J4 Blitz - Blackrock
Oct 17 2004
On arrival in Stradbrook, we were greeted by the news that "some" teams had withdrawn from the Blitz. These turned out to be Blackrock, DCU, Monkstown, and Parkmore. Stillorgan were in the enviable position of being the only team present capable of fielding a complete team with their own players! (Some Blackrock players were used by ALSAA and Clontarf.) This was no mean feat on our behalf, and whatever the outcome of the games yesterday, it proved that we are in an excellent position to put out a second team for the year.
With only three teams remaining in the Blitz, ourselves, Clontarf and ALSAA (Aer Lingus), we were drawn to play Clontarf in the first game at 2:45pm. After a few forays into the Clontarf half in the opening minutes, the larger Clontarf pack sucked our forwards into a couple of rucks, and an overlap remained for a fairly easy try after 5 minutes. Clontarf scored another try two minutes later, after we nearly breached their defense, but they overlapped our defense again. Stillorgan fought bravely for the rest of the game, putting lots of pressure on the 'tarf, and defended well. A long overdue and well deserved Stillorgan try came in the last minute when we moved quickly from a penalty at the defense, and Ken bursted through a couple of Clontarf players. Well done Ken.
Final Score: Stillorgan J4 - 1; Clontarf J4 - 2
Clontarf then took on ALSAA in a very physical game, and there was certainly no love lost in certain areas. ALSAA looked the strongest and more threatening for most of the game, but the Blackrock backs borrowed by Clontarf did some fantastic work to pull them back into the game, and it ended in a draw.
Final Score: Clontarf J4 - 2; ALSAA J4 - 2
The final game of the day was us against ALSAA. The superior size and strength of ALSAA showed from the start, and ALSAA had run in two tries within 5 minutes. Stillorgan defended and parried well for another 10 minutes, but we were unable to get over their line. ALSAA then scored another two tries within the last few minutes. During this game, we made some substitutions to give all our subs a run, and tight head prop Noel Cahill was replaced by English "I will turn out to make up the numbers on Sunday on the strict understanding that I don't end up in the front row" Matt; Peter Duberry made way for Dave "I'm the Chairman you know" Fleming (who so helpfully helped a rather burly ALSAA gentleman over the line for their final try); and Conor O'Sullivan made way for Ken "soccer man" Flanagan. Tom "I can see clearly now" Treacy decided that he could see ALSAA way too clearly, and so declined a run out - thanks for togging out anyway Tom. (Tom actually saved himself some embarrassment by not asking to play as I would have had to stick with the club management ethos and refuse to let him represent Stillorgan RFC, as the socks that he was wearing were nothing
less than a disgrace!)
Final Score: Stillorgan J4 - 0; ALSAA J4 - 4
On behalf of the team, I want to say thanks to everyone for showing up (mostly) on time, playing out of position, supporting the team from the sideline, giving guys who waited on the bench a run out, and for being positive. I feel we did well for a team at the start of the season, with the caliber of opposition that we faced; and for the next day we will have probably six or seven more players back from injury for selection. The key thing is for everybody to get down training, and get comfortable with the guys you are going to be playing with for the season ahead. The results of the training this year is making a visible difference to how we are playing; but we need to work more to get our line outs more organised, get our tackling more consistent, and very importantly we could do with an awful lot more aggression.... In saying all that, it's hard to get a good feel for a team watching two quick Blitz games.
So if I had to pick a man of the match, three immediately spring to mind, so take your pick: Ken O'Connor at scrum half - quick hands and penalties suited the Blitz rules; John Lynch at out-half (for the first time!) for his reading of the game, and Ciaran Griffiths in the centre for his strength. Well done lads, and the Chairman will make the appropriate presentation after the next Blitz matches on Halloween. And I hope I got every ones name right.
The J4 Team
Forwards: Noel Cahill, Ronan Casey, Peter Duberry, Dave Keegan (Capt.), Joe Mullaney, Conor Scully, Martyn Browne, Chris Reece (mate of the Chairman.)
Backs: Ken O'Connor, John Lynch, Ciaran Griffiths, John Stokes, Fidel Villagomez, Conor O'Sullivan, Luke Davis. Subs: Tom Treacy, Dave Fleming, Ken Flanagan, Matt Robinson, Declan Nolan and Johnny O'Dwyer.
Match report by Fergus Cahill