U-20 B’S 41 - 7 Malahide RFC U-20
The 20 B’s completed their league fixtures with an impressive 41 points to 7 win over Malahide on Sunday afternoon. After qualifying a number of weeks ago for the semi finals it would have been easy for the squad to relax ahead of the semi finals but to their credit they have been totally committed in all of the games this year and the squad deserve praise for their efforts so far.
Despite what the score line says this was a tough physical encounter and there were a number of battered and bruised bodies after the game as Malahide impressively fought until the final whistle and Collidge had to survive several periods of Malahide pressure in the second half.
UCD got off to a flying start when Luke Hickey (aka La Douche) claimed the opening kick- off and burst into the Malahide twenty two. After continuing the play through a number of phases full back Joe Mackenzie crossed for Collidge’s first try of the afternoon. Further first half tries came from Josh Morton, James McAlister and a second one for Joe Mackenzie. Only one of the tries was converted by Ross O’Brien, who had the factor 50 sun screen on to protect him from the blistering March sunshine. UCD produced some excellent rugby in the first half with captain Conor Farrell, Doug Memery and Fergal Lynch leading the efforts up front and they were backed up superbly Kevin Haugh at out half, scrum half Mark Conway and centre James Finnegan.
In the second half winger Shane O’Connor scored two very well taken tries and Robbie Field (making his comeback from injury) bagged himself a try also. Two of these tries were converted, one by Ross O’Brien and the second one coming from the left boot of James Finnegan. To their credit Malahide never gave up and their efforts were rewarded when they scored a well deserved try following a sustained period of pressure in the UCD twenty two.
Once again all the members of the match day squad contributed to yesterdays win and there were impressive displays off the bench from Kieran Finlayson, Tiernan Kenny, Sam Ethell, Neal Murphy & Richie Whelan. It was also great to see Cormac Kavanagh survive a full eighty minutes. The coaching staff have a number of very tough decisions to make this week as every member of the squad have put their hands up for inclusion in the semi final squad.
Once the final whistle was blown the squad turned their attention to the league semi final where we will face Newbridge RFC in Belfield (Thornfield pitches) on Sunday March 29th (KO TBC). This will be a very tough encounter so please come down and lend your support to the 20 B’s.
………It has to be said though as good as UCD’s tries were, none of them compared with Joe McGinley’s effort on Saturday afternoon to single handily secure the Dudley Cup for the firsts / J1’s. Memories of Jonah Lomu in his prime came flooding back to all the spectators as McGinley left a trail of devastation in his wake. Surely a late call up for the grand slam decider beckons for the introverted McGinley.
Thanks again to physio Sarah Gleeson & Pete Herangi for their efforts yesterday and to all the players who attended training last week while on their mid-term break.
UCD Under-20 B v Malahide
Fergal Lynch, Cormac Kavanagh, Kieran Finlayson, Hugo Boylon, Tiernan Kenny, Sean Tevlin, Luke Hickey, Robbie Field, Conor Farrell, Doug Memery, James McAlister, Richie Whelan, Mark Conway, Same Ethell, Kevin Haugh, Josh Morton, Ross O’Brien, James Finnegan, Neal Murphy, Shane O Connor, Joe Mackenzie Jack Dunne.