Bonus point win for Tullamore

Tullamore maintained their top 4 aspirations with a strong win at home to Bangor. The side had earned a 5 pointer away in Belfast before Christmas, and knew that the Ulster men would come charging for a scalp.

All-Ireland Rugby League Division 2C

Tullamore 33

Bangor 12

Conor Dunne opened his account with a penalty in the opening minutes of the game. Tullamore exerted vast amounts of pressure and territory on the defensive rear guard, but seemed to fall at the last hurdle between wasteful passing and poor decision making. Bangor punished Tullamore with a try of their own soon after, the outside backs spotted space out wide and made a clean break as a result, they eventually scored in the corner to take a 2 point lead.

Tullamore responded very well and regained the lead through the boot of Conor Dunne. In the dying moments of the half, scrum half Eoin O'Reilly managed to hustle his way through 2 defenders to create a break in the 22. He then released the ball to Matthew Murphy into space, Matt was tackled just short of the line, and eventually slipped the pass to Eoin Farrell who dotted down for his first of the day.

Tullamore scored again almost immediately after half time. From a set line out, Colm Heffernan threw a perfectly weighted pass to Conor Dunne, Conor managed to skip through 2 Bangor defenders and whipped the ball to Eoin Farrell for his second of the day. Tullamore were very much in the ascendency and added a third soon after this. Bangor conceded a penalty through indiscipline in their 22. The ball was quickly tapped and found its way to Colm Heffernan. Heffernan, Ciaran Ennis and Karl Dunne all showed lovely handling skills to put debutant Aaron Leavy into space. Leavy then released the ball to Liam Farrell who barrelled his way in for the Tullamore's third of the day.

Bangor responded well after this and maintained possession for the remainder of the game. They scored their second near the death but Tullamore had the last laugh. Bangor kicked the ball into touch on Tullamore's 5 metre line. Karl Dunne flung a 25 yard pass to Conor Dunne who was on his own try line, Dune skipped and pranced his way to the 22, and sent Scott Milne flying down the right wing. Milne kicked the ball deep. The opposition full back received the kick and was outnumbered by the Tullamore defence. Alan Douglas managed to turn the ball over, and Matthew Murphy raced down the side line only to be caught just short of the white wash. He popped the ball to Craig Strong who glided over for the final act of the game.

Scott Milne, Matthew Murphy, Conor Dunne and Eoin Farrell all had fine games for the home side. Barry Bracken was awarded the man of the match for his tenacious defence and hard hitting carries.

The side will travel to play Bruff this weekend at 2.30pm. This will be a hotly followed game, as Bruff and Tullamore rest in 4th and 5th place respectively. 

Team: 1. Cathal Behan, 2. Shane Minnock, 3. Matthew Murphy, 4. Alan Douglas, 5. Ciaran Crowley, 6. Scott Milne, 7. Colm Heffernan, 8. Barry Bracken (C), 9. Eoin O'Reilly, 10. Craig Strong, 11. Liam Farrell, 12. Conor Dunne, 13. Eoin Farrell, 14. Steven Joyce, 15. Karl Dunne