Rugby: Mullingar power past Longford in season opener

Despite having less than half the men who started the final game of last season only four short months ago Mullingar¹s far superior snaffling in the loose and verve out wide, conspired to produce a heart-warming six-try drubbing of our nearest rivals in the first competitive fixture of the season.Realising Mullingar managed to maintain their J2 status last season despite conceding more tries than anyone else in the division, coach Pete Leahy has been steadily banging the defence drum at pre-season, and on the evidence from Saturday evening, it seems to be a well heeded rhythm.Missing the likes of Yeoman, Deering and Hewitt, building this year¹s team was not an envied task for Pete, but a canny recruitment policy, allied to the promotion of a number of last season¹s Under 20s, and built around the leadership rocks of Murphy and Miller, this early season optimism may actually be worth investing in.Still, this dominance was not evident straight from the kick off, and they spluttered to remove the rust. Indeed, had it not been for Jamie O¹Hara paying an early attention, Longford could have had a try on the board in the first 90 seconds. Longford did secure the opener less than a minute later when a Mullingar infringement under the posts was duly punished, but that was to be their lot for the evening.Most of the primary exchanges were predictably early-season. When the first scrum went backways, some nervy eyebrows were raised on the line, but the ship was settled with a James Neill equaliser on six minutes and more so when the lead score popped over five minutes later. Some impressive tackling by Murphy and Captain Miller meant Longford were not given room and most of the rest of the first half was cagey cat and mouse stuff.The first big plus to the home side came after 25 minutes when, after 12 phases of possession and even being held up over the line, Longford could go no further and conceded a penalty which was dispatched with relish to a distant touchline from the monster boot of Brian Murphy. Three more times Longford got this close but were unable to cross. It was the experienced midfield linkage of Miller and Kelly that allowed Ray Murphy a cut at the Longford line on 35 minutes in the right corner, only to be pulled back for a forward pass. Maintaining posession from an awful scrum, O¹Callaghan stuck a dinger to the corner and from a quick line out Longford just held Mullingar out.Pressure increased as cohesiveness returned and in the first added minute an outrageous triple jink by Neill set up a fine platform on the visitor¹s line, from the rear of which Ray Murphy barrelled over to leave Mullingar 11-3 up at the break.Turning with the wind on their backs, Longford were not yet put to any sword, and within minutes their winger was the second to be denied a try after crossing, while Alan Brabazon had to be quickest to a canny crossfield chip that could also have been easily touched down. But once Mullingar had soaked this up and got the feel of their half time subs Ethell and Gowran, they began to exercise their superiority once more, as Miller and Ray Murphy went gap hunting for fun.On 11 minutes the breakthrough came, as the aforementioned pair danced down the left to the 22, and after a selection of flashed hands from the ensuing ruck, O’Callaghan popped a walkover to the impressive Davy Butler.Mullingar’s backs cut at will and it took just another three minutes before Conor Murtagh won a five point foot race to the left hand corner. Neill shaved wide for a third in a row but the score was now 21-3 with the guts of half an hour to play.Longford hadn’t given up and they pulled one more foray upfield, only to be stymied over the line a third time on 55 minutes. Again, on 63 minutes Longford got to the home town line but were again unable to cross. This was to ultimately prove to be the final sting of a dying wasp.Phillip Butler was brought in shortly after this and it added an extra dimension to the Mullingar backs. Miller went again on 74 minutes weaving his way with such aplomb down the left that he left all support behind and was eventually smother tackled well into the 22.Two minutes later, and despite going backwards again in a scrum, Ethell the replacement scrum half managed to make the silk purse and set those hands in motion. Four passes later Brian Murphy handed a birthday try to Roger O’Callaghan in the right corner.Due to an earlier injury that saw a Longford man ambulanced off with a broken jaw, Mullingar had an extra five minutes tacked on to the end of the match to add to their tally.The first two attempts, a chased kick to the left corner on 40 minutes, and a crossfield lob to the right on 42 were marginally unsuccessful, but still gratifingly probing.A minute later, from a line-out on the right, the ball was whipped out to Captain Miller, who then exploited a classic O¹Driscoll hole to put down under the posts for 31-3.Mullingar added another in the 44th minute, after a superb break by Philly Butler saw him nod to his place in the family pecking order and hand a second try of the evening to his older brother, Davy.Though the speedy Neill finally landed one with the last kick of the game to leave the final score 38-3, this is a neighbourhood that Pete and his backroom team will have to look at very closely.Team: Colin McCormack, Nigel Mills, James O¹Hara, Darryl Quinn, Mark Potter, Declan Murphy, Davy Butler, Ray Murphy, Conor Murtagh, Alan Brabazon, James Neill, Alan Kelly, Davy Miller (capt.), Roger O¹Callaghan, Brian Murphy. Subs used: Sam Ethell, Denis Gowran, Philip Butler, Alan Keena.Scorers: Tries - David Butler (2), Ray Murphy, Conor Murtagh, Roger O¹Callaghan, Davy Miller. Pens: James Neill (2). Cons: James Neill.