Tallaght hit back to go top of table
By Stephen Leonard
A STUNNING comeback for Tallaght RFC against UCD sent them to the top of the Metro League Division Seven table after a 36-21 victory in Tymon Park on Saturday.
The Belfield side came into the tie sitting at the summit of the division, and they got the scoring underway when they took advantage of a loose kick to claim a converted try.
Tallaght soon responded with a try of their own after agreat counter-attacking run, however they were unable to convert it and remained two adrift.
Yet the homeside edged in front for the first time when winger Ciaran Rudd broke over only to see Tallaght’s poor ability in the air punished when their opponents chalked up another seven points.
Tallaght went agonisingly close to retaking the lead, but Rudd saw the ball knocked out of his hands before he could get it down after he ran through, and to make matters worse, Stephen Heaney’s pass was intercepted late in the half and UCD duly raced in for a try and subsequently a 21-10 advantage by half time.
Tallaght came out for the second half all guns blazing and Ciaran Rudd put away his second try of the game to narrow the gap to just four points before full back Simon Collie burst through for a try under the posts which was converted and edged Tallaght 24-21 in front.
With UCD losing their discipline somewhat, Tallaght took advantage and an excellent try from a powerful maul put them two scores clear at 29-21.
UCD were well on the backfoot now, and Tallaght’s substitute winger Rob Hudson finished off the game with a converted try in the corner as Tallaght won the second half of this tie 26-0.
Earlier that day the Tallaght women’s team suffered a 25-14 loss to Dublin University, despite a spirited effort that saw them to within one point before a number of injuries took their toll.
Tallaght got off to a great start with Tosin Omiyale scoring a try after an excellent effort by the Tallaght pack only to see their opponents strike back with two tries before the break to hand them a 10-7 lead.
And they quickly added to this in the second half with another touchdown before Tallaght began to mount their recovery when Omiyale collected the ball after an excellent run from Audrey Fulham and scored her second converted try of the game, cutting the gap to a solitary point.
Yet the physical nature of the match began to have an affect on the Tallaght players, with four of them, including star scorer Omiyale, being forced off early through injury, and Dublin University took advantage to score two more tries late in the game and seal an 11-point win.
