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Leinster League

Division 1A

Newbridge 14
Coolmine 23

 

THE two clubs promoted from Division1B renewed their rivalry at Rosetown with the Dubliners producing a strong performance to take the points.

Newbridge were under pressure throughout the first half but Coolmine’s high error count let the home team off the hook on more than one occasion.

The Coolmine hooker finished off some forward pressure to score after 13 minutes and go 5-0 ahead.
Although solid in the scrums and lineouts, Newbridge were being forced to live off scraps and had a tough time trying to contain the Coolmine three-quarters.

Karl Darragh and Sean Kelly put in some big hits but at times were swamped with traffic while Gavin Coffey at fullback had to scramble back to make vital interventions.

Kelly made one half-break that allowed Newbridge to threaten the Coolmine line with Jon Downey again taking the lead.
Dave Hogan came close to winning the chase from a deft grubber by Robbie Waters while a chip and chase from Karl Darragh almost paid dividends.

Darragh pegged the visitors back with a penalty and then from a lineout Coolmine were forced offside and second penalty put Newbridge 6-5 ahead.

Straight from the kick-off a Newbridge error let Coolmine back into the Newbridge half when a penalty for off-side restored their lead to make 8-6 at the break.

The second-half saw Coolmine dominate possession early on and when Newbridge were reduced to 14 men scored in the corner.
But Newbridge quickly came back and from a lineout set up a promising attack where Robbie Water’s sleight of hand created space and scrum half Peter Sutton found a way through to touchdown for a 13-11 score-line.

Both teams then swapped penalties but Coolmine still looked the more dangerous and continued to play attacking rugby.
With just three minutes to go the Coolmine outhalf Donal Crotty got the score to seal the game to touch down at the post, adding the conversion for a 23-14 win.

Newbridge will have a fortnight’s rest before their next league match in a derby against Cill Dara where both sides will be looking to pick up a vital win.

Newbridge: Gavin Coffey, Neal Hogan, Karl Darragh, Sean Kelly, David Hogan, Robbie Waters, Peter Sutton, Jon Downey, Niall Duggan, Mick Byrne, Terry Donnelly Colin O’Brien, Cillian O’Shea, Gareth O’Reilly, Mark Southern. Subs: Arjen Delaney, Owen Walsh, Chris McGrath, Ian Burns.

Seconds’ League

Division 1A

Newbridge 14
Coolmine 7

Newbridge 2XV gave a display of composed rugby coupled with a physicality that the Coolmine forwards found hard to deal with.
Leading the charge were John Southern and Liam Heavy while Shane O’Brien was a workhorse until injury forced him off the field.
John McNamara at outhalf kicked intelligently and it was his penalty and drop goal that put Newbridge 6-0 ahead in the first quarter.

The visitors mounted more and more pressure but again Newbridge tackled well with Niall O’Connor and Matt Mullins putting in some big hits.

Coolmine counter-attacked from a clearance kick with the fullback scoring under the post for a halftime lead of 7-6 to the visitors.
The aggressive Newbridge defence forced Coolmine into a lot of errors with wingers Nicky Hannigan and Paul McDonnell putting pressure on their opposite numbers.

McNamara added another penalty before Liam Heavey touched down after some concerted forward pressure by Newbridge for a well-deserved 14-9 win.