It was a busy weekend for the club as both the men’s and the Ladies were in action on Saturday
afternoon. The lads took on Wandsworth Gaels in Ruislip whilst the girls played St Anthony’s of
Reading in their home venue.
For the lads, it was a table topping clash in the Toureen Junior championship round 2 involving two
teams from south London. The game was played in near perfect conditions with Wandsworth having
the advantage of the breeze in the first half. It was evident early on that wind could play a big impact
in determining the outcome of the match.

Dulwich were forced to draw on the strength and depth of their squad as they were without a
number of key personnel through injury or absence. This resulted in fullback Dan Lynch and full
forward Darren White taking up roles in the middle of field. Dulwich’s woes were compounded
further after the early dismal of centre half back Kieran McLoughlin for a black card. This forced the
Peckham outfit to re-jig the defence with James McDermott dropping back into the number 6 role.

It was during the first half that Wandsworth were in the ascendancy and took advantage of the
elements and the Harps reshuffled back line. They raced into an early four point lead and only for
two immaculate goal line clearances from Damian Rogers they would have been much further
ahead. Dulwich struggled to get the ball out of their half at times and only for Rian Kealey’s ball
winning ability they would have struggled to get any foothold in the game. Kealey was fit to draw on
all his experience and win a number of frees which Darren White duly dispatched. Dan Lynch broke
up the field to slot over a nice point and this helped keep the Harps within touching distance of their
south London neighbours. At half time the teams went in on the score line of Wandsworth 0.08
Duwlich 0.06.

Buoyed by the wind at their backs in the second half, Dulwich started much brighter and early points
from Kealey and a long range free from Niall Russell helped draw the game level. Dulwich began to
get a foothold in the midfield battle and started winning more breaking ball which culminated in
more attacking threats. This reinvigorated the Harps forward line and Enda Tuohy and Aaron Harper
were getting out in front of their men and winning good ball.

Added to this, the Harps defenders grew in confidence and were throwing the ball around the
middle with more conviction and making their opponents chase them in possession. Another few
points from the versatile Ronan O’Reilly and White meant that Dulwich took the lead for the first
time in the game with around 15 minutes left to play. However Wandsworth refused to yield and
managed to tag over a few points against a strong breeze. With 5 minutes left to play they had a 30
metre free to level the game. Unfortunately for them it struck the post and from the resulting break
up the field Dulwich won a free around the ’45 which Niall Russell tapped over to give Dulwich the
win on the score line of 0.12 to 0.10.

Duwlich XV;
N Russell (0-2), C Murdock, D Fitzpatrick, D Rogers, T Russell, K McLoughlin, R O’Neill, D White (0-3),
D Lynch (0-1), R O’Reilly (0-2), R Brolly, J McDermott, R Kealey (0-4), E Tuohy, J George.
Replacements;
A Harper for K McLoughlin (black card), J Porto for R Kealey, J Keyes for A Harper, R Burke for E
Tuohy (black card)
For the girls it was an early start to head over to Reading and they started well with saw the girls
take the lead in the first half with a score of 1-3 to 1-2 after an impressive goal from Maeve Wylie.
St Anthony’s made a strong start in the second half and an early goal gave the Reading team the
lead. The Dulwich girls added a few points to the scoreboard with scores from Clare Kennedy, Diane
O'Brien and Maeve Wylie but the Reading team maintained their lead and the full time score was 2-
10 to 1-9 to St Anthony's.
The two teams will meet again in the league final with the time and date to be confirmed.
On Friday 30 th of August the club will be holding a quiz night in the Hawkins Forge in Clapham
Junction. A table of 6 participants is only costs £30!
The quiz will start at 8pm and there will be a host of fabulous prizes on the night along with a raffle.
If you are interested in sponsoring a round or would like more info on the night please contact Tara
on 07496 470505.
As always, we are on the lookout for new players or committee members and if you are interested in
joining our welcoming club please contact Enda on 07522723765 (men’s) or Mackenzie on
07398633018 (ladies).

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