent as they went looking for an early score. It took only 12 minutes for a try to come, when superb maul work ended with scrum-half Eoghan Carron crossing the line.
Although Skerries scrum was doing series damage to the visitors’ Thomond fed off mistakes to come into the game, missing a penalty after 15 minutes. However, repeated infringements by Thomond led their hooker being sin-binned and Skerries took immediate advantage.
Winning the line-out, Skerries set up another well executed maul and hooker Chris Tonge got touched down over the line. It was followed by a conversion from out wide by out-half Paul O’Loghlen.
Nevertheless, on the half-hour mark, Thomond used their maul to score a try and bring the scores back to 12-5.
O’Loghlen helped widen the margin again before half-time with a moment of brilliance. Chipping over the backline, he gathered the ball and made further yards before passing to flanker Michael Turvey to take the try. With the conversion, it meant a 19-5 half-time lead for Skerries and the thoughts of a bonus point try.
That score came early in the second half after centre Lorcan Jones blocked a kick and Skerries won the ball for the excellent Turvey to get his second try under the posts.
However, Thomond would be the next to score despite losing their loosehead prop to a yellow card early in the second half. Another maul saw them score a try and bring the score to 26-12.
They then went down to 13 men after a deliberate knock-on saw another sin-binning. Skerries took the kick to stretch their lead to 29-12.
Captain Ross McAuley scored a fifth try for Skerries after some good passing and continuity through the phases and with a 36-12 lead with only ten minutes to go, the game was safe. Still, Thomond managed a late try when a grubber kick opened up the Skerries defence and the match ended at 36-17.
The bonus point win for Skerries proved important on a day when their rivals in the bottom half of the table, Derry and Bective, clashed up north. Bective’s loss saw them drop below Skerries in the league table.
It was a good weekend for Skerries RFC, with the second team reaching the Towns Cup quarter final thanks to a 24-15 win in Portlaoise. Meanwhile, the u20s beat DLSP 41-8.
1. Mark Nally
2. Chris Tonge
3. Cormac Marrey
4. Joe Glennon
5. Tom Mulvaney
6. Evan Sherlock
7. Michael Turvey
8. Ross McAuley
9. Eoghan Carron
10. Paul O’Loghlen
11. Mark Oliver
12. Colin Doyle
13. Ross Dempsey
14. Eddie O’Mahony
15. Maurice McAuley
16. Kieran Leonard
17. Neil Martin
18. AJ Sherlock
19. Billy Mulcahy
20. Lorcan Jones
