Midland Warriors make history with first Leinster league crown

After falling foul to the weather the previous weekend, Midland Warriors headed south on Sunday last for a winner takes all contest with Arklow RFC. It turned out to be everything that was expected of the top two sides in the division, a titanic battle and a good fashioned old game of two halves, with the Moate side coming out on top to seal the league title.

It was Arklow who opened the scoring with an early three-pointer, but otherwise the opening half was a something for all the travelling supporters to enjoy. The Warriors produced some of the best rugby of their season on the biggest stage of all with it all on the line.

With ten minutes on the clock and the advantage of a penalty being played, outhalf Andy Evans produced a crossfield kick the full width of the pitch which landed in the bread basket of waiting winger Dean Broderick, to dot down the simplest of tries.

Shortly afterwards, the Warriors, led from the front by some hard running by Cathal Connell and Liam Doyle, steadily went through the phases and eventually the quick thinking of Andy Evans found a mismatch in the middle of the field. A quick step inside the Arklow defender saw him break the line with only the Arklow full-back to beat. Evans backed himself and went around the outside to score the Warriors’ second try. He duly converted his own try to leave some daylight between the sides on a scoreline of 12-3.

The pressure being applied from the Warriors was creating numerous headaches for the Arklow defence. Strong running from centres John Maguire and Liam Fitzpatrick gave the Warriors big territorial gains and an attacking platform which would led to the Arklow defence cracking, conceding a number of penalties, which the smart thinking of Warriors captain Paul Dunican took full advantage of to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Andy Evans stepped up to add a further nine points to the scoreboard to leave the half-time score 21-3 to Midland Warriors.

With a league title on the line, the Arklow men were never going to give up the fight on their home patch. To their credit, they took to the pitch for the second stanza like men possessed as they went in search for a league title after finishing runners-up last season.

There was very little rugby played in the Arklow half of the pitch as they had their purple patch and asked question after question of the Warriors defence, though the Warriors had the answers and it was this “never give up” attitude that carried them through. Outstanding work around the park from Sean Flynn, Kristian Kocher, Darren Browne and Dylan Lynch kept the hopes of all the travelling supporters alive.

Arklow’s dominance at the scrum was proving problematic for the Warriors and it resulted in numerous penalties and inevitably a yellow card. It was at this stage Arklow got their just rewards and went over for their first try.

The momentum had truly shifted, and it was wave after wave of Arklow possession, with the Warriors spending much of this period inside their own half.

Arklow managed to go over again which set up a nail-biting last ten minutes for both sets of supporters who had filled the sidelines with colour and noise.

This was truly a squad effort from the Warriors as the replacements were welcomed to give some back up to the weary front row. Veterans Eddie Brady and Mikey Blighe rolled back the years while Carlo Jardim proved to be a rock in the tighthead role. There was a key turnover and a ball held up over the line in the dying minutes when another try would have, no doubt, given Arklow the title. Heroic defending eventually saw the Warriors to the promised land.

After 15 seasons and several close calls, the Midland Warriors senior team has finally taken a Leinster League men’s title back to Moate.

These things don’t happen by accident and head coach James O’Connell, assisted by Eddie Brady and his management team of Darren McCormack and Joe Browne, have put in countless hours to build this squad and they have reaped the rewards.