Panters Pause – A Tale From Garryowen

Andrew Carey gives an account of the evening’s IRFU Tag Rugby played at Garryowen FC on thursday the 28th of June.
Over to you, Andrew………………..

A BATTLE royal graced the centre stage of Garryowen FC’s main pitch 
last night in a tightly fought contest that saw the ‘Post Panters’ 
and ‘Average Joes’ share the spoils in week three of the IRFU Tag Rugby.
An early burst of form, fuelled from last weeks emphatic win, was 
clawed back as ‘girl try’s’ from the Panters were nullified by a 
flurry of ‘mens try’s’ scored by the ‘Average Joes’ outfit.
At 7-2 with just six minutes on the clock, the tide turned and the 
momentum was lost from the media gangs side and the Panters went in 
at half time with a narrow lead after battling to regain a hold in 
the game in the dying minutes of the opening half.
Status quo remained come the half way mark through the second period, but a 
spirited performance from the Panters defence held out the initial 
wave of attacks.
Late tries from either side meant that the final few minutes of the 
match wound balance on a knife edge as the Panters fought valiantly 
to keep out Average Joes attacks and hold on to their slender 12-9 lead.
However, the final attack proved costly for one and priceless for 
another as Average Joes penetrated the Panters defence in the corner 
to score a ‘girl try’ and tie the match on the referees final 
whistle. Spoils shared but the Panters squad now retreat to their 
training camp in the sun with a view of working on some set piece 
plays and a plan to take maximum points from their next outing 
against Bongo Fury.
Other results in the group saw several other tight battles play their 
way through 40 minutes of intense tagging in low scoring affairs 
where Emergency Crusaders took a second half ‘girl try to snatch a 
point from QAD sharks which firmly roots them to the bottom of the 
league having now suffered two defeats on the trot.
The Dirty Dozen maintain the pressure on league leaders, “Emergency 
Crusaders” as they emerged victorious from their emphatic battle with 
Bongo Fury by a single try and hold on to their 100 per cent record 
to date.
Emergency Crusaders will look to stretch their lead next week as they 
face QAD Sharks in what should be a pretty one sided affair, where 
the other games could throw up any possible result.
Quoting Shakespeare, IRFU Tag Venue Manager, Michael Coughlan said; “Tomorrow, 
Tomorrow, Tomorrow is another day”.