Defeat for Ashbourne

Terrible underfoot conditions and a blustery wind made life difficult for everyone on Sunday, but Ashbourne found it tougher than Portarlington and slumped to a disappointing Leinster League Div 2 defeat. With the ball more resembling a bar of soap and players struggling to keep their feet, an expansive game of flowing rugby was never on the cards and what resulted was a kicking contest between the Ashbourne"s Bryan Donnelly and the host"s out-half. The strength of the wind dictated that all the scores came at one end of the pitch as Ashbourne surrendered a nine-point interval advantage with some poor discipline and dreadful handling. The players endeavours to open up the game wasn"t help by the fact that there was another game played on the pitch prior to this league clash and that left the surface treacherous. Ashbourne made some changes in their pack and showed plenty of commitment as they pinned their Laois opponents inside their own half. Donnelly found his range early from a penalty and added two more successful kicks to a 9-0 lead at the break. However, the travelling band of Ashbourne supporters sensed that a nine-point lead might not be enough in such conditions and they were proved right when Portarlington"s Australian out-half landed four kicks to seal the win. Despite the lack of open rugby there were some good exchanges particularly in the pack with the home side camped on the Ashbourne line for long periods, but the resistance was robust and the line was not broken. Prop Alan Wall, in only his second start for the first team continued to show potential with Steve Magee working hard in the back row. Veteran Jeff Mahon and Matt Ward also impressed with the outstanding Ciaran Glennon taking the man-of-the-match award. Defeat will dampen Ashbourne"s spirits ahead of next Saturday"s Provincial Towns" cup re-match with the Portarlington side. However, with the benefit of home advantage Ashbourne will fancy their chances of a reversal. Ashbourne - A Munn, D Colreavy, M Ward, P Mullen, E Conaty, B Donnelly, K Kennedy; A Wall, J McCaghy, O Ennis, S E Kennedy, I Power, S Magee, C Glennon, J Mahon. Subs - C Boylan, S Boland, S O"Neill, E Gallagher, J Scariff. MCGEE CUP Ashbourne 27 Dundalk 21 Before the weather took a turn for the worse Ashbourne"s third string produced an impressive performance to claim an exciting McGee Cup victory over Dundalk on Friday night. The hosts dominated in the set pieces with an excellent forward display that culminated in two fine first-half tries for Ciaran Roche, one of which was converted by Dave Ward. The Ashbourne backs gave a great display in the second-half utilising the good quality ball being supplied by the pack and brought two further tries from Peter Ward to secure the win and a bonus point. Ashbourne - D Keeling, I Skelly, D Cahill, P Ward, J Scariff, S Broughton, D Ward; P Ennis, P Barrett, D Corbally, C Daly, C Roche, S Dardis, S Magee, K Quinn. Subs - G Egan for Ward, K Bolster for McGee, S Boland for Corbally, C Boylan for Ennis. UNDER-16 Navan 21 Gorey 3 Navan encountered little difficulty in securing their place in the last four of the u-16 Leinster League with an easy win over a visiting Gorey side at Balreask Old. Tries from Alan Meade, Conor Ryan and Brian Cunningham ensured victory and the excellence of Liam Bourke from the conversions also impressed. Navan - D Mooney, D Mink, A Meade, J Sheridan, B Cunningham, N Carty, L O"Toole, C Ryan, R O"Brien, L Bourke, D Dalton, K Devine, A Moran, B Kirwan, A Smyth, D Clarke, A Garland, A St Ledger, J Carpenter, C Keating, M Clarke, S Stafford.