University of Galway began their J1B Campaign with a win away against Monivea on Saturday the 17th of October. In a day with many historical comparisons, a physical Mona side reinforced with two Swedish forwards raided the College line but a resilient showing from College saw the Men in Maroon win out, thanks in part to the most impactful performance by a Stuart in Ireland since the 17th Century (There’s a Jacobite/Jacob Day joke to be made but I may have already over-cooked this metaphor). In the first of College’s winterly games, fitness and fast hands won out, final scoreline 19-30.
There was excitement from the first whistle, as Monivea’s winger Shane Lally successfully threaded the needle of the College defence to recover the ball straight from kick-off and drive into the College 22. This momentum was short-lived, as a powerful hit from College’s flyhalf Adam Radmall downed the winger and left the ball exposed for Radmall to force a turnover in the first minute. College’s reliable scrumhalf Sean Crowley blooded in his pack with two solid carries before bringing College out of their own 22 with a box-kick to touch. Several phases of Monivea’s attack led to little ground and broke down in the third minute as College skipper Peter Magliocco forced a hospital pass from Monivea flyhalf Joe Gilmartin to his flanker Jack Rainer, with Radmall collecting Rainer’s ribs and forcing a knock-on straight into the hands of College’s inside centre, Faelan Stuart. Quick-thinking from Crowley and Radmall then led to a perfectly weighted deep kick into the Monivea backfield which stopped on the Mona 5m line. An inopportune slip from Mona’s fullback Rory Trathen gave Radmall ample opportunity to lasso his target. Left exposed in open country, College’s loosehead prop Jack O’Halloran and hooker Larry Jones combined to latch onto the ball and were rewarded with a not-releasing penalty on the Mona 10m. On the 6th minute of play, a brief pause in play due to a Monivea injury was capped off by Adam Radmall knocking over a close-range penalty to open up the scoring for college. 0-3.
From the subsequent restart, College’s lock Jules Lelievre was unlucky to juggle the ball forward back into Mona hands but soon rectified his mistake by killing the counterattack with a dropping tackle on his own 10m. This was followed up by a crunching tackle from College’s tighthead prop Gavin Lawlor on Mona’s substitute prop Ronan Coughlan, which caused another spilled ball and the first scrum of the day in College’s favour. A strong shunt from Monivea put College’s No.8 Mike O’Meara in a difficult position as he made metres but was then left isolated. The subsequent clear-out by College was deemed to have been off-feet, giving Mona their first penalty of the day just inside the College 22. However, Mona’s flyhalf Joe Gilmartin was unable to capitalise on the penalty and steered his penalty kick to the left and wide. College soaked up the subsequent pressure off the restart, with Faelan Stuart making a quality chop-tackle on the cusp of nine minutes to deny a line break. A wide pass to Mona’s right-winger Cathal Lally exposed the light blindside of the College line and brought Mona within a metre of the line with a penalty advantage which the ref blew for shortly thereafter. Mona safely converted the following lineout into a maul and despite a good initial hit from the College pack, Mona still broke off on the right side and scored in the corner. Joe Gilmartin saw his kick glance off the leftmost upright and bounce in to make the game 7-3 after ten minutes.
It was all action off the restart for Sean Crowley, who fended off a dangerous Monivea kick-chase with quality foot-work before getting the ball away to College flanker Liam Cahill. Cahill then unleashed Ross Cleary at outside centre who combined with the experienced College 14 Jayden Murphy to bring the ball into the Mona 22. From this solid foundation, Crowley picked out Radmall at the back of a diversionary pod who then sent a bullet of a pass to the waiting Faelan Stuart who exploited the gap between Mona’s pack and their inside centre to drive to the Mona 5m line, with two men being needed to drag down the Corkman before the whitewash. College were almost in after two phases before the ball bobbled out of the ruck, only for a Monivea hand to knock it on. With the steam rising off their backs, College drove the scrum before realising their backs across the midfield. Monivea struggled with the pressure and went off their feet on the 5m line. Sean Crowley did not need to be asked twice and quick tapped to dive over the line after the thirteenth minute just to the left of the uprights. Radmall converted to extend the lead to College. 7-10.
