Portlaoise 34 Balbriggan 22
Rugby Leinster League Division 2B Round 1
Portlaoise opened their Division 2B, phase two campaign with an emphatic and impressive win over Balbriggan on Sunday.
Conditions were close to ideal in Togher with only a slight breeze blowing into the clubhouse end.
Balbriggan played with that slight advantage in the opening half when both sides largely balanced out each other.
The visitors looked the slightly livelier early on but some stout defending from Portlaoise kept their opportunities to the minimum.
Portlaoise too had their chances before the eventually broke the deadlock in the 30th minute. From a lineout close to the Balbriggan line, Chris Cahill found Eoin Brennan who slipped the ball to Ross Cooper to drive over for the try.
That was how it remained at half time, Portlaoise with a five point advantage but that scoreline would change dramatically by the full time whistle.
Again, the second half started tentatively with both sides feeling each other out, but suddenly Portlaoise found another gear. They were now piling on the pressure on Balbriggan and that pressure began to tell as the North Dublin side started to cough up penalties.
In the space of two minutes Jack Reddin, whose kicking was on form on the day, struck two good penalties.
Balbriggan broke their duck on the 42nd minute. They took a quick penalty and Portlaoise were not back the requisite ten metres and this time they went for the post and the centre converted to make it 11-3.
But Portlaoise were not for backing down and wasted no time in responding. Two minutes later, in almost identical fashion to his earlier try, Ross Cooper crashed over for a try from a lineout, Brennan again providing the assist.
Credit to Balbriggan too were determined to go home with the points. Midway through the half after some sustained pressure a slight gap opened up in the Portlaoise defence and they took advantage, scoring under the post.
The conversion was added and it was now 16-10 and the pressure was mounting on the home side.
But again Portlaoise responded positively and their pressure was forcing Balbriggan into conceding penalties, two of which Reddin converted to open up a 12 point gap with a little over 10 minutes to play.
Portlaoise effectively wrapped up the result in the 70th minute with a super try. Ross Cooper burst through a gap close to the left sideline. He offloaded to Mark Sherlock who in turn somehow slipped the ball to Marc Bracken and the scrum half crashed over in the corner.
However, despite the 17 point difference, this game was far from over, especially after Portlaoise received two yellow cards. The numerical advantage told in the 75th minute when the visitors scored a converted try to make it 27-15.
But as they had done all day Portlaoise reacted positively to score another try from a lineout. This time it was Sherlock who won possession and fed Cooper who wriggly through a tackle on go over. Reddin’s conversion was on target.
Balbriggan had the final say for a try on the pip of full time but by that stage Portlaoise celebrating.
All in all this was possible Portlaoise’s best performance of the year but there is a long way to go yet.
They moved the ball with intent and were rewarded on the scoreboard. But possibly the most pleasing aspect of this game was their defence. Each and every man stood tall and were prepared to do what it took to stop the opposition.
Portlaoise cannot rest on their laurels as next up is a trip to Garda Westmanstown and that will be a real treat.
PORTLAOISE: Niall Keenan; Iain Corrigan, Tadgh Mullin, Tommy Martin, Jack Duffin; Jack Reddin, Marc Bracken; Cathal Kenny, Chris Cahill, Paddy Coss; Sean Peters, Eoghan Brennan; Mark Sherlock, Glen Connolly, Ross Cooper. Replacements: Mark Kelly, John Keogh, Sean Hennessy, Cian Coffey, Fionn Phelan, JP Nerney, Jack Foyle, James Whelan, Eoin Lyons, Adam Hanrahan,
Ryan McEvoy, Callen Byrne, Jason Carter, Liam Guppy, Ronan Lawrence, Jamie Baldwin
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