Brave Tallaght are pipped to Metro League success

TALLAGHT RFC made a real go of it, but, in the end, lost out 16-8 to De La Salle Palmerston in a great battle for the Metro League Division Seven title in Kirwan Park on Saturday.

Bolstered by a visit from Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt during the week, Tallaght started well using the favourable strong wind to gain good territory.

Dominating possession, they took the lead when Morgan Farrell kicked a penalty, yet DLSP hit back in kind after a series of phases earned them a kick at goal.

While De la Salle were running a lot of ball, Tallaght’s aggressive defending forced them into multiple knock-ons.

Farrell had a chance to increase Tallaght’s lead but his kick clipped the post and bounced away.

And they went close to a try just before half-time when a brilliant backline move put Ciaran Rudd away on the wing, but Simon Collie could not hold the final pass.

DLSP then won a lineout near the Tallaght line, but David Clarke put in a cracking tackle to relieve the pressure and it remained all square at the break.

Tallaght started the second half very brightly with the pack picking and driving with strong carries from the likes of Adam Nolan, Ken McGovern and Jack Russell.

This earned them another penalty, but once again, Farrell’s kick came off the post.

They fought their way back to the DLSP line and eventually Andy Grace demonstrated great power to get over the line for an 8-3 lead.

DLSP responded with a penalty of their own to make it 8-6, but Tallaght were soon down a player after a yellow card was shown for a high tackle on Simon Collie.

However Collie himself was soon in trouble when the touch judge ruled that he had made a late tackle on DLSP full-back Trevor Byrne.

He was shown a yellow card and, once DLSP returned to their full compliment of players, Tallaght were under major pressure.

Byrne, a former Tallaght player, broke through to score a try and make it 11-8 to DLSP with ten minutes remaining.

Collie returned to the pitch, but Tallaght were soon back down to 14 men when Tony McManus was sent to the bin for a high tackle.

Shortly afterwards DLSP went over for a second try to make it 16-8. Tallaght kept fighting, but there was to be no more scoring and DLSP were crowned deserved champions.

Speaking after the match Tallaght head coach Tom Leigh said “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the lads. They left everything out on the pitch.

“DLSP are a fine team but we really put it up to them for most of the game before they got on top in the last quarter.

“The players are gutted now, but we’ve had the most successful season in the club’s history and there’s a huge amount to be positive about” he stressed.