During a period of difficult restarts for College, Mike O’Meara was unlucky to knock on the ball as it curled back across his shoulder with Monivea quickly gathering the ball and attempting a rapid move to the right wing. Faelan Stuart had a knack for showing up in the right places throughout the match, which was best illustrated around the 15th minute when Stuart disrupted an attempted loop play between Mona’s Gilmartin and their captain Justin Coen and had the ball passed straight into his hands. Sean Crowley punished Mona soon after for their looseness and drove the ball into the opposition 22. Crowley’s chase resulted in a well-timed chop-tackle on Mona’s well-worked fullback, who went down in an isolated position again. College’s Jayden Murphy latched on immediately, winning a penalty in a dangerous position on the Mona 22 that was quickly converted into a 10m lineout. Larry Jones’ first throw of the night was a bullet straight into the safe hands of College’s Liam Cahill. The Men in Maroon mauled the ball to within 5m of the line before being brought down. A small slip in a waiting pod went backwards and was quickly regathered by Faelan Stuart, who tore back towards the tryline on the blindside going straight over the top of a static Monivea winger. With only 2 metres in it, Jack O’Halloran brought College within touching distance, before loosehead lock J.J. Day noticed the unprotected pillar at the ruck and dove over the line to give College their second try of the evening. The conversion was unsuccessful to put the game at 7-15 just before twenty minutes.
Monivea attempted to target the same quadrant of the College field off the restart again, but this time Mike O’Meara was ready for the chase and made metres with Monivea’s Shane Lally hanging off of him. College put great pressure on Crowley’s subsequent relief kick, with Adam Radmall closing down Monivea’s scrumhalf Dean McMahon who barely got a pass away to his flyhalf, who was promptly closed down by College’s Stuart and dragged towards the touchline on halfway. College’s pack kept the pressure on, with Gavin Lawlor diving low off the line before disrupting the ruck while Jules Lelievre timed his run well to wrap up his opposite number in black and red well behind the gain line. College pressure forced Monivea to kick to space outside their 22, which was happily collected by Peter Magliocco in the backfield. Il Capitano brought his men back to the halfway line and allowed Adam Radmall to exploit the Monivea backline yet again. Stuart and Murphy combined to pressure the last man back in the Mona defence, with Monivea’s Cathal Lally barely getting boot to ball before being tackled by Stuart. Adam Radmall was primed to attack from deep again and let loose Alex Hermitage for his first run of the day. Hermo bet two men in midfield before passing the ball to the ready-and-waiting Liam Cahill, who made his mark on two defenders as he returned College to the Mona 22.
The ball was quickly returned to College’s 13 Ross Cleary who dummied a pass to a waiting pod before straightening his line. Breaking two tackles and bouncing a third man, Cleary kept College unbroken streak of go-ahead-ball over the space of ten minutes. Two strong carries from Day and O’Meara brought College towards the Mona goal-line for the third time, before Cleary and Stuart combined to break open the midfield. Great footwork from Stuart preventing a decapitation attempt from the blitzing Monivea fullback, before a big-hit from Ronan Coughlan stopped play. Play was called back for an off-the-ball and no-arms tackle on Jules Lelievre by Monivea’s 7, Jack Reiner, around the 22nd minute. The resulting penalty brought College within 10m of the line, with the resulting lineout turning into an uncontested maul that was seized upon by J.J. Day with a short carry to bring the Men in Maroon to the line. Against the run of play, the ball was then brought back to the 5m line for a College scrum. Faelan Stuart was once again called upon to deliver crash ball, but was unlucky to be held as he approached the line. The ball then spilled out into a Monivea hand; Mona were doubly rewarded for the turnover when they received a penalty for a College off-side on their goal-line. One chance was gone but more were soon to come for College.
College did not contest the lineout and set themselves to pressure the Mona attack in their own 22. Gilmartin of Monivea was left with no other option than to kick for touch, giving College a lineout just inside the Mona half. Monivea recaptured the momentum when their loosehead lock Vinny Lally deflected the ball away from the hands of Liam Cahill. The deflected ball bounced loosely, however, allowing College’s tail-gunner maestro Jack O’Halloran to leave his mark on the opposition scrumhalf. Loose play ensued, with College pressuring at ruck-time and blocking Monivea’s box-kick, which almost resulted in a Mona line- break before the ball was called back for a knock-on against the East Galwaymen. Mona were pinged for tackling College’s Crowley before the ball came out, but not before Faelan Stuart was forced to perform more footwork to avoid the incoming Mona blitz. College went to the front at their next lineout, with Cahill being interfered with in the end, earning College another penalty advantage. Left with little options in midfield, Faelan Stuart once again took off and drove back towards the site of the lineout on the lefthand wing, finding space and driving deep into the Mona backfield before being denied only metres from the line when he was dragged into touch. Much like Michael Collins, being on the run suited our Corkman. With the ball brought back for the initial penalty, College mauled again, set the line with a phase of crash ball and sent the ball back to Stuart. College’s inside centre was almost away again on an against-the-grain rush but was denied 5m out and received a high tackle in the process, bringing a break in play to a game that had been physical from the first whistle.
