Wed 24 Feb: Training new club 6.30pm
Sunday 28: Feb away to Clondalkin KO 11.30am
Match report from Sunday 21st Feb :
Malahide U16s 24 – Liberty Saints 5
Malahide U16s welcomed newcomers Liberty Saints to Estuary Road on Sunday 21 February and were made to work very hard for their win over the visitors. The score-line in no way reflected the efforts of a very committed performance from the boys from the Liberties, and it was only in the 2nd half that Malahide took real control of the game.
The match had been in doubt after overnight snow showers –special thanks to Joe McKenna and Aidan Ryan in getting the pitch ready for the 12 noon kick off. The Saints opened brightly, and their physicality seemed to take Malahide by surprise –for the first 10 minutes, the game was played in the Malahide half, as the Saints pressed hard for the opening score. It was Malahide who got the breakthrough when a rare foray into the Saints half saw Malahide score a try from a tap penalty 10 metres from the Saints line –man of the match Jack Mulligan crashing over for his first try of the season. Alan Myers slotted home the conversion to give Malahide a 7-0 lead. The visitors stormed back, and it was no surprise when they nabbed a try to bring them right back into the game – some poor tacking from Malahide allowed a barnstorming run from tight head prop Kalvin Sashi to get over for a try to make it 7-5. Malahide got another try just before half-time –again, a well worked 5 metre penalty saw Andrew Hunter burst to give the home side a slender lead at the break.
Malahide made some changes for the second half – Ben McKiernan came in at fly-half and put in an impressive 30 minutes, mixing up his game with some nice breaks and fantastic kicks. Malahide took the sting out of the Saints game with some clever tactical kicking that had the visitors pinned in their own half for much of the second half. They were rewarded with two further tries – a superb cross kick from Aaron Mulvey saw winger Shane Breen touch down for try number three, and Aaron added a try of his own to round things off. There were some fine performances from both sides –Malahide’s props Andrew Hunter and Jack Mulligan were the star performers with some great carries and fantastic tackles around the fringes. Oisin O’Toole performed very well in adapting to a makeshift role as open side flanker. Centres Ryan Batt and Aaron Mulvey tackled themselves to a standstill in what was an excellent workout for both sides with the 1st round of the Cup coming up in a couple of weeks. On the Liberty Saints side, full-back Liam Kavanagh was outstanding, while the whole pack were impressive throughout.
The Saints did their club proud and showed they were well able to play rugby with a mix of passion ,enthusiasm and skill. Good luck to them in the first round of the Cup against Blackrock. Thanks to all who braved the elements (including referee Eoin Halpin) –next up for Malahide is an away fixture against Clondalkin on Sunday 28th February.
