Ten of the best from Portlaoise, half coming from the front row
Paddy Coss drives in for the first of his three tries for Portlaoise RFC's Leinster League Division 2B win over Ratoath at Togher on Sunday Photo: David Maher
PORTLAOISE ran in ten tries on Sunday afternoon in Togher to send out a strong message to the rest of the teams in Division 2B of the Leinster League.
Half of their tries came from the front row, with hooker Ryan McEvoy scoring a phenomenal hat-trick while prop Paddy Coss added a brace to give Portlaoise a 59-point win over Meath side, Ratoath.
Portlaoise had put themselves in a great position to win their opening game of the season last week, but squandered a ten-point lead to lose to away to Roscrea with a try in the final seconds of the game. Ratoath also lost their opener, going down by 24 points at home to local rivals, North Meath.
Portlaoise took the lead in the 7th minute when the powerhouse Coss barrelled over for a try after some sustained pressure on the Ratoath line.
The visitors then lost their loose head prop, Colm Halpin, for repeated high tackles with less than ten minutes on the clock. Ratoath were next to score, however, when the visitors landed a penalty from 25 metres out, with number eight Alex Coakley an unlikely kicker.
Those were the only points scored with Ratoath down a man and the visitors remained in control once restored to a full complement.
But Portlaoise battled back and crossed for their second try in the 26th minute when Mark Sherlock touched down after another concerted barrage on the Ratoath try line. Full back Bryan Croke, home from his spell with Naas, added the extras to put the hosts nine points up.
Five minutes later and they were in for a third try. Sherlock opted to tap a penalty in the corner where Coss powered over for his second try. Portlaoise remained on top throughout the second quarter and sealed the bonus point just before half time when hooker Ryan McEvoy forced his way over from close range.
That left the hosts up 22-3 at the break and Ratoath with a mountain to climb after the restart. But with just two minutes of the second half played, McEvoy went in for his second and Portlaoise's fifth try, with a nice conversion from Croke pushing the lead out to 26 points.
It was all one-way traffic after that and Portlaoise scored again midway through the half when Glen Connolly powered his way over for a try before Croke converted. Ratoath put in some massive tackles in the lead-up, but they could not keep the hosts at bay.
The onslaught continued moments later when Mark Kelly dived over in the corner to score a first try of the day for the Portlaoise backs.
The quicker players smelled blood and the midfield duo of Kevin Griffin and Jack Duffin then combined for a try when Griffin released Duffin out wide before touching down under the posts, with Croke grateful to have an easy kick as goal for a change.
The full back then crossed for a try of his own in the 72nd minute and handed the kicking duties to Kelly who added the extras.
Portlaoise were not done and with two minutes remaining they added another try as McEvoy went over in the corner to complete his hat-trick. Kelly converted to bring the hosts beyond the 60-point mark.
Portlaoise's next game is in two weeks’ time when they make the trip to Kells to play North Meath.
Paddy Coss (3 tries) Ryan McEvoy (2 tries), Mark Sherlock, Glen Connolly, Jack Duffin (1 try each), Bryan Croke (1 try, 4 cons), Mark Kelly (1 try, 2 cons).
Alex Coakley (1 pen).
Bryan Croke; Iain Corrigan, Kevin Griffin, Jack Duffin, Marc Bracken; Conor Horan, Juan Raffa; Paddy Coss, Ryan McEvoy, Aaron Coiley; Dara Davies, Michael Rigney; Glen Connolly, Cian Coffey, Mark Sherlock.
Mark Kelly, Joe Stevens, Ben Goodall, Eric Smith, Aaron Kingston, Edward White.
Patrick Dowd; Adam Elliott, Ben O'Neill, Cian Maher, Gavin Fennessy; Jack Fennessy, Ben Love; Colm Halpin, Ross Healy, Mark Comerford; Jake Edge, Ross Coatsworth; Donnacha O’Loughlin, Ruairi Coulter, Alex Coakley.
Liam Farrell, Jack Clarke, Jordan Killion, Tyler Arkesteijn.
David Orde
