Tullamore humbled on the opening day of All Ireland Rugby League season

Tullamore travelled to newly promoted Instonians on Saturday to begin their quest for promotion from 2C. Instonians were once a powerhouse in the top tiers of the AIL but plunged into the junior ranks several years ago.

All-Ireland Rugby League Division 2C

Instonians 39
Tullamore 21

This was their first senior outing in eight years and they hit the ground running from the get go.

Instonians scored two tries in the first five minutes of the game to leave Tullamore shell shocked with a 12 point deficit to recover. On the first chance the visitors had to carry the ball, they pounced. Chris Whittle made a half break in the middle of the pitch to bring the side to the 22 metre line. Conor Dunne then threw a double skip pass to flying winger Sean McCabe who glided in for the try. Dunne converted the score to close the lead to 5 points inside the first ten minutes.

From the restart, Tullamore were adjudged to be holding on at the breakdown, the home side capitalised with 3 more points. They soon scored another try through their maul, Tullamore struggled to contain this form of attack throughout day. Tullamore found their feet once more through another opportunistic try from McCabe. Craig Strong kicked the ball into the opposition 22, as the full back came to claim the ball he slipped. This paved the way for Sean to pick up the ball and jog in for his second score. Dunne converted to bring the score to 18-14.

Soon after Conor Dunne received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on near the half way line. Instonians knocked the ball deep into the visitors 22 and scored their third try from another maul. The men in red and black arguably had their best period of the game after this setback.

They held possession and territory for the remainder of the half. A slick break from Brian Geraghty split the Instonians guard. He then cooly slipped the ball to Liam Farrell who barrelled his way into the corner. Craig Strong converted for a 22-21  score line at half time.

This was as good as it got for the visitors as they failed to score in the second half. Instonians scored with three more tries to finish the contest at 39-21. This was a frustrating day for Tullamore, and discipline was the main issue for the side. They spent the majority of the second half in their own 22 metre line and barely had the ball. They conceded 26 penalties and 3 yellow cards which cost the visitors possession and territory time and time again. The group will regroup this week and hope to bounce back this weekend. They will be at home to Bruff RFC at 2.30 which will be a mouth watering clash. 

TULLAMORE: 1. Cathal Behan, 2. Shayne Fleming, 3. Matt Murphy, 4. Gavan Kelly, 5 Conor Kelly, 6. Jack Delahunt, 7. Christopher Whittle, 8. Barry Bracken, 9. Conor Dunne, 10. Craig Strong, 11. Sean McCabe, 12. Karl Dunne, 13. Lance Batten, 14. Liam Farrell, 15. Brian Geraghty (C)