After a long and successful campaign which saw captain Thomas Deegan lead our U16s to league victory before Christmas, the panel’s cup journey ended today at the revamped Dexcom stadium in the final vs Clarin College.
Having met and dispatched Clarin in the semis of the league, the team were confident before the whistle but came under immediate and sustained pressure. Clarin had obviously worked extremely hard to shore up their defences and hone their attacks. We had chances and pressed into their 22 but simple errors or loss of focus cost us precious yards each time. By the half-time whistle PCS were down 12 points and unable to put points on the board despite Clarin losing a man to the sin-bin.
A rousing team-talk at the break stirred hearts but the pattern of the first half continued. After losing Lee ‘Magic’ Mannion to injury early on, Clarin’s confidence grew and their attacks increased in severity. On the day there was little we were able to do to respond to Clarin with the bit between their teeth. Many many lessons learned today, some of them hard; at the end the boys in green had given all they had in the tanks and it wasn’t enough to stem the blue tide.
Yet it must be remembered PCS beat eleven teams this season in the league, and today reached the last two out of eleven in the cup. Though the day did not go our way, this has been our most successful season in eight years since we revived rugby at PCS. The sweet fruits of victory and the bitter dregs of cup defeat both have life-lessons to teach. A year to savour, when the bruises of the day have faded, and a bright future for rugby in the season to come.
Portumna CS 0 – 26 Clarin College
Massive shout-out to:
* Mr. McClearn and Ms. Shanahan-Dunne for all their support of boys and girls rugby at PCS
* parent-coach Ian Bloomer for his technical expertise and wisdom, training us through thick and thin
* teacher Mr Fogarty for accompanying the lads on the journey this year with calmness, wit & humour
* parent-coach Mark Scannell for his match-day and medical experience
* the Bomb Squad at Portumna Rugby Club, who have encouraged, hosted and facilitated not only the U16s but every age-group this year
* all the student and community supporters who came to our matches to cheer the lads on – your voices were heard & much-appreciated
* fellow rugby-coach-teachers Mr Smith and Ms Durack – for all you do for rugby to thrive in the school.
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