J3 Blitz - Skerries RFC
Nov 7, 2004
Well done to both teams, I won't mention the 'vodka ball' fiasco. It's a credit to the firsts that they are unbeaten so far this season. It's a credit to the club as a whole that we can field 2 strong teams on a Sunday. I hear the seconds were very competitive. The first objective for the season has been met, to keep the club vibrant and have everyone playing rugby. Thanks Niall, Leo, Fergus, Kev and Ger and anyone else behind the scenes.
The league starts in 2 weeks and preseason matches and blitzes mean nothing come the end of the season. Last year the preseason did not translate to the league. Its great we have done so well to this point but now it gets serious. We have the makings of a good side but the first 4 league games before Christmas will tell there own story. Its up to yourselves and what it means to you personally. I hope it means more than just a run on a Sunday. I know it means a hell of lot more to some individuals so lets create some team spirit over the next couple of weeks by coming training and giving it your all when you are there. My number is 086 8584031 if you aren't going to make it.
Skerries 0 - Stillorgan 0
Stillorgan played into a strong enough wind and found it hard to get out of
our own 22. We played very well defending our own line, stopping
Skerries short on 4 or 5 occasions. Nearly everyone put in a tackle in
during this match. There wasn't that many highlights but it was a good defensive display and it was looking good for the rest of the day. Bull had some good runs in usual Bull fashion.
Dundalk 0 - Stillorgan 2
This game Stillorgan had the wind. We didn't play very well in the first 5 minutes and our game plan was thrown out the window against a weak enough Dundalk side. However we did get two tries, the first came from a break by Ken finding Richie in support who went over from a couple of yards. Then we seemed to let Dundalk come at us, we missed tackles, let balls bounce and took clean ball back into rucks and mauls only to loose possession. The highlight of this game was a break by Danny who sold a sidestep along with a one handed dummy to the Dundalk defence and broke 30 yards up the pitch. He found Bob (the Luzocade kid) on his shoulder and then Ken on his shoulder. Well done to the 3 lads.
Wanderers 1 - Stillorgan 2
The start of this match was the best 5 minutes from Stillorgan so far this
season. What a contrast from the previous game. The changes were simple
but made such a difference. There was passion, shown by the fact that 2
Wanderers balls were blocked down in succession. We went back to our
game plan of 'secure and use' (9 and 10 ball) and the pace of the game
increased Listening to the Wanderers coaches on the sideline they weren't
expecting that type of rugby from us and it was great to see their backs
getting ratty with the ref. The pressure we put them under resulted in 2
tries. The first one was simple, tight secure play from the pack, the backs called 'hands', Ken had clean ball to distribute and a good running line from Alan on a pass from Garreth did the rest. From the kickoff the pack kept on the pressure and were rewarded with a try by Conor. Wanderers got one back and we soaked up a lot of pressure for the last 5 minutes. Well done.
Barnhall 0 - Stillorgan 0
Barnhall had a good pack and I believe they were unbeaten on the day. Credit to the pack all round for mixing it with them and not giving them an inch on the fringes. There was a lot of hard work put in over the 20
minutes. Barnhall had the advantage on us in the lineouts and put us
under pressure in the scrums. Therefore they had most of the possession
but we dug deep and defended well. However I get a bit worried when I
see us loosing possession or finding ourselves on the back foot from set play. There will be good packs in the league and we will have injuries to core players in the pack from time to time. Even with all the heart in
the world it is very difficult to win game with out the ball. We have put
a lot of work in this area in training and it is so vital to keep improving.
The player of the day was Danny who lead by example.