On a sunny crisp morning at Mill Road, the Dundalk U9 squad took on their arch rivals Boyne RFC to determine what club would claim ‘top dog’ status in the Northeast region at this very competitive age group. Dundalk RFC’s squad has increased exponentially this year from 24 in 2010 to approximately 40 players this year and a lot of work has been put in on the training ground. Dundalk RFC had played 3 times so far this year and have acquired an enviable record.
Dundalk A 3 Boyne A 2
After a slow start which saw Boyne take a two try lead, Dundalk A found their rhythm and started to drive their opponents back in the tackle. In the second half some strong running saw Jack Mulroy score in the corner for a fine try.
From the restart some good rucking by Cormac Malone and Fionn Martin resulted in Kieran Mc Ardle hitting the turbos, take Boyne on the outside and get a well deserved try. With it all tied and only seconds on the clock, some good passing from James Reenan and Conor Murphy saw Daragh Toner get the try, another tight squeeze in the corner.
Dundalk A 2 Boyne B 3
In a very close and well contested match both teams played some very attractive running rugby. The home side had some strong runners in Killian Rooney who showed some devastating bursts from deep and Neil O’Meara as quick in close support catching the eye with some crisp passing skills. Sam Dawson, James Reenan and Fionn Martin lead the way with some stalwart tackling. Dundalk were applying all the pressure at the end particularly with Fionn Martin’s rampaging drives looking hard for a try but the final whistle sounded. The Dundalk A team was: Daragh Toner, Jack Mulroy, Cormac Malone (H), Fionn Martin, Sam Dawson, Kieran McArdle, Killian Rooney, James Reenan, Neil O’Meara & Conor Murphy
Dundalk B 3 Boyne B 0
Dundalk won this match on the back of some great tackling and hard running from Lee O Carroll who also excelled at rucking and mauling. Jonah Power was a constant thorn in the side for Boyne appearing every place support was needed. Dundalk’s use of the ball was a credit to all the young players with scrum half James Toal poaching and dynamo Jack McGee who is a master at tackling coming to the fore. Both Killian McNally and Cathal Malone caught the eye with some ‘Sean O’Brien’ like surges and off-loads in heavy traffic. Any time the ball went wide Elijah Faacpita had the beating of his opposite number and in the end, Dundalk ran out comfortable winners.
Dundalk B 2 Boyne A 3
Dundalk suffered a narrow defeat in this game. In the first half some ferocious tackling from Cathal Malone and poaching by the lightning fast Elijah Faacpita resulted in some great pressure for Dundalk but Boyne broke away and scored a couple of tries against the run of play. A feature of the second half was the text book tackling of Jack Mc Gee with Jack Lynch showing some fine footwork and nice link play. Of particular note, was some blistering speed and strong running from Jake McNamara who worked tirelessly in getting his side back in the game. Unfortunately Dundalk couldn't finish off some beautiful running rugby and all felt that they were unlucky in not getting the win.
The Dundalk B team was: James Toal, Lee O'Carroll, Cathal Malone, Killian McNally, Jack McGee, Jonah Power, Elijah Faacpita, Jake McNamara and Jack Lynch
Dundalk C 4 Boyne C 2
For this Dundalk team, of which most were in their 1st year of rugby, this was a sweet victory. Lee Murray displayed some nice mauling under pressure and good hands in getting his team mates into space. Some noticeable strong running was also displayed by Dylan McGahon, Adam Martin and Shane O’Quigley who were the heavy infantry in attack. Lorenzo Zvikas showed quick hands in getting the ball out wide with Cormac Branigan and Jack Carroll showing some devastating running when the play had loosened up later in the match. Oisin McGrath particularly caught the eye with neat footwork in heavy traffic. With this relatively new crop of players, the future looks bright for Dundalk.
The Dundalk C team was: Jack Carroll, Lorenzo Zvikas, Lee Murray, Dylan McGahon, Cormac Branigan, Shane O'Quigley, Oisin McGrath and Adam Martin