Fixtures have been updated to include Ashbourne, who have joined the McGee Cup this season. Next match for Balbriggans 1st XV is away to Ardee on Fri. 11th Oct. KO 8pm.

Balbriggan RFC and O’Dwyers GAA Club are delighted to announce that we will be holding TAKE ME OUT FOR CHRISTMAS on Friday 27th December 2013 in Home Balbriggan. We are seeking 25 Ladies and 8 men to participate. If you are interested and up for a laugh call Paul on 0851173361, or Cathal on 0861645236

Balbriggan are playing De La Salle Palmerston this Friday, 27th September. Kick-off is 8pm in Kilternan.

Jenkinson Cup Final

Balbriggan 16 Swords 8

Balbriggan won their first silverware in a number of years when they beat Fingal neighbours Swords to win the Jenkinson Cup. Swords were going for four in a row in the Jenkinson Cup.

On a perfect night for Rubgy both teams put on a good open display of rugby which had kept the large crowd entertained for the whole eighty minutes. Balbriggan started the quicker and with scrum half Healy in great form. He kept his threequater line well fed. Quinn repeatedly made good ground through the middle for Balbriggan. With fast men Mullen and Glen Healy back from injury, they were able to make good inroads into Swords territory. However it was again a case of the final pass not going to hand.

Despite their attacking it was Swords who had the first opportunity at points when Balbriggan were offside at a ruck. The kick was short and outhalf Phelan relieved the pressure with a great kick which Quinn managed to follow up and catch. He set skipper Hagan away, however Hagan was held up short of the line. Swords were penalised for not releasing and Healy put the first points on the board.

Balbriggan kept up the pressure and Swords lost a player to the bin after an illegal challenge on second row Graham Dennis. The lack of a man told on Swords and Balbriggan attacked back and forth across the pitch. The pressure eventually told when prop Chris Brightwell crashed over for a try. Healy traded penalties to leave Balbriggan 11-3 up at half time.

Balbriggan continued with the pressure in the second half and despite good running from Mullen and Glenn Healy, the Swords defence held firm. Billy Phelan at out half was giving a master class in positional kicking to keep Swords pinned back. Steve Murray, making his season debut for the injured Quinn, was only on the pitch a couple of minutes when he gave Stu Mullen a very deft pass for Mullen to split the defence and score.

Swords were not out of it and as the game progressed Balbriggan seemed to tire and eventually the pressure told and Swords scored in the corner. The conversion effort came back off the post which meant that Swords had to score twice. Balbriggan continued to absorb the pressure and on a turnover Mullen hoofed the ball up the field and put the game out of Swords reach. The cushion of the missed conversion was enough for Balbriggan to win the trophy.

A great display for Balbriggan as they continue to rebuild the team and great encouragement to those players who have only recently started the game. A big thanks must go to the back room team of coaches O’Sullivan and Phelan and manager McFadden, who was ably assisted by veteran Mick Quinn. The victory gives great impetus as the team move into the McGee Cup League in two weeks time.

S Mullen, D McGee, P Quinn (S Murray) T O’Toole, G Healy, B Phelan, K Healy, P Joyce, J Davis, C Brightwell, G Dennis, A Whelan, T Hagan, S Malone, L O’Toole

http://www.knockon.ie/2013/09/24/balbriggan-bouncing-back/

Balbriggan have won the Jenkinson Cup tonight! Final score 16 v 8. Well done to Balbriggan players, coaches and management. And thank you to all our supporters! Match report to follow

Balbriggans 1st XV are through to the Jenkinson Cup Final this Friday, Sept 20th, against Swords. The match will be played in Balbriggan RFC. Kick-off is 8pm. Best of luck to the lads! Come along and support your team!

Balbriggan go top of their Group with a 3 point win over Rataoth in Balbriggan on Friday night. Both teams started the game evenly matched with the game to-ing and fr-oing in midfield. Early pressure from Rataoth was relieved by scrum half Kyle Healy with a good relieving kick. From the ensuing line out Balbriggan stole the line out and the ball was run across the backs with Paul Quinn, more familiar in the 6 jersey, punching up through the middle. Balbriggan continued the pressure but a hurried pass gave a scrum to Ratoath to relieve the pressure. The match continued in this vein with Balbriggan gaining good ground but for the final pass not going to hand. On the 25 minute mark No 8 O’Toole made a good break from the halfway line and with Malone on his shoulder they took it up to within 5 metres of the Ratoath line. The pressure resulted in a Balbriggan penalty but Healy’s kick was just short. Ratoath attacked from the drop out and instead of keeping the ball in hand kicked ahead, out half Phelan returned the kick with interest and after a bit of aerial ping pong the fast running Balbriggan backs put the Ratoath full back under pressure. Quinn ran hard at the backs and split the line for the opening try.

Balbriggan lost Healy to a yellow card for what was determined an illegal tackle though a similar tackle against Phelan in the same play went unpunished. Ratoath went to the corner rather than trying for goal, Balbriggan won the ensuing line out and veteran prop Paddy Joyce set up a ruck, a kick and chase by Balbriggan and some good interplay between Tom Hagan, Quinn and Bateman, which saw Quinn get over for his second try. 10- 0 to Balbriggan at the break.

At the start of the second half Balbriggan were put under pressure but Ratoath were unable to convert. Balbriggan had a good deal of possession but are going to have to work on handling. A good run by O’Toole should have put the winger McKenna away but he was tackled into touch. Billy Phelan kept Ratoath pinned back with good kicking until he had to go off injured. In the last 10 minutes Ratoath had a lot of possession but their players kept running into the Balbriggan defence which held fast until the 7th minute of injury time, when a missed tackle in the centre let Ratoath in under the posts for a consolation try that was converted. Final score 10-7

Overall a strong display by a young Balbriggan team still gaining experience.

Smyth, McKenna, O’Sullivan, Quinn, Bateman, Phelan, Healy, Joyce, Davis, Louden, Whelan, Kopca, (Geragthy), Malone, Hagan, O’Toole

McGee Cup fixtures have now been added to the fixtures section.

Great win tonight for Balbriggan! Final score Balbriggan 10 V Ratoath 7

Balbriggan play Rathoath this Friday night, 13th Sept. Kick-off is 8.00pm in Balbriggan.