No bonus point but win sees Portlaoise move into second place
Portlaoise's second try in the Leinster League Division 2B/3 defeat of Midland Warriors on Sunday at Togher came from captain Ryan McEvoy Photo: David Maher
Portlaoise 20
Midland Warriors 7
IT may not have been pretty, but a win is a win – that would have been the way Portlaoise would have looked at this victory over Midland Warriors t Togher on Sunday.
They might be a bit disappointed that they did not manage to secure the bonus point win, but they still move into second place on the league ahead of third placed Portarlington.
As it stands going into the Christmas break Roscrea top the table with 39 points, Portlaoise are on 35 followed by Portarlington on 32. They are well clear of North Meath (23), Garda Westmanstown (22), Midland Warriors (21), Arklow (15), Clane (14), Ratoath (8), Birr (0) and West Offaly Lions (-8).
And back to Sunday’s game Portlaoise overall were the better team on the day but too many unforced errors along with some poor decision making will be of concern to their coaches. These were not major but will need to be worked on before the recommencement of the league on Sunday 11 January with a game away to Garda Westmanstown, and even more importantly the first round of the Provincial Towns Cup on Sunday 25 January.
The home side had a host of scoring opportunities but a combination of events, including being held up over the line, saw these go abegging.
The game started with Portlaoise playing into the teeth of a very strong wind which saw them being forced to defend a lot. That said they were to open the scoring eight minutes in. From a scrum and ruck scrumhalf Mark Kelly sent Oisin Hade away who in turn slipped a pass to Bryan Croke who made great ground. When he passed the ball wide a Midland Warriors deliberately knocked on the bass and was yellow carded for the offence. What was surprising was the fact the referee merely awarded penalty when Portlaoise had a two-man overlap.
In the end it worked out as from the scrum Kelly and Oisin Hade combined to put Iain Corrigan through and eh somehow squeezed over in the corner.
Ten minutes later it looked like Portlaoise would score their second try. This came about after Niall Keenan made great break down the right wing. His kick ahead was knocked on by the Warriors full back. From the scrum Corrigan was stopped just short.
The visitors were putting the home side under a lot of pressure and poor discipline saw them conceded a number of penalties but Warriors could not turn them into scores.
Approaching half time Glen Connolly, who was outstanding on the day, went on a rampaging run only to be held up over the line.
Portlaoise were stunned as the 40 minutes passed on the clock. Warriors won a penalty on the 22 and went to the corner. They won the lineout and went through a number of phases before their number 8 crashed over and the full back convert to leave them leading 5-7 at the break.
Portlaoise wasted no time in cancelling out that lead. Two minutes into the new half Croke delivered an inch-perfect kick for a 50-22, and a Portlaoise lineout. Connolly burst from the lineout only to be stopped short. Kelly was on it in a flash and his inside pass to Ryan McEvoy saw the captain crash over for the try which was converted by Hade.
This took the pressure off Portlaoise but, despite dominating possession, were now to score again for 20 minutes when Hade slotted over a 45 metre penalty.
They had chances but it was the visitors who had the clearer opportunities, the most notable when their centre showed the Portlaoise defence a clean pair of heels and would have surely scored a try but for a courageous cover tackle from Connolly.
In an error ridden final quarter neither side really threatened the line before Portlaoise ran in a third try. From a ruck out on the left the ball was flashed through five pairs of hands to send centre Joe Mc Cormack over in the corner.
With the clock counting down Croke tried a quick drop kick conversion so as to get the game restarted in the hope of scoring the bonus point try.
That did not happen but it still means the winning run continues and Portlaoise can look forward to the restart of the league after Christmas.
PORTLAOISE: Oisin Hade; Niall Keenan, Joe McCormack, Kevin Griffin, Iain Corrigan; Bryan Croke, Mark Kelly; Joe Stevens, Ryan McEvoy, Nathan Flanagan; Michael Rigney, Ronan Donlon; Glen Connolly, Cormac Rigney, Liam Doyle.
Replacements: Cian Coffey, Eoin Keenan, Mark Sherlock, Daragh Phelan, Jake Byrne, Euin McCann, Jamie Houlihan.
