Mallow 21 Sunday’s Well 29
On a clear crisp afternoon in Mallow; the ‘Well produced an excellent performance in a thrilling hard-fought battle to claim their first maximum points of the season. It was a great hard-hitting and committed performance from all 22 players against last-year’s runners up; for whom some familiar faces in Owen and Jimmy Glynn played significant roles.
The attacking tempo from both sides was high from the start – but equally were the defensive hits; leading to an intriguing encounter for all witnessing the game. Kees Pereka and Mike McCarthy were among those leading the defence while John Costello and Finn MacFhlannchadha made plenty of strong carries in attack. Evan O’Connell made some sublime surges and off-loads while his front-row colleague Dylan Cooper had an immense game; getting on plenty of ball and gaining a lot of momentum for his side.
Out wide; Emeka Asiegbu and Harry McHenry made some incisive runs while Mariano Cosimi was covering excellently in the back-field and steady as a rock under the high ball. Half-backs Fabian Loughrey and Ciaran Maguire controlling the tempo while Andrew O’Callaghan superbly marshalled the back-line.
The ‘Well almost struck first, with good carries by McHenry and Costello setting up a chance, but Alex Lane was unable to finish a difficult opportunity. Mallow also started like a bat out of hell with immense ferocity. They had an immense opening scrum but the ‘Well front-row recovered and managed to turn things around as the game developed. With Mallow pinning the ‘Well back; an attempted clearance from the five-metre line was blocked down by Jimmy Glynn who chased through and touched down, with Hunter Cowan converting.
Ciaran Maguire responded shortly with a penalty following powerful surges by Evan O’Connell and Loughrey. The’ Well built on the momentum – led by captain MacFhlannchadha and the experienced Cormac Kelliher. The front-row were prominent, in the loose; with O’Connell and Cooper almost setting up Mike McCarthy for a try – but the tight-head was adjudged to be held up.
The ‘Well though maintained the pressure and eventually a sublime pass by Kelliher allowed Cosimi finish off a chance in the left-corner to edge the ‘Well into an 8-7 lead. Kelliher temporarily went off with a knock; but the ferocity was maintained with Jacob Lane coming on.
Evan O’Connell again was to the fore with a line-breaking burst to set up an attacking position in the Twenty-Two and the lively Andrew Mintern finished off the move to surge over the line. Maguire kicked the extras to make it a 15-7 lead.
The ‘Well’s defence was to the fore in the closing stages; with the two Lanes leading the charge. Jacob Lane kept up the intensity; forcing unsure passes with his team-mates following; leading to the Alex Lane pouncing on a long pass to intercept and race half the length of the field. Maguire’s simple conversion made it a 22-7 score-line for the visitors at half-time.
The bonus-point was secured within the first minute of the second-half. A Fabian Loughrey break saw Andrew Mintern followed up and the second-row was about to race in for his second try, but only a high tackle prevented him – leading the referee to award a penalty-try. With one point secured; the ‘Well knew even with a sizable lead – they couldn’t take a strong focused Mallow team for granted.
The hosts showed great tenacity to respond and while the ‘Well defended ferociously, Mallow got in for a pair of tries by Chris O’Regan and Conor Ellis. Both supremely converted by Cowan. There was still a quarter of an hour left; but the ‘Well finally earned some possession and territory since the penalty-try, including a superb driving maul that bought them into the Twenty-Two from half-way.
They couldn’t yield a score but used up plenty of time and Mallow did put together one last effort with time-up. The ‘Well effectively had the win secured in the last play but with two bonus-points on the line; both sides fought with everything to the end and the ‘Well just held up; as two efforts for Mallow came agonisingly close to getting their double bonus-point try.
Scorers: Mallow: Jimmy Glynn, Chris O’Regan, Conor Ellis tries; Hunter Cowan 3 conversions.
Sunday’s Well: Andrew Mintern, Mariano Cosimi, Alex Lane, penalty-try tries; Ciaran Maguire 2 cons, pen.
Mallow: Barry Taylor; Sam Glynn, Dylan Walsh, Kenneth Mills, Ryan Clifford; Hunter Cowan, Jimmy Glynn; Steven Finn, Stephen Hayes, Chris O’Regan; Dylan Lucey, Rory Murphy; Owen Glynn (c), Micheál O’Callaghan, Brian Henry. Replacements: Colm Flaherty, Aaron Holland, Darragh Clifford, Thomas Mohally, Conor Ellis, Jaeden Searra, David Walsh.
Sunday’s Well: Mariano Cosimi; Alex Lane, Harry McHenry, Andrew O’Callaghan, Emeka Asiegbu; Ciaran Maguire, Fabien Loughrey; Evan O’Connell, Dylan Cooper, Michael McCarthy; Andrew Mintern, John Costello; Kees Pereka, Finn MacFhlannchadha, Cormac Kelliher. Replacements: Sean McDonald, Robert Loftus., David Hourigan, Jacob Lane, Eric Kingston, Ryan O’Donoghue-Kelleher, Alex Guerin.
