Dolphin XV V Midleton
By Aoife O’ Callaghan.
After a long four month summer break, competitive rugby officially returned
last night as we took on Midleton in the South Cork Charity Shield semi-final.
A mix of new and familiar faces graced the pitch last night as we welcomed
back Eamon Mills, James Rochford and John Fitzgerald. We also caught a
glimpse at two of our newest additions Tomas Quinlan and Alex Moore.
With the wind to our backs play got underway at 8pm. After a brief spell of
defence, Luke Moloney went sliding into the righthand corner in the 12 th
minute. A tricky conversion for Quinlan followed which he calmly slotted
through the uprights.
But this lead did not last long as Midleton equalised in the 25 th minute.
A try from Tralees own Sam Boyle put us back in front once more but a second
converted try from Midleton put the homeside ahead once again. Running into
the sheds at halftime the scoreline stood at 12-14 to Midleton.
The tough task of playing into the wind faced us for the second half as well as
greasy conditions from an unexpected shower.
Midleton got scoring underway in the secondhalf.
But a 55 th minute try off the back of a maul put us back in contention. It was
another tricky sideline conversion for Quinlan which he unfortunately missed.
With just over 25 minutes left to play we were trailing the homesiders 17-21.
Midleton were soon down to 13 men after two players saw yellow for multiple
infringements.
The closing stages saw Midleton score another two tries. As the final whistle
blew the score stood at 17-31. We bow out of our shield defence early as
Midleton progress to the final against Sundays Well.
A tough day in the office for Brian Scott’s side. All eyes now turn to round one
of the Munster Senior Cup on the 10 th of September.
