Match Report: Connemara v Suttonians 18-10-08
Connemara 19 Suttonians 12
With a good away win under their belt Connemara were looking forward to the match with Suttonians with the confidence an away win gives a team and with Troy Nathan available things were looking good. Then with match time approaching the news was that Tomas King was out with a groin injury this added to the loss of Mark Foyle put a different complexion on the situation.
The match got under way and Connemara were out of the blocks fast and were looking good. They were rewarded in the eighth minute when Ollie Delapp went in for a rather unusual try which was hotly disputed by Suttonians but the home crowd were sure it was good and more important so did the ref. Troy Nathan made no mistake with the convert, 7-0 to Connemara.
The visitors were very strong and were getting the best of the set pieces. The supply of good ball to Connemara backs was scarce Bernard Keaney was making the best of what he was getting. David Walsh, full back for Suttonians had a few chances but was off target with his kicks
In the 26th min John Fagan got in for a try and David Walsh made no mistake this time, 7-7.
Troy Nathan nosed Connemara ahead in the 32nd minute with a well taken penalty, 10 -7 to Connemara. This was short lived as in the 36th minute Frank Kearney got what was a very fortuitous try for Suttonians leaving the score 12-10 to Suttonians as we approached half time
Troy Nathan score again well into injury time this was due to an earlier injury to full back David Keogh who was having a stormer before having to leaving the field on a stretcher. Connemara had to reshuffle the team once more.
The half time score was 13-12 to Connemara and still a lot to do if they were going to get their first home win in front of a big home crowd
It was not the prettiest of games and who ever was going to win would have to grind it out the hard way.
It took until the 29th minute of the second half for troy Nathan to stretch the Connemara lead to 16-12 which meant that an unconverted try would steel the game but in the 40 min Troy again converted a penalty to give Connemara a well deserved home win, 19-12.
While this was not the best of games it was a victory that was carved out with a huge amount of effort from all the team but Troy Nathan’s kicking kept Suttonians on the back foot and his penalty kicking was excellent.
Next week Connemara play hosts to an ever improving Portadown who have made a great start to their return to Division 3 after a year in the junior division. Connemara again will be forced to make some changes but it is encouraging so far to see that the substitutions made have worked.
Again it is vital that the home support turns out in force and as this is the last match until the 29th of November it would be great to get another win and give some of the injured players a chance to recover.
All the Connemara management, supporters and players would like to wish David Keogh a speedy recovery.
