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Roscrea Surge Forward In Towns Cup

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Roscrea’s John Lillis takes the ball into contact during their Towns Cup game with Edenderry. MT08301

Roscrea 11. Edenderry 9.

This was not a vintage performance by Roscrea but it was sufficient to beat a strong Edenderry side who could not breech an excellent Roscrea defence. The tackling was of the highest quality particularly in the last few minutes of the match when the visitors, who were two points behind, tried to run the ball out of defence. Time and time again they were hit with big tackles and confined to their own 22.
Captain Paul McNamara led by example in the centre putting in some devastating tackles but the whole team defended well and denied Edenderry any scoring chance.
Roscrea had all the early possession and Enda Harte made an excellent run but was stopped and had no support. Number eight David Carney made a good break from the scrum and Michael Lynch along with Shane Markham made a few drives but there was still no way through.
Edenderry had the first chance with a long range penalty which was short. Roscrea got the first score from a John Lillis penalty from all of 30 metres. The home side continued to press but gave away possession too easily with knock-on's and unnecessary penalties but at the same time credit must go to a hard tackling Edenderry defence.
Marc O'Meara and Joe Smith made good breaks but each time the ball was turned over. Stephen Greene did well top field a high up and under but it was Edenderry who scored next with a well struck penalty from 40 metres and when Roscrea gave away a silly penalty, the visitors took the lead against the run of play. With five minutes to go in the half, John Lillis equalised from 35 metres with a well taken penalty.
Roscrea continued to press with Cormac Bulfin, Joe Smith and David Carney making good runs. Good driving by Enda Harte led to Roscrea getting a five metre scrum just before half time but Edenderry did well to win the ball against the head and clear to leave the sides level at half time on a score line of 6-6.
Roscrea continued where they had left off in the first half with plenty of possession but unable to breach the Edenderry defence. Edenderry began to get more into the game and for a while Roscrea had to defend desperately. The visitors were unlucky not to get a try but they did take the lead with a penalty.
This seemed to galvanise Roscrea and they upped their game. Marc O'Meara was up quickly on a John Lillis kick and the Edenderry winger was forced to concede a touch in his own 22. The outhalf was wide with an attempted drop goal but they continued to press and eventually got in for a try.
It was Enda Harte who set it up with a great run into the 22. He gave it to Marc O'Meara who burst through an attempted tackle to score in the left corner. Edenderry got into Roscrea's half and were unsuccessful with a long range penalty.
With time running out, Roscrea succeeded in keeping Edenderry pinned inside their own 22. There were huge hits put in especially from Paul McNamara, Cormac Bulfin and John Lillis in the backs.
The forwards also tackled well in the last few minutes and although they could have increased their lead near the end, they were happy to hold out for a two point win.
Roscrea: S.Greene, C.Greene, P.McNamara, M.O'Meara, B.Teehan, J.Lillis, C.Bulfin, E.Harte, J.Maher, Jos Maher, S.Markham, M.Lynch, J.Smith, M.Maher, D.Carney
Replacements: A.Tynan, D.Costelloe, R.Burns, D.Abbott, G.Stone, S.Treacy

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