Brave Mullingar U15s cruelly undone in injury time
U15 McAuley Leinster Cup final: Boyne 38, Mullingar 27
Finian Coghlan
What is it this year about Mullingar RFC and the curse of injury time?
Despite racing out to a 14-0 lead after just 10 minutes, keeping the lead at half time, and heading the scoreboard into added time at the death, Mullingar just could not hold out a very strong Boyne team who bagged their Leinster double with a killer 12 points on the discretionary clock to condemn Mullingar to a trophyless year for the first season in some time.
Mullingar arrived comfortable with their mild underdog status having been beaten four times already this season by today’s opposition.
However, they were quite cognisant of the fact that there was little more than a kick of the ball between them on each of those occasions, so a fair degree of hat-tipping will have to be offered to coach Tony Doolin for the rigorous prep work that kept his charges on the front foot til the very death.
Mullingar flew out of the traps and early cuts from Boyhan and McGauran saw them bash deep into Boyne territory to set up an early beachhead on their 22.
Like a canny terrier scrum half Treanor sniffed a snipe and took his gap dance.
Two wiggles and a stretch and Mullingar were on the board in just the third minute.
Boyne roared back and could have leveled it just minutes later only for a over-strong kick chase with thee Mullingar lads already foundering in the wake.
Gibney now warmed into his challenge and brought his side back to their 22 with strength and legs.
Mullingar arrived hot on his coat tails and just four phases later classy skipper O’Hara kept a cool head out wide left before skipping past two to plant one in the corner before swinging a monster conversion over for a 14-0 lead in just the 10th minute.
Boyne replied in spades almost immediately and pulled one back within two minutes.
This was end-to-end stuff, as both teams sought to entertain in the finest of fashions.
With Boyne pressing dangerously just moments later the impressive Gibney chanced an intercept and it stuck.
Off he hared, and was unlucky not to have gone the distance, but his support was massive and three phases later the industrious Treanor was at hand to snaffle his second for a 19-7 lead.
This just seemed to annoy Boyne and they tore back into the game.
Their monster centre looked like he had bagged one back but for a super saving tackle from Rory O’Sullivan-Sexton.
However, the Boyne swarm was incessant and two more cuts later they got their second try and a second wind.
They kept their head of steam hot, and just two minutes later their strength put them into the lead for the first time in the game.
In the face of such an onslaught one could understand a Mullingar capitulation, but these buckos still had plenty of game remaining.
Sean Cronin decided to impose his sizeable self on the re-start and forced a turnover which he stepped on into Boyne territory.
Mullingar’s efforts were rewarded shortly after with a penalty which O’Hara clipped majestically from the 10-metre line to re-take the lead.
As was the script, Boyne roared back again and Mullingar rode their luck once or twice before the relief of the halftime whistle.
The second half was a much more cautious affair, but not before O’Hara nearly snuck in Seery with a very quick kick chase which just didn’t pop up to his bread basket.
Again, Gibney led the crash line and returned Mullingar to the Boyne 22, but both sides were well aware of each others dangers and cageyness ruled the next 20 minutes.
Boyne did manage to engineer an overlap into the try zone but were held up expertly by Shane Williams.
And so it stayed until the 20th minute when the stylish O’Hara opened the game on its head with a lively show and go before backing himself imperiously for the line and a 27-21 lead.
Just three minutes later Boyne reduced the deficit to the bare minimum when the forced in their fourth in the corner.
Then, with just three minutes of normal time remaining and the team still under a sizeable cosh, McGauran unfortunately saw yellow following a verbal team warning from the referee for repetitive infringements.
Boyne then forced their way over the line in the last minute of normal time for what looked like the winner only for some expert under-ferreting by O’Hara and Williams to hold them off the downwards pressure.
Two minutes into injury time they did it again, only to drop the ball in its grounding.
Mullingar were now living on the grindstone, and it was to prove a challenge too far.
In the 4th minute of stoppage time Boyne finally got the score their efforts demanded when they finally turned their numbers into a winner in the far left corner to break the Midlander’s hearts.
This was seemingly the camel straw, and with heads dropping Boyne stole a late glosser to leave the final score 27-38 in what was a bitter disappointment for those honourable young gents in the scarlet and dove grey.
Scorers
Tries: Treanor (2), O’Hara (2). Cons: O’Hara (2). Pen: O’Hara.
Mullingar
1. Paddy Kane, 2. Evan Molloy, 3. Conor Mooney, 4. Dylan Daly, 5. Sean Cronin, 6. Michael Conlon, 7. Gerry Duffy, 8. Ben McGauran, 9. Adam Treanor, 10. Fionn O’Hara, 11. Shane Williams, 12. Rory O’Sullivan-Sexton, 13. Conor Gibney, 14. Joe Boyhan, 15. Dara Seery. Sub used: Jack O’Rourke, Oisin Ryan, Niall Manning, Fintan Larkin.