North Dublin Vs Carlow Match report

The new North Dublin franchise of Rugby League in Ireland, The Eagles started their 2006 campaign against Carlow at ALSAA last Saturday.

Unfortunately though for North Dublin they had come up against a Carlow side that was never going to give in without a fight.

The game started well for the Eagles with strong running and good ball control on a very windy, wet and muddy pitch.

The Eagles first try came from Marcus O’Driscoll who finished off a smooth backline move to put the ball down over the line and put the Eagles in front 4 points to nil.

Although the Eagles were off to a great start Carlow’s fitness had start to come to the fore as the Eagles started to drop off tackles due to lack of match fitness. Carlow soon evened up the score and the game had gone to 4-4 all with both teams missing conversions due to the high winds.

This had set the tone for the match with the Eagles moving a try in front through hooker Daryl Cummins, then Carlow would quickly respond with a try to even things up. Great defence was shown by Paul Byrne with some great text book tackles as they constantly challenged him down the left hand side but Byrne responded brilliantly and Carlow soon gave up taking him on.

Peter Carr continued to menace his way through the Carlow defence and also put in some bone rattling tackles when the roles were reversed. The match was drawn at half time 14 – 14. The game continued on after half time as an arm wrestle, scores were locked at 28 – 28 with ten minutes remaining.

Carlow pulled a try in front after a wicked bounce of the ball had caught out the Eagles in their own in goal, Carlow pounced and pulled away 34 – 28 after a successful conversion. Suddenly the Eagles were playing catch up football and running out of time.

The Eagles threw everything at Carlow in the last 5 minutes but Carlow’s fitness & defence held up and they scored another try to seal the match 38 – 28.

Other strong performers for the Eagles included Gary Brady, Dave O’Siochain, John Gavin and Captain Dave Handcock. "Poor defence led to our downfall" said Manager Wayne Comerford. "Carlow are a strong team and play the ball very quick, They'll definately take points off some of the other top teams in the League."

Other Eagles try scorers were Richie Harte, Paul Byrne and Peter Carr. Although the match ran away from them at the end the Eagles can still take many positives out of the match, and are certain that they have what it takes to come back better and stronger in the coming weeks.

The Eagles are also looking forward to the return of several players over the coming weeks such as Connor Crosbie, Stu Cullen, Niall Dennis and especially Irish Rugby League Internationals Phil Pardue and Pete Cunningham who weren’t available due to injury.

North Dublin Eagles take on Portadown this Saturday at Portadown and will be looking to make amends for last weeks defeat

(These pics and others are posted on the Eagles website)
http://www.eastcoasteagles.com

01-A Conan hit with Ritchie in support

02- Dave Handcock charging the Kildare defence

03- Dave Sills searching for a gap.

>04- Ken getting the Kildare Crunch.


05- Pete Cunningham on the way to the tryline.

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The Team 2004

The Eagles Story

The East Coast Eagles R.L.F.C was founded in a well known rugby bar on the south side of Dublin in Feb 2002. The team was formed by 3 former Dublin Blues players Scott Wilson, Wayne Comerford and Jeremy Kemp, who wanted to expand Rugby League in Ireland. The Blues had struggled to field teams the previous season because of alot of reasons. Players resting, Holidays, Work commitments and bad communication. So these three founder members thought it was time for a change. New blood on the scene.

Phone calls were made and people showed an interest. Guys who had never played league before, but loved to watch Super League Were keen to try. So we met in The Punch Bowl Bar and got things started.

The team colours were picked as maroon and black because we noticed that most teams in Ireland already wore Red, White or Blue. The Kit was designed and Sponsors contacted.

Plannet 21 were quick to support and Flextime followed. Training started in early March. Always a good turn out, and a coach was found with League experience. Ritchie Whittaker was our coach for our Maiden season.

The Eagles played their first match ever, on a rainy pitch at Seapoint Rugby Club in May 2002 against The Bolton Mets, On their Irish Summer Tour. Bolton won by 10. It was a great game with plenty of trys. First Eagles try ever scored by Wayne Comerford (winger) after 2 mins. Bolton finished stronger and their experience shone through. It was a day enjoyed by all present.

The Eagles had a disapointing First season but played well and scored trys in all games and never stopped trying. From our first season some players stood out and got rewarded with call ups to The Wolfhounds.

Scott Wilson, Dave Hancock and Carl de Chenu* (currently playing for Hillsborough Hawks in the new National League 3), got games and scored trys for the Wolfhounds in the International Series Summer 2002. Scott Wilson and Jeremy Kemp also travelled to the U.S.A to play the U.S Tomahawks in 2002. Wayne Comerford Traveled to the U.S in 2003 and played.

This season The Eagles will represent Ireland in The York International 9's. There is a lot of new names at the club this season and we hope to keep improving and Developing the Great game of Rugby League in Ireland.
EAGLES!

Jer Kemp

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