Malone draw 16-16 against Sundays Well

Match report courtesy of Sundays Well RFC Website

It was quite a different game from the tight tense Highfield match two weeks previous, but the end result was practically the same. The ‘Well have got two draws from their last two encounters to further stabilise their position in the middle of the field.
Unlike Highfield; this game yielded tries and both sides would have felt that they left a number of opportunities behind them. While the half-time score was the same as it was in Woodleigh Park; at three points apiece, both sides should have broken over the whitewash.
The ‘Well team showed their ambition from their very first play. Carrying strongly and Peter Arigho providing quick ball; sometimes to onrushing forwards like Kieran Stokes and Sean Glynn and other times to spread it out so the players such as Michael Boland and Cyprien Jouve could make ground. The ball was recycled superbly but just as the Malone defence would get stretch a minor error would halt the effort.

The ‘Well were also strong in the line-out with Aidan O’Reilly and Mulcahy competing and stealing several balls on the opponents’ throw-in. They were also able to secure quality possession and produced one superb driving maul of over twenty-five metres that culminated in a penalty that Shane O’Riordan slotted over. Malone too had their chances with the centres in particular causing the ‘Well defence problems but some excellent defence in the Twenty-Two kept them at bay; with a John Pentland penalty being the only score for the home side in the first half.

Things opened up in the second half and it was Malone who made the opening gambit. They were on the attack from the kick-off and eventually the ball went out wide to Mark McCrea on the attacking Twenty-Two. He had a number of defenders in front of him but his chip ahead surprised the ‘Well defence and the ball held up on the boggy pitch to allow him touch-down.

The ‘Well responded. The pack carried strongly around the fringe and O’Riordan made a great penalty kick into the corner. The line-out was secured and the driving maul couldn’t be stopped, with the point of attack shifting on several occasions with Neville O’Donoghue and Aaron Sweeney driving over; Sweeney being the one who appeared to come up with the ball. O’Riordan converted and soon kicked a sublime long-range penalty to put the ‘Well three points up.

That penalty that was quickly cancelled out by the boot of Pentland before his centre partner McCrea raced onto a pop pass and took a superb line to expose a gap around the fringe. The speedy centre couldn’t be stopped as he went in to put Malone 16-13 in front.
The ‘Well didn’t drop their heads. They made some great plays; showing patience and precision with the pack carrying strongly around the fringe. Stokes, Mulcahy and Alex O’Neill made a nice move on the left wing while Aidan O’Reilly had a storming finish to the encounter. A penalty allowed O’Riordan levelled the scores and he missed a very difficult effort from the touch-line. O’Reilly almost made it over the line but in the end it was Malone who had the final chance to snatch a win with a long-range Mark O’Connor penalty bouncing off the butt of the crossbar and the posts.

Overall it was a gruelling scrappy affair and in the end a draw was probably a fair result.

Scorers: Malone: M McCrea 2 tries; J Pentland 2 pens.

Sunday’s Well: A Sweeney try; S O’Riordan 3 pen, con.

Malone: A Bryans; M Cartmill, M McCrea, J Pentland, D Irvine; C Spence, S Kelly; L Barlow, D Kerr, P Eadie; C Tipping, N Alcorn (c); D Cave, J Ferguson, M Shiels. Replacements: D Fitzpatrick, B Halliday, J Barry-Glendinning, M Barker, M O’Connor.

Sunday’s Well: M Chandler; M Boland, C Jouve, R O’Keeffe, A O’Neill; S O’Riordan, P Arigho; C O’Regan, K Stokes (c), N O’Donoghue; O Glynn, A O’Reilly; J Mulcahy, A Sweeney, S Glynn. Replacements: F Moynihan, S Desmond, R McCarthy, C O’Sullivan, D Purvis.
Referee: B O’Connell (IRFU)