Mallow hosted Shannon-siders, St Senans in their third league match of the season last Sunday. The visitors were travelling in search of their first league win of the season and couldn’t have started any better. Inside the first 5 minutes they went in unopposed from 10m out for the game’s first try through Adam McEvoy. Mallow responded well however with an Owen Glynn try in the corner thanks to a powerful rolling maul off a line-out. Dave Breen added a penalty shortly afterwards to make the score line 8-7 in favour of the home side. Brian Henry opened his try scoring account for the season on the half hour mark. Again, excellent work from the forwards in the red zone allowed him to barrel over from close range. Breen added the conversion before Senans replied with two penalties through the boot of full back Declan Rowe. The score line stood at 15-13 going into the break in what was a fractured first half with quality of rugby played affected by a brief torrential down pour. Notable performances throughout the opening forty from Hugh Keena, Dan McCarthy and Jason Sheehan who helped to put Mallow into this narrow lead.

As the second half restarted, Mallow, as they have done in previous weeks emerged all guns blazing. Within minutes of the resumption, they got off to the ideal start. Sam Cronin, making his debut in the no. 9 shirt, launched an excellent box kick which Mallow chased with great effect. Brian Henry put huge pressure on the catcher causing him to spill the ball. Henry collected and grounded the ball over the white wash to double his tally for the season. Breen again added the extras before Senans’s Liam Coughlin went over for another try for the visitors. The Clare outfit were refusing to die a death in this tie but Mallow again upped the ante when they needed to, thanks to the impact from the bench, through Timmy Fitzgerald, Michael Sweeney and Richard Weedle to name but a few. A fantastic set piece move resulted in Mallow’s bonus point try. Cronin whipped a pass out to Ronan McCarthy from the base of a scrum 30m out from the try line. He fed David Walsh who’s pass rewarded a searing running line from Breen to go through the opposition defence like a hot knife through butter. Breen dotted down under the posts and added the conversion to put the score line at 32-18. The home side held on until the final whistle despite some pressure from Senans. Mallow now sit joint top of the Munster Div 1 table with 14 points from a possible 15.

Next game: Sunday, October 20th - Skibbereen v Mallow (Cup) 2.30pm