Brave comeback against Athy not enough

Athy 1st XV 26, Mullingar 1st XV 20. Despite some buttery tackling that would put the cardiovasculars crossways in you, Mullingar still had enough enterprise and expansion to claw their way back onto terms with Athy October 11.Only to leave the victory behind with some ill discipline and an awfully unfortunate forward pass call.That Mullingar were on level terms with 15 minutes remaining after two sin bins and the concession of a four minute under-the-poster will be some consolation to the coaching staff but there were 17 men in the scarlet and dove grey who won't argue about a `could-do-better' on their report cards.This was a classic curate's egg display, and though the pzazz that brought two sexy tries was highly appreciated by the travelling faithful, indecision, poor choices and a tendency to switch off for far longer than is safe or healthy cost Mullingar a third consecutive victory in this season's Leinster league.Athy flew out of the traps and when their full back waltzed under the black spot without a Mullingar fingerprint on him inside five minutes, a number of erudite eyebrows were cocked. However, they consolidated well and only conceded their second score 20 minutes later when Athy struck a penalty to go 10-0 up.Mullingar's set pieces were functional and adequate but in the loose there tended to be a bit of the headless chickens, with too much valuable possession given up on the cheap.Mullingar's first opportunity came with eight minutes remaining in the half with a 25m penalty but with a strong diagonal breeze in his face, Davy Miller put this to the corner to no avail.Things went from bad to ooops with five minutes left in the half, when Robbie Collentine was shown the sunlight square from the ref's pocket. Athy went to capitalise immediately and a hair-raising 60m gallop by their impressive full-back was splendidly stopped when his opposite number, Brian Murphy, put him to the sward with a cracking last line tackle.Some glimmer was offered by the Mullingar backs moments later when Niall Smith expoited a gap to make a first meaningful foray into the Athy 22, but his pass to a front row colleague was an unlucky chest bouncer.10-0 at half time was no less than they could have hoped for, given the triple concession of player, try and breeze but some hope was offered early in the second half when the useful Rory O'Reilly landed a wind-assisted monster from the half way line.Athy, however, seemed to make less mistakes in the loose and when their scrum started to turn on the pressure, the back foot was not fancied by the Mullingar men.Ironically, it looked like Mullingar might be making inroads up the left flank when a electrifying counterattack by their No12 saw him dance through at least three missed tackles to leave his conversion colleague with the minimum of tasks.17-3 looked like a hill too far but an opportunistic intercept by Niall Smith, coupled with a healthy injection of afterburners along the right touchline, saw him get away from a number of despairing grasps to score a fine try.Now they began to play and it was Athy's turn to feel to feel the heel.Again exploiting the right flank, a sweet, sweet move involving three or four exquisitely timed passes between back row colleagues Ray Murphy and Tony Doolin off the back of a mighty maul saw Brian Murphy profit with a peach of a walk over.The heart bled for club stalwart Vinny Hewitt, who moments earlier had been shaking off a fog of circling tweety birds after a ferocious thump, but was still up and on shoulders as an added option to Murphy and Doolin as they heartlessly chose the younger man for the glory. We saw ye, Vinny.Touchline wisdom now saw the possibility of a cheeky snatch and grab, but alas, Athy were of sterner stuff and wouldn't lie down as ordered.Two minutes later, another of the toothless union was given a 10-minute sabbatical when James O'Hara blatantly impeded an Athy speedster as he looked to follow his chip through all the way. Three points and 14 men for all but a spit plus injury time was the punishment.Yet they confounded again, and were able to level the game for a second time on 65 minutes when O'Reilly proved the first no fluke when he hammered another 50m whale to leave it 20-20, but that was to be that.As quick as a flash, and with a much smarter use of the re-start as they had all day, Athy marched into the Mullingar 22 and had their tasty out-half dispatch a tidy dropper with the minimum of fuss.Five minutes later, a penalty for a fairly blatant offside tackle saw Athy stretch it by another three to finalise the scoring.Yet, for a fourth time, Athy conspired to allow Mullingar back in the game.A knock-on straight from the kick-off saw Mullingar get a valuable scrum and then snaffle some fat Kildare acres.A training ground move off some good forward possession between out-half Miller and Niall Smith saw the impressive centre scythe through some flailing blue arms for what looked like a dinky clincher only to be pulled back for a highly contentious forward pass.I know I promised the alikadoos I'd be uncontroversial in my references to the ref, but hey, with eyesight like that I don't think we have to worry aboout him reading much of this.Anyway, on such decisions can games hang and thus it was to be for the final four minutes to see Athy cling to their lead and Mullingar leave an away field with the minimum of consolations - the bonus point.A lot can be taken from this field, but a pound to a penny, there'll be a lot of tackle bags out on Tuesday night. Two great positives can be garnered from the display, though, this team has flair and this team can improve.Team: Brian Murphy, Robbie Ryland, Niall Smith, Angus Smith, Rory O'Reilly, Davy Miller, Brian Hoey, Ray Murphy, Stephen Fagan, Tony Doolin, Adriel Farrell, Vinny Hewitt, James O'Hara, Robbie Collentine, Paddy Kinahan. Subsused: Alan Kelly, Andy Yeoman, Adam Keroun.Mullingar Rugby Youths' SectionLast weekend Mullingar's U9s, 11s and 12s went to Longford for a blitz involving Longford, Cavan and Mullingar.All of the teams played well and enjoyed the games.For many it was their first game of rugby and hopefully they enjoyed the experience.The only other teams to play matches last weekend were the U13s and U15s, both of whom were in Birr for games.The 13s was a friendly, while the 15s was a Midland league game. Both had impressive wins, the 13s by 49-5 and the 15s by 46-17. The 15s have full points so far after 3 rounds of the league, but there is a long way to go yet as the league is played with home and away fixtures against Longford, Tullamore, Birr and Edenderry.The 13s play the same opposition plus Moate, but with the 13s, the first round of games are friendly and the league starts with the home game against Longford on October 31st. They should be well practiced by then.Unfortunately due to outside factors the U17s had to concede their Leinster league game to Tullamore last weekend, but they are back in action next weekend as well as the 19s, who had a free weekend. Both 17s and 19s are away to Dundalk next Saturday.Next weekend's fixtures are;U 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, 11s and 12s all training at 10U 14s Training at 11.30 (match may be arranged; players will be notified by text if game is fixed)U 13s Home game Vs Edenderry, KO, 12, friendlyU 15s Home game Vs Edenderry, KO, 12, Midland leagueU 17s Away game Vs Dundalk, KO, 11.30 TBC, Leinster leagueU 19s Away game Vs Dundalk, KO, 1 p.m., TBC, Leinster leagueFundraisingNext Saturday the club has its annual fundraising night at Mullingar Dog Track and a reminder to all players to return tickets or cash next Saturday.Tickets for the night can be obtained in the Clubhouse on Saturday or by contacting any of the coaches. This has always been an excellent occasion and hopefully we will see a big crowd turn out.There will also be a raffle on the night and anyone wishing to donate a prize for the raffle can still do so.