Stillorgan 23 - 13 Bective Rangers<br />
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J2 League - 03 Oct 09<br />
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Well I was handed the shobsy this wkend for getting sin binned during my first league game for stillorgan, bit harsh i thought but anyway! I\\\'m not 100% on the scoring sequence so correct me if I\\\'m wrong.<br />
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We started off playing up the hill, with a strong whirling wind not helping things. We had the kickoff which i think was knocked on by bective. bective somehow regained posession after a few phases and cleared their lines. <br />
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The ball was kicked down field and Timmy at full back caught it it and returned it with a well placed kick, the bounce of the ball caught out the bective players and timmy had made up great ground to pounce on the loose ball, he then raced towards the line but offloaded to tom just in time to allow tom to run in under the posts for the first score. Timmy converted to give us the early lead of 7 - 0.<br />
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The early score gave us confidence and we played well both with and without the ball. Bective conceeded two penalities within the next 20 minutes so the score was taken to 13 - 0. Bective then upped their game and got some go forward ball going. With a soild defence we kept them outside of our 22, bective never looking too threatening. A moment of maddness from myself at one breakdown meant that I got a 10 minute breeder, was a bit harsh tho I thought, was a lot worse done during the match and no yellow cards produced. Anyway the bective 10 missed the penalty so the score remained 13-0. <br />
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Details of this part of the match are a bit scarce, but bective managed to get a penalty and this time the 10 had figured out the wind and converted it. The score at half time was 13 - 3 to us and we felt that we could push on from here and hopefully close out the game. Bective restarted the second half with the kick off, with the blustery conditions the ball wasnt caught cleanly and we were on the backfoot, bective got a head of stem up and put a few phases together. Our defense was holding strong with bective forced to ship the ball across the pitch several times, but with some loose defending around a ruck in front of the posts, the bective hooker sneaking in for a try under the posts which was then converted. That brought the score to 13 - 10.<br />
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We then pushed on from the restart putting some phases together with bective eventually conceeding a scrum, a rasor was then called from the scrum we keevan getting the ball on the wing just inside the 22, he was tackled but managed to get the ball back to get a maul going. we worked it well in the tight and P (i think?) got over for a score, with the conversion missed from far and into the wind we were back in control with a 18 10 lead.<br />
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Concentration must have dropped a bit because from the restart we conceeded a scrum for accidental offside (my fault sorry Tom). From the scrum bective got a few phases together, our defense was holding strong but we gave away a penalty in front of the posts which bective converted bringing the score back to 18-13.<br />
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From the restart we pushed on again, needing to get back on top and show that we could close out the game. We put together some good attacking phases making bective defend. we got a scrum 5 metres out in the bottom left corner of the pitch, but for some reason tricky didn\\\'t feel like putting it in and for some reason the ref gave a penalty against him, for a stamp on one of the bective lads i think? any way, that relieved some of the pressure on bective who then played into out half. through some good strong defending we got a turnover. <br />
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With the ball in hand we were on the front foot again, we gained some ground and got a good position in the bective half. with some good go forward ball we got very close to the bective line, they conceeded a penlty 5 metres out, with some heated exchanges from the supporters we went for the lineout. from the lineout we got a well worked score with a push over try for Tom again I think?. 23-13 was the scoreline.<br />
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We then finsihed out the game with a good defensive display, forcing bective back on their attacking ball with the game finishing 23-13 in the end, a great start for stillorgan in the j2 league.<br />
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It was a good start to the league and we can take a lot of positives from the match. Some great displays throughout the day with Timmy always steady and reliable at the back and a good display from Dodsy, the new second rower ensuring that bective got very little clean line out ball. Overall the team played well and if this form is kept up it should make the start of a great league run.<br />
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Positives<br />
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Defensive work at end of match<br />
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Confidence to close out game<br />
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set pieces <br />
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Negatives<br />
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Penalty count<br />
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back chat to ref<br />
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For the parish!<br />
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Match report by Maurice Ryan