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Tullamore Aim To Deliver In 2012

Thursday, 5 January 2012

The exiles and president’s teams at the Tullamore Rugby Club St Stephen’s Day challenge.

TULLAMORE face into the crucial run in to the finish of the Leinster Lleague Div 1.A which restarts with a home fixture against second from the bottom of the table side, Dundalk.
The standing in the table show Skerries two point ahead of both Enniscorthy and Tullamore with long time league leaders Newbridge one point further behind. The question in everybody's mind is which Tullamore team will turn up for the recommencement of the league ,the one that started the league in September or the one that finished the league in December?
Tullamore have turned what looked like a disastrous season into one of great expectation with an outstanding run of 5 unbeaten Leinster League games and 2 wins in the All Ireland Junior Cup. Coaches John Moylan, John Burns and Vinny Wyer had them well focussed before Christmas, they will need to get them back on the 7th January in the same frame of mind.
Tullamore have a challenging fixture list in the remaining league games where they have second from bottom of the table side Dundalk at home on the 7th Jan with third from bottom Garda away on the 14th Jan. Interestingly they lost to both these sides at the start of the season. Both Dundalk and Garda are decent sides and are just losing their matches by narrow margins. Both will be scrapping for points in a bid to move out of the relegation zone.
Tullamore must not alone win both these games but must pick up an additional bonus winning point by scoring 4 tries in each game. This will be a huge challenge and the coaches must set this goal for the players before the Dundalk game.
Tullamore will be somewhat unsettled with the loss of Alvin Bracken - (emigrating to Australia) and Keith Scally (emigrating to America). Alvin was having the season of his life and was very influential in the powerful scrum in both the Skerries and Monkstown games. Keith had struggled with injury early in the campaign but he showed his speed and ability to take chances with two fine performances against Coolmine and Monkstown. This blow will be softened with the return to action of Ger Molloy, Cyril Cornally and David O'Neill from injury. Eddie Brady has also returned from Buccaneers.
Enniscorthy will be the dark horses to win the league as they have home games against Newbridge, Skerries, and Tullamore. The outcome of these games will be crucial to the final outcome to the league. Tullamore play Newbridge at home on the 21st January with their final two fixtures away to Enniscorthy 26th Feb with Coolmine at home the following week on the 3rd of March.
Following their poor start to the league Tullamore were quoted at 33/1 to win the league by Paddy Power, they are now 6/4 and have a real chance. They do not have the final say within their own power but they must remain unbeaten in the last five games and collect bonus try scoring points to be successful.
Dundalk coached by ex- Samoan International Ene Fa'atu who gave an outstanding performances in Dundalks impressive victory last season over Tullamore in the Towns Cup final will clearly target Tullamore 'perceived' lack of fitness which was identified as one of the main reasons for Tullamore's defeat in that final. They will also welcome back their influential full back Stephen McGee from his world travels and his return will give them momentum and direction.
It is expected that we will see in January what teams worked hard over the Xmas period and what teams partied hard over Xmas.
Your support will be appreciated over the next number of weeks in Spollanstown and at away matches to drive the team forward.
Tullamore Rugby Club Lotto
President Jim Quinlan launched the club lotto on St Stephens day after the Exiles match. An initial Jackpot of €2,000 is up for grabs at the first draw on Saturday 7th Jan 2012 after the Dundalk match and there will be weekly draws every weekend.
In addition to buying the Lotto every week,month etc you can sign up for a Standing Order by completing the form on , selecting your numbers and posting it to the Club at Spollenstown ,Tullamore.
St Stephens Day Match
Presidents X.V. 17 Exiles X.V 10
A very enjoyable game to view and play in was held in Spollenstown on the 26th Dec.
Brian Geraghty opened the scoring when he joined the line following a break by No 8. Rob Connor and Dean Cahill converted for a 7-00 lead to Tullamore. The power in the Exiles scrum showed when props Ronan Glennon and Paul Deering drove Tullamore back in a scrum and Donal Milne scored the try. A well executed line resulted in Exile's captain david Joyce scoring a fine try.
Tullamore got some measure of revenge when their pack drove an older Exiles eight back in a maul and Cian Glennon got the touchdown. Kevin Browne sealed the win late on with another try.
Thanks to referee Ciaran Lynch (A.R.L.B.) who had a good game on a day when everybody has an opinion on every decision made or not made.
Their was a big crowd up for the match and most adjourned to the Clubhouse for a few minerals after the game.
W/E Fixtures;
Friday 6th January:
U-19s Tullamore v Nenagh friendly in Spollenstown @ 8.00pm
Saturday 7th January:
Tullamore v Dundalk Leinster League Div 1.A @ 2.30pm
Tullamore 2nds v Dundalk 2nds Leinster Seconds League @1.00pm
U-15s Tullamore A v Gorey Leinster Premier League at home
U-15s Tullamore B v Wexford B Leinster League Div 2

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