AIL Round 10 Midleton 18 - 13 Dolphin
The return leg of the last game before Christmas was just as exciting as the former. A tight affair that was a defensive masterpiece from both sides, typified by numerous try saving tackles and double digit phases in each others 22. The conditions were fair, but with heavy going underfoot. A first half try from Andrew Beyrooti was followed up with a second half try for Richie Daly. The boot of Jack Colbert added 5 additional points, one conversion and a penaltiy, with Kyle Read sealing the deal late in the game with a penalty of his own.
Dolphin were first on the score board with an early try from big centre, Craig O'Connell, while Jordan Soli in full back added the extras. It followed some brilliant phase play that included sweeps out the back door, skip passes and constantly changing the attacking shape before snapping back to the blind giving O'Connell 20 yards of open space to the line. Soli was one of the standouts from the match before Christmas where he was 100% from the boot, he showed another high level of accuracy on Saturday when he added two penalties to his conversion.
The set piece battle was a tight affair with two large packs fighting for every inch. The scrum was even but lineouts from both sides were shaky at times with jumpers and throwers missing their mark on a few occasions. When the slippery ball went to hand though Midleton made the most of the possession and put a powerful maul together. One of these mauls brought the home side to the opposition 5 meter line, after a number of strong phases the Dolphin defense cracked and over went Beyrooti.
The second half started well for Midleton when Richie Daly crashed over after only 6 minutes to put us in the lead. This followed some very strong structural play from the pack that create space at the seam which Daly deftly exploited. The level of play throughout the match was again of a very high level, really demonstrating the strengths of grass roots rugby in Ireland. Credit must go to both squads in a match for the ages.
Following this result we remain top of the table but have a big ask coming up on Saturday the 18th as we travel to Clonmel for another Munster derby. Next home match is on the 25th of January where we host Omagh.
The return leg of the last game before Christmas was just as exciting as the former. A tight affair that was a defensive masterpiece from both sides, typified by numerous try saving tackles and double digit phases in each others 22. The conditions were fair, but with heavy going underfoot. A first half try from Andrew Beyrooti was followed up with a second half try for Richie Daly. The boot of Jack Colbert added 5 additional points, one conversion and a penaltiy, with Kyle Read sealing the deal late in the game with a penalty of his own.
Dolphin were first on the score board with an early try from big centre, Craig O'Connell, while Jordan Soli in full back added the extras. It followed some brilliant phase play that included sweeps out the back door, skip passes and constantly changing the attacking shape before snapping back to the blind giving O'Connell 20 yards of open space to the line. Soli was one of the standouts from the match before Christmas where he was 100% from the boot, he showed another high level of accuracy on Saturday when he added two penalties to his conversion.
The set piece battle was a tight affair with two large packs fighting for every inch. The scrum was even but lineouts from both sides were shaky at times with jumpers and throwers missing their mark on a few occasions. When the slippery ball went to hand though Midleton made the most of the possession and put a powerful maul together. One of these mauls brought the home side to the opposition 5 meter line, after a number of strong phases the Dolphin defense cracked and over went Beyrooti.
The second half started well for Midleton when Richie Daly crashed over after only 6 minutes to put us in the lead. This followed some very strong structural play from the pack that create space at the seam which Daly deftly exploited. The level of play throughout the match was again of a very high level, really demonstrating the strengths of grass roots rugby in Ireland. Credit must go to both squads in a match for the ages.
Following this result we remain top of the table but have a big ask coming up on Saturday the 18th as we travel to Clonmel for another Munster derby. Next home match is on the 25th of January where we host Omagh.
