Last Saturday, we were fortunate enough to see the return of live rugby in Suttonians RFC with our Senior Men’s Squad taking on Ballyclare in their 1st of two pre-season fixtures. Our Senior Men’s squad were unlucky to fall behind in the last quarter of the game and were defeated 19-28. However, the overall consensus is very positive. This was the Men’s first run out of the 2022/23 season having had a very positive pre-season training campaign. Suttonians started very strong and secured the first score with a well worked try. Throughout the game, we saw periods of play that exemplifies the exciting style of play we should expect to see this season.
Overall, management were very pleased with the display on Saturday. After Saturday's clash, we asked Head Coach Andy Kenny how he felt the match went and whether it went to plan? “It went better than expected to be honest. There was clear evidence of the attack shape that we'd been working on during pre-season" Kenny explained. He then continued by outlining his delight with the first half performance specifically. “It was an excellent first hit out. The defence was excellent in the first half. We tired in the second and made things a little too easy for them in the second half, but when we were fresh, we gave them very little opportunity to impose themselves”. In addition to Andy’s comments, Director of Men’s Rugby, Peter Synnott outlined his optimism following Saturday's performance. “It was a great first hit out and we looked extremely threatening at times in attack. Some of the things we’ve worked on in the off season were very noticeable”. Additionally, both coaches expressed their happiness with some individual performances, namely the return of Conor Stokes and Jack Ussher after periods of time away in Clontarf and France, as well as debutant Louis Gallagher, and Conor Kelly, who enters his second season with Suttonians. On a particularly difficult week for Niall Connolly, as well as his brother Gar and the whole family, it was fantastic to see Niall get over for what will no doubt be a very memorable try.
As our Senior Men’s team progress into their final 3 weeks of preparation for the Leinster League opening fixture again Boyne, both coaches appear to be impressed with the groups progress. However, even with all the positives we can take from this initial pre-season friendly, there are areas to work on. After the game, Andy Kenny highlighted different occasions where we became vulnerable around the breakdown and in our attack and defence as fatigue settled in. Over the coming weeks, a major work-on will be to strengthen our breakdown both in attach and defence and continuing to build upon current fitness levels.
Overall, this was a very positive performance against a Ballyclare team who begin their Ulster League campaign this coming Saturday. Next for Suttonians RFC Men’s Senior squad will be Dundalk RFC on September 10th.
