Leinster League 3 - Sunday October 2
North Meath 26-12 Tallaght

North Meath grabbed another bonus point win in their second Leinster league game, at home against Tallaght.

After a fine win away to Midland Warriors in the league opener, confidence was rightly high. But it was Tallaght that started the strongest. In fact, the visitors should have been ahead after 5 minutes but put a kickable penalty wide of the posts.

North Meath then responded with an excellent try that encapsulated the offloading game being developed by coach Simon Deevy. Kevin Dowds went on a typical barnstorming run, scattering Tallaght's tacklers before offloading to scrum-half Conor Grey who was stopped 10 yards short of the line but was able to pop it up to Andy Dowds who touched down under the posts.

But Tallaght came straight back at North Meath and were able to level the game at 7-7 following a try from short range after some sustained pressure.

North Meath continued to play good rugby and some lovely phase play brought them into the Tallaght 22 and after some pick and go's, it was co-captain and centre Eanna Finn that claimed the try.

Another impressive try followed shortly after. More offloading and great hands saw the other centre Cian Doogan finish off a fine move in the corner and Grey slotted the touchline conversion making it 21-7 at halftime.

The first half was an echo of the opening 40 minutes away to Midland Warriors on the previous Sunday with some scintillating rugby putting the game almost beyond doubt.

Stubborn defence:

However, the second half also followed the same pattern as the previous week where lively attack was swapped for stubborn defence.

Despite spending most of the 40 minutes in their own half, the North Meath rearguard held firm with big hits from Sean Gilsenan, Henry Armstrong, co-captain Padraic McGurl and Cailum Kiernan in particular.

When the home team did manage to break out of their own half, it led to another well executed score with Grey chipping into space and winger Ivan Mostert touching down to secure the bonus point.

Tallaght did manage to get another deserved try but ultimately came away from the Grange with nothing.

The only downside was the number of injuries suffered on both sides. However, much like the current British prime minister Liz Tr**s, the knocks and niggles will hopefully prove to be just a short-term setback easily dismissed rather than anything that will cause lasting damage.

Team: Sean Moriaty, Andrew Monaghan, Cian Doogan, Eanna Finn, Ivan Mostert, Ben Wiseman, Conor Grey, Andrew Dowds, Killian Flanagan, Sean Gilsenan, Graham Boland, Eoghan Cosgrave, Cailum Kiernan, Henry Armstrong, Kevin Dowds
Replacements: Jack Yore, Padraic McGurl, Sam Bashford, Curtis Hunter, Paul Butler, Ruben Mostert, Ben O'Connor

Tries: Dowds A, Finn, Doogan, Mostert
Cons: Grey (3)
Man of the Match: Cian Doogan

Pics courtesy of Mark Wiseman