RCSI 41 - Stillorgan 0
J4 League - Jan 29, 2005
"ORGAN CUT OPEN BY SURGEONS"
Well, at least we came second! The gods weren't really with us today out in Cloghran. As we struggled with the loss of 10 players in the week running up to this clash with top of the table Surgeons, we arrived at their ground to find that they had 29 players togged out and ready for the off, the only highlight was that Felipe was otherwise engaged! As it transpired, surgeons are off on a trip to NZ later in the year and everybody was around to try and book a ticket on the plane. After an early pre-match scare when yours truly couldn't count and thought he'd have to play, we lined up with a full compliment plus one very sick and another very crippled sub.
Surgeons made their intentions clear from the off and ran everything at us, and it paid off as they ran in 3 early tries. Although one might be tempted to think that it was groundhog day (see previous reports), this was different, because we were up against seriously good opposition. I think it would be fair to say that they were one of the best teams I've seen at this level, they had pace, strenght and a high level of skill. Unfortunately we lost Breon after 20 mins with a recurrence of an old knee injury (hope it's not too bad Breon), and Dave Keegan followed him 10 mins later having taken a knock to his left knee. Yet again we got stronger as the game went on and I think we put in our best defensive performance so far this season and I would be heartened by the attitude and application of the team, remember, "What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger".
Awards time
Man of the match - Steve, solid and aggressive at out half
Moment of the match - John Stokes chasing a seemingly lost cause half the
lenght of the pitch and forcing Surgeons to knock on just short of the line.
Quote of the day - Breon. Even through the pain barrier, as he limped off, he knew the one great truth."My wife's going to kill me"
Match report by Kevin Curran