Loading ...Leinster A 0 – 9 Ulster Ravens
Despite the low score line and the wet and windy conditions this truly was an exciting match as Ulster Ravens completely outfought and outplayed their opponents in Navan last night.
In fact if the weather had been kinder and a couple of final passes went to hand Ulster would have come away with a thoroughly disserved win by 20 – 30 points, such was their dominance.
Ulster opted to play into the wind in the first half, and it wasn’t long before Leinster had them pinned back in their own 22. Leinster however showed little imagination, and restricted by the slow service from their scrum half they opted to take the ball up through the middle which Ulster coped with reasonably comfortably driving their opponents back more often than not.
After a fairly frenetic opening quarter of biff bash bosh the game began to open up and Ulster began to get on top and worked their opponents up the field. Porter, at scrum half, contributed well with some effective box kicks, O’Connor looked head and shoulders above his opposite number and the back row began to dominate, with Faloon and Anderson to the fore.
With Leinster now forced back into their own half and electing to kick long the Ulster backs took the opportunity to counterattack. In general the Ulster back three fielded well and managed to open up their opponents on several occasions, but unfortunately, with the line gaping, the final pass failed to go to hand with the normally reliable Whitten and McCrea being the chief offenders.
However the star of the first half was Craig Gilroy, playing at 11 (not 14) who had an outstanding first half up against the much vaunted David Kearney. With the wind driving kicks in his direction Gilroy fielded superbly and absolutely skinned Kearney on four occasions leaving him flat footed and grasping at thin air. On the few occasions that Kearney got the ball, Gilroy was there to knock him flat.
Ulster eventually got their reward with a penalty from O’Connor. The young out half controlled the game well with some delightful kicks and on another day his blistering two man skip passes would have resulted in a few scores but Ulster were pleased enough to be turning round 0 – 3 up.
Leinster attempted to assert themselves at the beginning of the second half, but with Ulster letting the ball and the wind do the work, it wasn’t long before they were pinned back in their own 22 and O’Connor was slotting over his second penalty of the night.
Leinster continued to work hard and began to make some inroads into the Ulster half with No 8 Stephen Keogh to the fore. However Ulster looked comfortable and created another couple of chances only to miss out on tries with a couple of erratic passes.
O’Connor slipped over another penalty to take the score to 0 – 9 with Willis now on for Porter and Fitzpatrick on for McAllister. Job done O’Connor departed and Smith to come on at full back and McCrea moved into out half.
Leinster made a concerted effort to get some points and with their backs looking more dangerous with Chris Keane replacing the petulant David Moore at scrum half, they spent the closing minutes deep in the Ulster half.
Ulster, just about managed to repel all attacks and the game ended with a thoroughly deserved win.
The whole team contributed well throughout and Andy Kyriacou lead effectively from the front with his usual all action display. There were a few blips at line out time, but man for man the team outplayed their opponents.
New start Scott La Valla contributed well despite a few dropped balls at the start and he certainly left a lasting impression on the Leinster side with a few thumping tackles in the second half.
Our stand out player however was Craig Gilroy, whose first half display was worth the five hour round trip on its’ own. It’s just a pity there weren’t more than half a dozen Ulster fans there to see it.
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Tags: Andy Kyriacou, Cillian Willis, Craig Gilroy, David Kearney, David Moore, Declan Fitzpatrick, Ian Porter, Ian Whitten, Jamie Smith, leinster A v Ulster Ravens, Mark McCrea, Navan, Niall O'Connor, Paddy McAllister, Scott La Valla, Stephen Keogh, TJ Anderson, Ulster Ravens, Willie Faloon
Well done FRU……..Gilroy one to watch (well he does have a great mentor)
Yes Dewi a throughly entertaining game with two young teams getting stuck in. Ulster’s defence was outstanding when under pressure and it was this never say die attitude that sealed the win. Kyriacou must be wondering if there is a little rain cloud and a man with a portable wind tunnel following him every time he takes the pitch (the conditions where nearly as bad as the Glasgow match) The positive take from the game was the fact that Ulster where able to take the game through set phases up front and create space out wide, something Leinster couldn’t, unfortunately a couple of poor passes and bad hands prevented certain scores. I am sure Mr Doak will take care of that before the next match. Good to see McCrea get some game time but he is in danger of being to versatile for his own good. On a night when the conditions did not suit the wide men both Ulster wingers,Gilroy and Seymour stood out, Gilroy in particular against the much talked about Kearney. If Ulster can bulk Gilroy up the way McCrea has he could be the business. As I said to a Leinster fan last night, ” the futures bright, the futures white!”
Thanks for the report old chap. Wish I had known someone was going as I thought I’d be the only Ulsterman there and stayed at home. Particularly pleased about O’Connor – seems he has started to make progress after a year or so standing still.
Soon be Spring Raven …. Is that Ireland’s dry season
How about we start a campaign to move Union to Spring/Summer?
Could have legs!
Dear Ruth … rugger is a man’s game played in the winter as opposed to a girls game like rounders played in the summer. Any attempt to try and change would just fall into the hands of the southern hemisphere mafia and should be resisted!