Limerick rugby - Tierney pleased as Garryowen beat Dolphin

GARRYOWEN got their AIL season off to a winning start on Friday night thanks to an impressive 19-3 win over Dolphin in Dooradoyle.

After a shaky early first half period they produced a quality winning performance with their pack paving the way for crucial second half scores.

“I’m pleased with the win,” said new head coach Tom Tierney afterwards. “We have a mix of very young and really experienced players in the squad this season and getting off to a winning start was important,” coach Tierney told us after the game. “We had our first full session with the new guys last night and I was really pleased the way the side stuck to the game plan. This was a strong Dolphin selection and when I saw the team sheet I knew we would have our work cut out for us. Look, it’s four points and we’ll see how we perform when we go to Clontarf next Saturday.”

The Garryowen head coach singled out flanker Shane Buckley’s performance for special mention saying that “there is an exciting career beckoning for him.” He was not the only one in the light blue jersey to catch the eye with full back Ronan O’Mahony, TJ Anderson at number eight, Barry O’Mahony at open side, tight head JP Cooney and Dave Sherry, moved to the second row for this one, giving outstanding performances.

Jamie Gavin also showed that he can hold his own at this level and his early penalty after four minutes boosted his confidence. The Cork side responded with a similar three pointer from Eamonn Mills but the Dolphin out-half later missed two kickable efforts. Two Gavin penalties within a five minute period gave Garryowen a 9-3 interval lead and when Gavin failed to find touch from a out of hand penalty, Danny Barnes, on the counter attack, went close to scoring after the re-start.

This game was decided in a frenetic ten minutes of drama. The home side lost both Neil Cronin and Shane Buckley to the bin but 13-man Garryowen showed remarkable resilience by surviving a ten metre scrum to bring play to the Dolphin 22. Right wing James McInerney showed his pace with a superb break, Corey Hircock carried it on and Barry O’Mahony crashed over for an excellent try which Gavin converted. JP Cooney then finished off another Garryowen attack but this effort was flagged by the touch judge for an earlier infringement while on the stroke of time, Gavin’s fifth successful attempt sealed a welcome victory for the Dooradoyle camp.

SCORERS - Garryowen: Barry O’Mahony try, Jamie Gavin four penalties, one conversion; Dolphin: Eamonn Mills penalty

GARRYOWEN - Ronan O’Mahony; James McInerney, Corey Hircock, Conan Doyle, Cian O’Shea; Jamie Gavin, Neil Cronin; Rory Brosnan, James Rael, JP Cooney; David Sherry, Aaron McCloskey; Shane Buckley, Barry O’Mahony, TJ Anderson. Replacements, Geoffrey Ryan for R O’Mahony 20, Anthony Kavanagh for B O’Mahony 77, Alan Kennedy for McCloskey 68.

DOLPHIN - Niall Walley; Danny Barnes, Harry Fleming, Cian Bohane, Rory Scannell; Eamonn Mills, Chris Bannon; James Cronin, Niall Scannell, Christy Condon; Chris Rowe, Dave O’Mahony; Miah Cronin, Sean Dougal, Brian O’Callaghan. Replacements, Eoin O’Shaughnessy for Chris Bannon 64.