RUGBY: Tullamore win at the death to turn over Midleton

Tullamore had a season defining win at the weekend to set up a mouth watering clash this Saturday against Enniscorthy.

In a wet and miserable Saturday afternoon, Tullamore started the stronger and immediately got off the mark by the boot of Conor Dunne. The line out was humming through Ciaran Ennis and Colm Heffernan, and won several aerial battles in the opening exchanges to set up powerful driving mauls.

Matthew Murphy, Shane Minnock and Alan Douglas all made notable carries to force Midleton to concede another penalty. Conor added 3 more points to stretch the lead to 6 points going into half time. The condition of the pitch continued to deteriorate as the second half got underway.

Craig Strong and Karl Dunne probed and tested the Midleton back three with long kicks to gain territory for the visitors. Tullamore began to struggle with their discipline, and conceded 2 yellow cards to help the home side build into the game. Midleton earned a penalty try in the last 5 minutes of the match to take a 1 point lead going into the remaining minutes of the game.

Tullamore shot into life and began to stretch the Midleton rearguard. Cathal Farrell was extremely impactful during this period, and made a handful of noticeable carries to put the Cork men on the back foot. As the game ran into the red, Midleton cleared their lines and the ball was gathered by Karl Dunne on the 10 metre line. He was tackled high to earn a penalty, brother Conor quick tapped the ball and trudged to the 22.

The ball was whipped to Calvin Mahon, who turned and sent the pass to Craig Strong. Strong spotted space out wide and sent Cathal Farrell into action. Cathal bet his opposite man to create an overlap out wide, he cooly passed the ball to Sean McCabe who came steaming into the play. Sean showed a clean pair of heels to power his way over for the winning score.

It was an emphatic way to win a game of rugby, and could prove to be pivotal as the team move into the final 5 games of the regular season. Colm Heffernan, Barry Bracken and Ciaran Ennis all had excellent games up front, while Cathal Farrell was the standout in the second half from the backs.

Tullamore now still rest in 5th place welcome Enniscorthy to Tullamore who are 4th and 5 clear of the men in red and black. 

The Team:

1. Cathal Behan, 2. Shane Minnock, 3. Matthew Murphy, 4. Alan Douglas, 5. Ciaran Ennis, 6. Colm McGuinness, 7. Colm Heffernan, 8. Barry Bracken (C), 9. Eoin O’Reilly, 10. Craig Strong, 11. Liam Farrell, 12. Conor Dunne, 13. Sean McCabe, 14. Aaron Leavy, 15. Karl Dunne