When play returned, College had their first lineout mistake of the night with a crooked throw. College responded with a massive shove, and Gilmartin of Mona was only able to muster a kick to touch within his own 22. Jack O’Halloran came to the rescue after the ball went over the top of the lineout, and gave his side a platform to launch a lovely series of play that saw the ball go from Radmall to Stuart, who passed to Lelievre on his blindside as he went into contact, who then kept his hands free to give the ball to Magliocco. This little piece of joue gave College a six-on-four advantage on the right wing, forcing a Mona hard drift that Adam Radmall cut straight through at first receiver. Good vision paid off and Radmall dove over the line with a one-handed finish to give College their third try in the thirtieth minute of the game. Radmall made good on his own try with a well placed conversion to give the Collegians a 15-point lead with ten minutes to go in the first half. 7-22.
To summarise the remainder of the first half, Peter Magliocco made good ground of the restart after Radmall’s try and Jayden Murphy pinned back the Mona attack as they attempted to return another box-kick from Crowley. Magliocco’s placement in the backfield gave Monivea serious trouble whenever they tried to kick into space, with the College beating three men on a drive from deep in the 33rd minute. Radmall’s eagle-eyes continued to rain down pressure on Mona’s increasingly slippy fullback, which Eoghan Cullen at 11 for College made good use of in the dying minutes of the half to threaten an overstretched Mona defence. A penalty against College for not releasing in the 34th minute gave Mona one of their few platforms to attack from in the half, but a race to the edge was won by Ross Cleary and Jayden Murphy who mopped up an almost dangerous attack at the halfway line. Murphy was then pinged for a high tackle, which the referee only went back to after Adam Radmall committed an act of flyhalf-on-flyhalf violence and nailed Mona’s Gilmartin 10 metres behind the gain-line. Monivea’s only entry to the College half in the last twenty minutes of the half sputtered out when their lineout throw flew perfectly into the hands of Liam Cahill. College went to ground twenty metres from the halfway-line before Mona’s Jack Reiner was penalised for going off-his-feet after appeals from Magliocco.
Sean Crowley did not need to be asked twice, beating two men and then finding open space off of the resulting chaos. The Kerryman Crowley almost found the Corkman Stuart in a South Munster link-up but Crowley was unlucky to be dragged into touch before he could get the last pass away. The ball was brought back to the College 22 for the penalty, and then out to touch proper for the second-to-last set-piece of the half. The ball was worked wing-to-wing thereafter, with the recently blonde Jack O’Halloran being a very visible presence on a dark night for Veo watching when he made 5m along the tramlines. College were unlucky to go off their feet on the cusp of halftime and had to deal with one last lineout in the half, which was squandered by Mona with a knock-on in midfield. The teams broke for halftime with the scoreline at 7-22 in favour of College.
Night had well and truly fallen by the time the second-half began. College sent their locks and back-rows in to contest the restart and were rewarded when the ball was deflected back to their side. In the first scrappy minutes of the half, Adam Radmall was caught out by the drop of a curling ball and committed a marginal knock-on. College continued their trend of locking out the scrum well, but were then caught out on their right flank by an incisive back move from Monivea. Heavy defending ensued as Monivea tried to find a way back into the game in the College 22, but a perfectly timed chop-tackle from Gavin Lawlor left enough time and space for Liam Cahill to latch onto the ball and secure a turnover against the run of play for College in the 43rd minute. Pressure remained as a swirling wind kept College’s lineout within their own 22. College were happy to defend for the next few phases, with the Collegian pack planting dominant tackles across the midfield. And yet the biggest of these hits would come the omnipotent Faelan Stuart, who planted a great hit on the Mona scrumhalf and earned a scrum for his team off the back of breaking ball. In their first scrum loss of the day, Mona got the edge on College and brought the ball to their own No.8 off the back of a big drive. Magliocco quickly mopped things up for College, and Mona were left with no other option than to dink one over the top (with Gilmartin being placed under enormous pressure by an advancing Jules Lelievre in the process). Alex Hermitage was unlucky to be beaten by the bounce in the backfield, leading to a scrum on the College 10 that Mona converted into a try shortly after, with substitute Ronan Coughlan crashing over for the Red & Black just to the left of the posts. 48 minutes gone, another missed conversion from Gilmartin left the game at 12-22.
In the first few phases of play after the restart, Alex Hermitage did well to avoid the Mona chase and kept possession for College as the clock edged towards 50 minutes. Mona were then penalised for going off their feet again, which Sean Crowley then exploited to take a quick-tap. Monivea were pinged again for not going 10 before tackling him, giving College more territory to attack from. Mona were lucky to keep the ball in the field of play by a matter of inches, but still gave College a lineout 35m from their own tryline. When the ball floated just past the fingertips of Mike O’Meara, Mona looked certain to turnover position via their tail-gunner and try scorer Ronan Coughlan. The substitute front-row was denied however by the underlapping Sean Crowley, who tore the ball straight from his hands and exploited the space the tail-gunner had left in the line, bringing College back into the final quarter of the field. J.J. Day was unlucky to have been held up in open play in the next phase, but Mona’s scrum was unable to turn the screws against a resurgent College pack. The resulting kick was marshalled by the newly introduced Cillian Cawley at wing (on for Eoghan Cullen), before a period of kick-tennis culminated in a Monivea lineout on halfway. Mona entered the lineout awkwardly, trying to sneak a quick lift to the front, but were nevertheless beaten to the ball by College’s Mike O’Meara, who was aided in the lift by substitute prop Jimmy Maunsell. A slippy night led to a knock-on against College at half-way during another bout of kicking, which Mona capitalised on to drive 35m from one run before crashing over two phases later. Gilmartin converted to leave three in it after 56 minutes, 19-22.
