Big win for Portarlington boys
Pictured at Portarlington Credit Unions presentation of a set of jerseys to the Portarlington RFC Youths are members of the Board of Directors Marian Bernard, Bridie Keegan, U-15 Captain Keith Kavanagh, Youth Co-Ordinator Padraig Mahon, U-16 Captain James Brennan, Niamh Maher and Willie Murphy
A semi final clash with Boyne or Carlow awaits Portarlington’s U-15 side who took the scalp of Ashbourne in the Leinster League Division 1 quarter final at Lea Road last Saturday. The same sides met in the final last season and having come out on the wrong side of a heavy margin back then, Port have been eager for revenge ever since.
They got off to a cracking start when flying wing Matthew Colgan burnt the Ashbourne defence on the outside to score in the corner. Team Captain Keith Kavanagh added the conversion. Minutes later Port were in again when out half Aaron Colbert burst through the Ashbourne line and raced in to stretch the lead to 12-0.
Ashbourne began to fight their way back into the game but the Port rearguard was proving more than a match for them. Port flanker Robert Pigott was having another stormer around the field while the destructive Dylan Stronge was causing all sorts of problems for the Ashbourne scrum. Port’s third try came when, after another Colbert break, Christopher McCormack took the offload and brushed off a last gasp tackle to score at the posts.
Port quickly added another through winger Anavil Storey who showed great pace down the left wing to beat the opposition defence. Kavanagh’s conversions pushed Port’s lead out to 26 points before an Ashbourne score on the stroke of half time pulled it back to 26-5.
With some lax tackling having let them down at the end of the first half Port knew that they would need a good start to the second half in order to halt a resurgent Ashbourne in their tracks. And they got it when Kavanagh opportunistically burst through onto a loose pass in the Ashbourne backline and ran forty yards untouched for Port’s fifth try. Again Ashbourne came hard at Port and had their second try when their big ball carrying Number 8 forced his way over after a series of penalties close to the Port line.
The score lifted Ashbourne and they launched wave after wave of attacks but Port, to their credit, held out. Sean Smith, Ryan McLaren and Diarmuid Bennett were showing huge workrate’s as time and again Port forced the turnover just at the crucial time as their younger pack capably stood up to the well drilled Ashbourne eight.
Reward for Port’s efforts finally came deep in injury time when after a searing break up through the centre McCormack showed great hands to get the ball away to Colbert who raced in beneath the posts. Kavanagh’s conversion left the final score 40-12 in Port’s favour.
Next up for Port is a local derby clash with Portlaoise in the Area League semi-final next Saturday. High on confidence after this display Port will fancy their chances against their premier division neighbours. Many thanks also to our kind sponsors Portarlington Credit Union who provided the side with a new set of jerseys for the occasion.
PORTARLINGTON: John Cahill, Matthew Colgan, Cormac O’Hora, Christopher McCormack, Anavil Storey, Aaron Colbert, Keith Kavanagh, Dylan Stronge, Stephen Chambers, Diarmuid Bennett, Sean Smith, Brendan Molloy, Ciarán Coleman, Ryan McLaren, Robert Pigott. Subs: Aaron Cooper, Shane Donagher, Adam Rowan, Conor Houlihan, Odhrán Fitzpatrick
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Weather for Tullamore
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.