It was a great evening for a game, the players had a dry and perfect pitch and little wind, and the supporters, had well, a good time.

The first half saw Dolphin well on top, scoring the opening try within 5 minutes with wing forward Dan Hyland adding a 2nd one, converted by Ronan Devine to go 12-0 ahead. Mallow struck back with an unconverted try.

Further pressure from Dolphin led to a Dave O’Brien try, again converted by Ronan Devine and Dolphin led 19-5 at the break.

Mallow stepped up a gear in the 2nd half, and in a night perfect for rugby ran the ball as much as they could. Dolphin turned the ball over in attack inside the Mallow 22, the kick out of defense did not make touch and from an awkward bounce, a Mallow player caught the ball and was away to score a converted try.

There was no luck with Mallow’s next try, a perfectly waited cross kick for them to score right in the corner and it was 19-17. Mallow were quickly back in attack and they scored under the posts, a drop kick for a conversion came back off the posts and Mallows lead was just 3 points.

Dolphin pressed hard for the remaining 7/8 minutes. They were awarded a couple of penalties from which they went for the win. The Mallow defense stood firm, the defense of both sides was a feature of the game, a credit to both sides for an opening game of the season.