Mona did not make the most of their momentum however, sealing off the ruck from the restart before they could get their relief kick away. In a moment indicative of a nip-and-tuck game, a small slip in the College lineout denied them the ball on the Monivea 10m line and gave the Black & Red a scrum to relieve pressure deep inside their own half. Cillian Cawley and Alex Hermitage linked up to bring College back into the Mona half from their backfield. Faelan Stuart rounded off an all-encompassing performance for College with a perfectly weighted chip kick just before 60 minutes, with the bounce rising perfectly for a waiting Cillian Cawley. With one hand on the ball, Cawley was barged into by Joe Gilmartin of Monivea with both hands by his sides, injuring himself in the process. College won the penalty and Gilmartin was helped off the field soon after. Although Radmall’s penalty kick drifted to the right and short, the curve did far more damage than three points could have done, with the ball bobbling at the legs of Mona defenders who gave away a scrum on their own 5m line. A fine drive from the back of the scrum by Mike O’Meara brought his team back towards the right-hand touchline. Crowley found Radmall within two-seconds, who then skipped the ball along the faces of the Mona defence to College’s ever present danger man Jayden Murphy. In a move which I copied myself the next day (J2 Match report lost in the haze), Murphy dove over the line just inside the rightmost corner flag to deliver College their bonus point try. Radmall was denied by a matter of inches again and the score stayed 19-27.
College became a bastion of defending in the last 15 minutes, denying Mona any more scores as the clock ticked down and adding points of their own. Sam O’Connor showed great composure in the backfield when he gathered a loose ball and drove into traffic, taking a massive hit from two Monivea forwards in his stride. College’s hallmark of good fitness and mobility from the Cawley Cup continued into their league opener, with the Men in Maroon staying on their feet for longer than their Monivea counterparts as the game wore on. Shane McDonnell and Leo Layden added their skills to the lineout and scrum as the game wore on, with Mona throwing crooked on a lineout inside the College 22 at a crucial time in the game around 70 minutes. In the ensuing scrum, College struck back and overpowered a weakening Monivea pack. Winterly conditions hit College the hardest, with a dropped ball causing a turnover in their 22 again. The game was briefly held up for some handbags on the ground, which resulted in a Monivea scrum on the College 10m. Ronan Coughlan of Mona was almost away for his second try after exploiting a gap beside the College ruck but spilt the ball after hitting the deck. College pounced upon this new-found opportunity, with Sam O’Connor and Sean Crowley flying up the line to put pressure on the last man back in the Mona line.
O’Connor dragged his man down just inside the College half, before Jack O’Halloran (filling in at hooker since the departure of Larry Jones) exploited the exposed Monivea ruck to seize the ball at a crucial moment. With the clock just passed 72 minutes, College had possession of the ball after halting a drive for the line. Radmall exploited space on the right-wing and gave his team great territory in the dying minutes of the game with a well-placed kick to touch. Mona won their lineout but then committed their third off-feet penalty of the game just outside their own 22. Adam Radmall wound down the clock, eyed up the posts, and drove home the last score of the night to secure the win for College. 19-30. Liam Melia’s cameo for College rounded off the night, with College’s substitutes making a marked difference on a physical night. One late scare came in the form an offside penalty inside the College 22, which Monivea turned into a tap-and-go that brought them to the very edge of the whitewash. The Men in Maroon embodied the spirit of No Pasaran, with the entire pack fighting off waves of Black & Red before Jack O’Halloran got under the ball to ensure Monivea were held up in-goal. Kevin Maher of Monivea was the recipient of the College drop-out but was far too slow to avoid Cillian Cawley, who lassoed and spun the Mona man, causing a knock-on and the last play of the game. After two resets in the scrum, Monivea discipline broke down when Cathal Lally went well off-side in an attempt to get to Sean Crowley early. Crowley would have the last word on the matter, tapping the ball and kicking it out to bring a physical competition to a close.
It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll, but College have started off their J1B league with the best start they could ask for, with 5 points on the board. Only let down by small errors rather than systematic problems, all eyes now return to Fortress Dangan for College’s next league game versus Bucs.