Gorey beaten but handed a reprieve
GOREY UNDER-17s lived to fight another day and proceeded through to the next round of the Leinster Cup despite this scoreline. At the end of a classic cup tie which they were never out of, the Gorey players were informed that Clane could not have fulfilled the fixture without resorting to outlawed school players. Thus, they had forfeited the contest prior to kick-off and Gorey, although defeated, advanced to the next round.
Gorey started slowly and failed to make the first-up tackles so vital in a cup game. With territorial advantage, Clane opened the scoring with a penalty kick.
Although Gorey had a huge amount of possession, they squandered opportunities through uncharacteristically loose handling in the first-half. Furthermore, they ended up on the wrong side of a large penalty count, at times through indiscipline, and a further kicked penalty put them 6-0 in arrears.
By this time, however, the Gorey pack had the upper hand and maintined their dominance throughout the rest of the fixture. The Gorey scrum was on top and produced two against the head in the first-half. Again, Dean Redmond was imperious in the line-out. The back line, however, struggled to cross the gain line and made little impact against a well-organised Clane defence.
An indiscretion by scrum-half Niall Brohan led to ten minutes in the bin. Gorey opted to play it very tight during this phase and with 14 playrs produced their best passage of play. They gained field position from one of the few first-half penalties they were awarded, won the ensuing line-out and maintained forward dominance through a series of pick and drives.
Finally, Eddie Earle showed huge strength to cross for a wonderful try, leaving the half-time score 6-5 to Clane.
Back to a full complement of 15 for the second-half, Gorey were again slow to get out of the blocks, allowing Clane to take a territorial foothold. They extended their lead with a further penalty.
Gorey were further hampered when the referee decided that unopposed scrums should be fought as Clane did not have two fit props. Even so, Gorey's pack contined their wonderful dominance in the loose and a series of pick and drives almost produced tries on two occasions. In the second of these, Stephen Gardiner surely touched down, but was he just short of the line?
In the final quarter, with Gorey possibly flagging, Clane produced their best phase and sealed the victory with a try at the right corner flag from a ruck close in. But Gorey will live to fight another day with a home Leinster Cup tie next week against either New Ross or Tullow.
