Gael Force 22 v 33 Leinster British & Irish Cup – 10th March
Written by: Joe on 10th March 2010


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Leinster sealed a bonus point 33-22 victory over the Gael Force in Stirling RFC on Wednesday evening to conclude their British & Irish Cup participation for this season on a high note.

Shane Monahan bagged a brace of tries, with Tom Sexton, Leo Auva’a and Brian Kingston also touching down – and out-half Ian Madigan kicking eight points – as Leinster weathered spells of pressure in an entertaining game in the Scottish midlands.

Leinster dominated the early exchanges and superbly weighted offload from Old Belvedere number eight Leo Auva’a found Eoin Sheriff whose 20 yard break asked questions of the hosts’ defence.
But an infringement at a scrum led to the game’s first goal-scoring change, though Gael Force out-half Gregor Hunter’s kick fell wide of the upright after 11 minutes.

A David Moore break instigated a spell of Leinster pressure and some good forward play earned the visitors a penalty in the 18th minute, which Ian Madigan elected to kick to touch metres from the Scottish line.

The out-half’s judgment was spot on because from the subsequent lineout Sheriff and then Tom Sexton came close before eventually barrelling over for the opening score of the game, which Madigan converted, to give Leinster a 7-0 lead after 20 minutes.

A superb gliding 60 yard dash from Michael Keating almost reaped his side’s second try, but the Academy back was denied inside the Gael Force 22. Almost immediately the hosts scrum-half Ross Samson breached the Leinster rearguard and the ball found Glasgow Hawks number eight Grant Strang before winger Michael Doneghan touched down in the corner.

Hunter’s conversion fell wide, thus reducing Leinster’s lead to two points on the half hour mark. As half-time approached a Madigan penalty fell narrowly wide, after a yellow card was awarded to Force flanker Fraser McKenzie for a repeated failure to roll away at a ruck.
But right on the stroke of half-time left wing Tom Bury scored in the corner to push the hosts into a 10-7 half-time lead after Hunter’s conversion effort missed the posts.

Leinster began the second half strongly and a Keating foray in a move which also involved Kyle Tonetti found Shane Monahan who drove over to help Leinster regain the lead in the 47th minute. Madigan’s excellent conversion sailed through the posts to give Leinster a 14-10 advantage.

Madigan then turned provider as another Leinster break almost reaped their third try of a bitterly cold evening under the shadow of the historic Wallace Monument. And in the 56th minute Auva’a touched down for his first try of the evening to extend Leinster’s lead to nine points.

With Keating in the sin bin for not releasing at a ruck, Gael Force saw an opportunity to attack and their lively scrum-half Ross Sampson touched down for the home side’s third try.

The see-saw nature of the game continued with St. Mary’s wing Darragh Fanning displaying real pace out wide as Leinster pushed for their fourth try which Brian Kingston completed after a brave block down. Madigan added the points and completed his fourth successful conversion when Monahan crossed for his second try under the posts in the 79th minute. Despite a late Stefan Dreyer for the hosts, Leinster held on to finish their inaugural British & Irish Cup campaign with a bonus point win.

GAEL FORCE SCORERS: M. Doneghan, T. Bury, R. Sampson, S. Dreyer (1 try each), C. Jackson (1 conversion)

LEINSTER SCORERS: S. Monahan (2 tries), T. Sexton, L. Auva’a, B. Kingston (1 try each), I. Madigan (4 conversions)

GAEL FORCE:

15: Craig Gossman (Ross Lemon, 70)
14: Michael Doneghan
13: Steven Aitken
12: Steven Wilson
11: Tom Bury
10: Gregor Hunter (Craig Jackson, 64)
9: Ross Samson (Sean Kennedy, 79)

1: Lewis Niven
2: Sean Crombie CAPTAIN (Garret Walsh, 80)
3: David Young (Dougie Orr, 72)
4: Neale Patrick (Ross Gibson, 64)
5: Robert McAlpine (Ryan Jenkins, 80)
6: Fraser McKenzie
7: Stefan Dreyer
8: Grant Strang

LEINSTER:

15: Michael Keating (Brian Kingston, 69)
14: Darragh Fanning (Martin Dufficy, 74)
13: Shane Monahan
12: Kyle Tonetti (Brian Kingston, 65-68 blood)
11: Matt Healy (Max Rantz-McDonald, 65)
10: Ian Madigan
9: David Moore

1: Ronan McCormack (Arthur Lyons, 43)
2: Tom Sexton (Jason Harris-Wright, 60)
3: Jack McGrath
4: Trevor Hogan CAPTAIN
5: Ciaran Ruddock
6: Eoin Sheriff
7: Jordi Murphy (Jason Risdon, 60)
8: Leo Auva’a (Michael Noone, 74)

GAEL FORCE YELLOW CARD: F. McKenzie (35-45 mins)

LEINSTER YELLOW CARD: M. Keating (59-69 mins)

REFEREE: Michael Tutty (RFU)

This article was originally posted on 11-Mar-2010, 07:44 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Mar-2010, 07:47.