Bruff Rugby Football Club

Our 1sts travelled to a wild and windy Malahide on Saturday in what were probably the worst conditions we played this year, we travelled minus a number of players from our game versus Omagh the previous week,  we kicked off into a gale and had to spend a lot of time in our half but managed to restrict Malahide to 9 pts from 3 pens, we ourselves managed some time in the opposition half and after some excellent retention Davy o Grady ran a great line to go in under the posts Kevin McManus added the extras and it was 9-7.  Malahide added another pen before h/t to go 12-7, the second half saw us take the game to Malahide and after an excellent snipe from Danny Jackson ran in under the posts Kevin added the extras and we led 14-12.  This turned out to be our last score and though our scrum was dominant and our lineout was functioning well we did not seem to get the reward from it. Malahide themselves hit a purple patch in the last 15 and were rewarded with a try after a number of pick and drives on our line they led by 5 with 10 to go and although we had opportunities ourselves to score we were penalised in front of their posts with time nearly up. The game ended 19-14 and we had to settle for a bonus point.

I sure management will be happy with areas of the game and will disappointed with other aspects, but thy don’t have much time to dwell as we entertain our neighbours Thomond on Friday night next at Kilballyowen.

pitcured below the o Grady brothers Jack and Davy

1 Paddy Cleary
2 Johnny Cleary (capt)
3 Kieth Laffen
4 Neilus Keogh
5 Tom o Dwyer
6 Taylor Jones
7 Eamon Costelloe
8 Mike Cooke
9 Daniel Jackson
10 Davy o Grady
11 Liam Treacy
12 Cian Tierney
13 Jack o Grady
14 Cian Clifford
15 Kevin McManus

16 Rob Coates
17 Liam o Dwyer
18 Brian Bulfin
19 Jack o Grady
20 Eric Finn

Our 1sts entertained Omagh at home on Sat in Rd 7 of Ail, in a fixture that we expected to be difficult, Omagh had been racking up the scores of late, and we sitting just below us in the table, and after a bright start by Bruff, Omagh soon got themselves into the game and went into a 10-0 lead with a converted try in the corner,followed by a 3 pointer.  Bruff were left reeling and needed to steady things down, from a line out maul from the 22 Omagh pulled down as we were heading towards the line the referee had no option but to award a penalty try to the home side.  This seemed to kick start the lads and from a scrum from inside their  22 our initial drive took us to the line and after a couple of surges Tony Cahill popped to Cillian Rea who dotted down in the corner, Kevin McManus slotted over an excellent conversion to put us 14-10 ahead. We continued to add pressure and were rewarded with another 3 pointer with an excellent kick from Kevin from the 10 metre line to put us 17-10 ahead at h/t.

The second half saw Omagh come back in into the game and were rewarded with a penalty which saw us down to 13 after 2 yellows, they went for territory and were rewarded to try from a maul which they converted. 17 all and it was game on, to the lads credit they started to play in the right areas and were rewarded with 2 further penalties from the excellent boot of Kevin to put us 23-17 ahead. Omagh lost a player to a red but it didn’t seem to effect their desire to go for the win and finished the game strongly in the Bruff half, we weathered the storm to claim a good win against a good Omagh side.

Great to have Davy o Grady back on the field after a long time out through injury.

Team

Bruff rfc
1 Paddy Cleary.                               
2 Johnny Cleary (capt)
3 Kieth Laffen
4 Neilus Keogh
5 Tom o Dwyer
6 Taylor Jones
7 Cillian Rea
8 Sean Hartigan
9 Daniel Jackson
10 Tony Cahill
11 Liam Treacy
12 Cian Tierney
13 Sean Darcy
14 Cian Clifford
15 Kevin McManus

16 Eamonn Costelloe
17 Brian Bulfin
18 Mike Cooke
19 Davy o Grady
20 Liam Barrett

A minute silence was observed before the game as a mark of respect on the passing of Tom McCarthy a past player and a life long supporter of Bruff Rfc.

Last Saturday saw us make the long trip up North to play Bangor in Rd 6 of the league. Bangor who had started the season well had slipped up the week previous against  Tullamore and didn’t want a repeat 2 weeks in a row, with former Ulster Exeter and Connaught lock Lewis Stevenson in their side and also been assisted by current Ulster players Craig Gilroy and Stuart McCloskey as backs coaches it was never going to be easy.

From the kick off the lads took the game to Bangor and after a series of early phases Kevin McManus released Cian Clifford to score out wide Kevin pinged a great convert and we were 7-0 to the good.

Bangor replied with pressure of their own and were awarded a pen when Taylor was adjudged to be late in the tackle but were narrowly wide from the kick, Taylor got 10 and we it was game on. We managed to keep Bangor scoreless until we got back to 15, and then started to apply some pressure of our own, from a line out Bangor pulled down our maul and they lost their influential Stevenson to the bin, Tony put us in the corner and from the line out we carried to their line and then found space for Liam Treacy to score in the corner, Kevin was unlucky from the conversation and it was 12-0. We should have added to the scoreline before h/t but went in 12-0 to the good.

Bangor started the 2nd half brightly and got on the scoresheet after some good pressure to make it 12-5 and we also lost Tony to injury. We managed to get ourselves back into the right area of the field and were rewarded with a pen which Kevin obliged to make it 15-5. This gave us a little cushion but Bangor weren’t finished they got in for another 5 pointer and the pressure was on. We lost Daniel to the bin and now were without our starting half backs With 5mins on the clock its was getting nervy but lads showed brilliant composure with some excellent handling skills they were able to run down the clock and bring back a hard earned 4 points. Credit to Bangor for a very competitive and physical game, and big thanks to all involved for their kind hospitality shown.

Also well done to all who made the long journey to support the lads.

1 Fionn Flanaghan
2 Johnny Cleary (capt)
3 paddy Cleary
4 Tom o Dwyer
5 Tadgh o Dwyer
6 Taylor Jones
7 Cillian Rea
8 Sean Hartigan
9 Daniel Jackson
10 Tony Cahill
11 Liam Treacy
12 Sean Darcy
13 Liam Barrett
14 Cian Clifford
15 Kevin McManus

16 Eamonn Costelloe
17 Kieth laffen
18 Mike Cooke
19 Neilus Keogh
20 Cian Tierney

Great to see Cian back from injury on Saturday