UBL 3rd December 2016
Scorers: Donaghy(1*Try), McLean(2*Pen)
Rainey Old Boys had to go to the fringes of their senior squad when selecting a panel to travel to Limerick for their game with a resurgent Bruff side who on the way back after recalling some of the old guard. They then had to make two further changes to their selection and then see prop Donaghy withdraw after injuring his back in the pre-match warm up. So, with a liberal sprinkling of U20s on duty, it was no surprise that they lost 15-11. But they can be proud of themselves, having put in a huge stint against a very strong side. To take a losing bonus point was a fine effort and they kept going to almost snatch an unlikely victory right at the death.
With Wilson and Barker unavailable and others still not ready to return, this was always going to be a stiff test, but Rainey started with a bang. Within seconds of the kick-off, captain Jonny Lees followed up a box kick to flatten the unfortunate receiver and win a penalty which was kicked to the 22'. The forwards took it on towards the posts where pressure brought them an easy penalty which full-back McLean kicked.
Play moved up and down the pitch at a fast pace with good forward play making it 6-0 after 11 minutes. As the Kilballyowen Park crowd began to make themselves heard, Bruff began to look menacing, but Rainey gave everything in defence and on occasions countered well. With Lees and O'Hagan getting through a mountain of work, Bruff were held scoreless until the 24th minute when their dangerous scrum-half kicked a penalty. Rainey were defending stoutly on their own line towards half-time when Rainey wing McMurray was yellow carded. This was just the boost that Bruff needed and two tries gave them a 15-6 interval lead.
Rainey lost wing Moran with a knee injury ten minutes into the second half, but a Bruff player was dismissed two minutes later to rekindle Rainey hopes. They worked very hard to get back into the game, but took a few wrong options and found the home defence a very tough nut to crack. It even looked, at times, as if Bruff had the extra man, but Rainey weathered the storm, desperate to get at least a losing bonus point.
Their hopes were realised with eight minutes left on the clock. A fine example of ball retention took the Bruff pack up to the Rainey 22', but a turnover allowed centre Andrew to break up to halfway where ruck ball gave Rainey some room on the right. Jody McMurray made ground along the line until stopped just short, but the supporting Donaghy was on hand to apply the finish. McLean's touchline attempt hit the post.
The effort of the Rainey side could not be faulted as they emptied the tank, but Bruff were not to be denied and battled their way back to the Rainey 22'. In the sixth minute of injury time, Rainey moved it along the line for Corrigan to set it up on halfway. The ball was then moved acrossfield for Jody McMurray to steam ahead up to the home 22' and give his side a last chance. When play moved back to the left wing, Corrigan stepped infield with the line in his sights, but the Bruff cover got across to deny him.
TEAM : S.McLean, D.McMurray, J.McMurray, R.Andrew, C.Moran, G.Martin, A.Donaghy, A.McSwiggan, G.Fritz, T.O'Hagan, R.McCusker, J.McCusker, A.Harbinson, D.Corrigan, J.Lees.