Under-16 Friendly: Unlucky Swords Pipped by Local Rivals in Derby

Swords 5 Malahide 17

BETTER use of the ball saw Malahide run out winners in a tense Fingal derby with Swords last Sunday, on the back pitch at ALSAA. Despite the majority of possession, the home side lost far too much ball in the turnover, though in the end they only went down by a couple of breakaway scores.

Playing into the wind in the first half, Swords began well, with hooker Martin Ryan laying down his intentions with a 50-yard run straight from the kick-off. The Greens saw a lot of ball in attack, but far too often the ball went loose in contact and Malahide capitalised by pinning their opponents back in their '22'.

That said, Swords took the lead midway through the half with a try from prop Dave Foley after good work from the pack, but Peter Carr couldn't convert. Malahide levelled towards the end of the half when a Swords lineout went awry in their own half and the visitors crossed in the corner for an unconverted try, leaving the scores 5-5 at half-time.

The second half continued in much the same pattern, with Swords dominating possession, but this time encamped in the Malahide half. However, it was the visitors that found the next score, with a blindside break off a scrum leading to another unconverted try. Malahide threatened with another break shortly after and would have gone further ahead but for an excellent recovery chase and tackle by David Conkey.

In the end, Swords pressed hard for the winning score, but it was Malahide who had the last word, turning the hosts over at a scrum and running the length of the field to nab another seven points. Swords can take a lot of heart from the match, especially from the fact that so many new faces took to the field, while the likes of Peter Carr in the centre and scrum half Darragh Maloney also stood out.

The majority of the squad will be involved with the Fingal County side, who will travel to Donegal in the coming weeks for a representative friendly.

Swords RFC: Chris Long; Danny John, Peter Carr, Niall Hewson, Warren Hanley; Patrick Duffy, Darragh Maloney; Dave Foley, Martin Ryan, Sean Tracey; Eoin O' Hobain, Liam Linnane, Connor Glynn, David Conkey, Shane Healy.