Saturday 22nd Feb Athy hosted Gorey in the Leinster league playoffs round 1 for an 11 o'clock kick-off.   The pitch was quite heavy after the recent weather but it was a lovely bright day for the game.

Gorey got off to great start in contrast to the last few weeks.  Big hits, strong carries and intensive rucking from the pack created the go forward ball and space for Zach to score in the first few minutes with Harry missing the kick off the temporary tee.  More of the same from the restart, with a big carry from Hugh and some lovely hands from the backs ending with a well taken try for Oisin, again the kick being off target.

More pressure, a great run from Thomas, a nice kick from Harry and great chase by Zach, ended with Sam judged as being held up over the line. Moments later a well worked scrum move and a hard switch carry from Thomas saw him rewarded with the try converted by Harry.

Straight from the kick off Conn showed his pace to score, the conversion narrowly missed.

With Gorey firmly in control, an unfortunate collision meant Paddy had to retire through injury. Shortly after, Gorey's 1st up tackles failed them and Athy scored a converted try, despite a spirited chase by Oisin.

Halftime score 22 - 7.

The second half was a tough and very different affair with plenty of good moments and plays simply failing to score.  A combination of high intensity plays by both sides and the heavy pitch saw a few injuries on both sides but the score remained unchanged.

A few boys have really impressed and worked hard in the last few weeks and claimed their starting places this week and their performance justified their selection, notably , Ronan, Jamie and Conn.

The forwards had a good day at the office today , particularly their work rate in defence and on both sides of the ruck, proven perhaps by the fact that today's wing forwards Sam and Thomas share the Man of the match honours.

The backs had some lovely moments and really are starting to get the hang of making the right moves at the right times.

Special mention to all those we could not bring today due to being limited to 23. You guys play as big a part as anyone in the progress of the team keeping pressure on everyone for places on the team. Keep it up!

A speedy recovery to all the knocks and bangs and on to our next test.. Kilkenny away.