Parkmore 29 - Stillorgan 10
J4 League - Jan 15, 2005
It's up there with the great rivalries, Rangers-Celtic,AC-Inter, Real-Barca, The Dubs-All Culchies! So it was with great surprise that we arrived at Lakelands with not a camera in sight (RTE or otherwise).Yet again Ger had worked the oracle and we were in the happy position of being able to field a team PLUS SUBS.Unfortunately plans were slightly scuppered by the Sat- nav going hay-wire on the antipodean express being driven by Simon which led to Conor O Sullivan going in on the wing (not his 1st choice, but fair dues to him). A deep debate went on with regards to the merit of playing with or against the wind and was finally resolved by team captain Ronan Casey who took the matter into his own hands by losing the toss, so against the hurricane it is then.
I'd say that the women must love these lads, because, even though a lot of huffing and puffing was going on it took them 20 minutes to get excited and get the blood flowing, by which time unfortunately we had conceded 3 tries. Having finally awoken from their slumbers I must say that we played very well for the remainder of the match. Where last week we had defended well but never really threatened a score, this week was a much better all round performance. Highlight of the first half was Richie's penalty against the wind in the first half( possibly the second best left footed kicking full back in the history of the club, modesty forbids me from mentioning No 1).
With their dander up on the restart, Stillorgan were camped on the Parkmore line for the the first 10 mins but unfortunately it failed to yield a score. However a try did come on the half hour when a Parkmore attack broke down in our 22.The loose ball was pounced on by Conor Brady and he pinned his ears back and ran the lenght of the pitch to score under the posts.Now before you all start checking the skies for porcine aviators I hasten to add that it was Conor A Brady and not the legendary prop and raconteur. Some great goal line defence meant that we kept them scoreless for the second half just securing our half win!
Awards
Man of the Match - Joe (even if he is from Donegal)
Bravery above and beyond - Fidel, for going in at scrum half
Tackle of the game - Tom Treacy , I think that young fella from Parkmore found his lung on Sunday.
Match report by Kevin Curran