Impressive Tullamore climb to third

Tullamore 28

Bruff 7

Tullamore turned on the style at the weekend with a bonus point victory at home to Bruff. Tullamore had won their previous two games, and knew that anything but a win would close the gap with the chasing pack and the top four.

Tullamore immediately started on the front foot by gathering the kick off. This sparked a ten minute siege on the visitors try line, but the Limerick men remained resolute to hold out some big carries from Matthew Murphy, Mark Kennedy and Christopher Whittle. Tullamore could have had a penalty try in this passage of play, a pass from Karl Dunne to Sean McCabe was deliberately knocked on in the corner of the pitch. The referee decided that it was not a definite try but the Bruff full back was shown a yellow card for foul play.

Tullamore eventually got off the mark with a thumbing 40 metre penalty from full back Karl Dunne. From the restart Tullamore shot into action once more, Sam Burns hit a pin point box kick into the clouds and Tullamore managed to regain possession. Tullamore built their way into the danger zone, Craig Strong linked well with Conor Dunne to eek the side yards out from the line. Conor Kelly instinctively picked up the ball and powered his way over the whitewash for the first try of the game.

Bruff recouped and had their purple patch in the last 10 minutes of the half. The side played an expansive brand and stretched the Tullamore defence several times. Bruff were awarded two kickable penalties during this period, but failed to convert both chances which left the score at 8-0 at the break.

The home side lit into action once more after the break, Dunne added another penalty to his tally to stretch the lead to 11 points. Tullamore took full control for the duration of the game, and scored their second try on the 60 minute mark. Tullamore had a scrum just  inside the 22, Barry Bracken picked the ball from the base and looped the ball to Gavin Kelly, Kelly jumped out of the first tackle and showed great strength to dot down for a wonderful individual try. Dunne added the extras to leave the score at 18-0.

The team weren't finished there, and immediately gathered the restart and looked to attack once more. Cathal Feighery, Conor Kelly and Lance Batten all made notable carries to edge Tullamore just outside the 22 metre line. Sam Burns spotted space in the wide channel and released Conor Dunne into space. Dunne cooly fixed the last defender and slipped the ball to Cathal Farrell, who ran in unopposed to score the teams 3rd try of the game.

Bruff lost all shape at this point and Tullamore quickly capitalised again. Sam Burns and Sean McCabe spread the play to the far side of the 22 metre line. The ball made its way to Cathal Farrell, who expertly fixed the defense to release Barry Bracken into space. Bracken bounced off his opposite man with a bruising hand off which propelled him over the line for the bonus point score.

Bruff to their credit didn't give up, and in the dying minutes were rewarded with a penalty try when Tullamore were deemed to collapse a rolling maul just yards away from the line.

There were several stand out performances on Saturday. Mark Kennedy, Ciaran Ennis, Barry Bracken and Chris Whittle all had fine games in the loose. Cathal Farrell and Gavin Kelly also had excellent games when introduced to the fold. Conor Kelly was awarded the man of the match award for an excellent try and for his several dominant carries and tackles throughout the fixture. The men from Tullamore have climbed to 3rd place, and have a two week break. They will travel to Bangor for a mouth watering clash between 3rd and 4th when the league resumes. 

TULLAMORE: 1. Mark Kennedy, 2. Cathal Feighery, 3. Matthew Murphy, 4. Conor Kelly, 5, Ciaran Ennis, 6. Jack Delahunt, 7. Christopher Whittle, 8. Barry Bracken, 9. Sam Burns, 10. Craig Strong, 11. Sean McCabe, 12. Lance Batten, 13. Conor Dunne, 14. Liam Farrell, 15. Karl Dunne (C). Replacements: Gavin Kelly for Strong (60mins), Cathal Farrell for McCabe (60mins), Cathal Behan for Kennedy (65mins), Shayne Fleming for Murphy (65mins), Alan Douglas for Delahunt (65mins), Sean McCabe for K.Dunne (70mins)