Old Christians from the off dominated the game in every facet and provided some attacking rugby which teams many divisions above would have proud to display. 

Skilful attack paired with withering defence meant Ballincollig barely got a foothold in the game at any stage. 

From our first attack a lovely bit of play from Dave Aherne set up Dan Kelleher who raced clear of the defence to dot down in the corner. Dan regained his composure to convert from the touchline and put us 7 up within 2 mins of kick off. 

Another superb attack from the kick off meant we set up camp in the Ballincollig 22. Ballincollig tried hard to exit but from the ensuing lineout Mark Gleeson crashed over for his 6th try of the season and 4th in the last 3 games. Dan unsuccessful this time. 12 – 0 

Some strong phase play in attack led to a scrum on the 22. The front 3 put on a huge push with James Clifford leading the charge. We were awarded another scrum penalty, and this time opted for the 3 points. Dan Kelleher kicking only our 5thpenalty of the year. 

From a Ballincollig scrum the defence applied massive pressure causing a mistake on the Ballincollig side. Dan gladly swept up the loose ball and raced 50 metres to score close to the sticks. Dans 2nd of the game doubling his tally for the year. Conversion successful bringing the score to 22 – 0 after 20 mins. 

A poor exit and some ill discipline gave Ballincollig a foothold in our 22 before eventually they mailed over from 5 yards. A difficult conversion was missed. 22 – 5

A lineout steal between our 22 and 10 led to a big territory gain before a quick lineout and some lively footwork from Laz set up Dave Aherne for a great finish in the corner. 27 – 5 and bonus point secured. 

The game ebbed and flowed between both 10 metre lines for a few minutes but Ballincollig failed to make any inroads into a superb defence marshalled by Cian Walsh and Cian Smith again with massive hits coming in. 

The half ended with the best try of the day. Some great interplay between backs and forwards led to Oscar dotting down in the left corner. A joy to watch and a try straight out of the top drawer. Conversion missed but the half ended 32 – 5. 

A melee 5 minutes into the second half saw the Ballincollig 9 receive a straight red for a punch to the face of James Clifford. Ballincollig reduced to 14 for the rest of the game. 

From the ensuing penalty and lineout Cian Walsh managed to scamper clear and score in the corner. The act of diving from more than 1 tard out proving difficult to a prop as you can imagine, and he nearly catapulted himself over the back barriers. 

Conversion unsuccessful this time from Mike O Sullivan and score stood at 37 – 5 after about 48 mins of rugby. 

A couple of silly errors from OC let Ballincollig have some phases just outside our 22. Some good defence forced a knock on from the home side and from a solid scrum platform the backline showed some excellent handling before releasing Oscar Clare who showed pace and power to score from halfway. 

A rare error from the backline gave the home side field position and they were made to work for 5 mins before eventually finding their way over the line and adding a 2nd and final try to their tally. Converted 42 – 12.

This poked OC back into life and from the restart went straight on the attack. Casey on for Mark Gleeson made strong inroads into the enemy territory. Arron Coade followed suit with superb footwork pre contact before powering clear held up just short of the line. With OC destined to score out wide Ballincollig had a slap down which should have been a yellow but were let off lightly. 

From the scrum we moved it out the backs and Dave Aherne got his 2nd of the game and 8th of the season, easy conversion added by Harry Martin. 49 – 12 with less than 20 to play. 

In what was inevitable turn of events having turned over Ballincollig close to their own line Laz was able to power over close range and get his name on the scoresheet. Harry added 2 to make the score 56 – 12 with a few minutes to play. 

There was still time for one more moment of magic. From turnover ball Arron Coade again went on a gallop up the field at this stage the Ballincollig defence were like bowling pins and Coade like an out-of-control bowling ball looking for his next target. 

Next phase slick handling from MOTM Conor Dolan, Harry and Laz sent Oscar free on the left and he fought hard to stay in play. We moved the ball within 2 phases all the way to the far touchline to score with Sean Crowe who had come back on the wing touching down for 5. 

Conversion missed and 61 – 12 it finished. 

Great team and squad performance for the full 80 on both sides of the ball. We move onto to the next game now knowing to continue to build on a good start to 2025.