January 4th, 2013 
Rob Division 1b – All Sunday 2pm
Ashbourne v Tullow
This should be straight forward for a Tullow side that remain unbeaten and on a high after their South East Cup triumph over Enniscorthy but you get the feeling it could prove challenging all the same.
Ashbourne at home remain capable of upsets. Despite sitting in second bottom, they are yet to loose at their Meath venue, having drawn with Wicklow and beaten Monkstown, Carlow and Longford.
Away by 7
Clondalkin v Monkstown
Hope you’ve been paying attention down the back because Clondakin are one of the form teams in the province and up to second in the Division. Four wins on the bounce has them flying. Ashbourne, Longford, Portarlington and Carlow all beaten.
Monkstown by contrast haven fallen off the wagon since their uplifting draw with Tullow away. Defeat at Ashbourne and a big loss at home to Longford have them scrambling on the edge of the race for second. Another loss here could be vital.
Home by 2
Longford v Wicklow
The midlanders started well then faded considerably but just before the break they won two on the bounce picking up bonus points for good measure. The 31-15 win in Monkstown was particularly impressive but the neutrals remain on the fence, awaiting this encounter probably.
Wicklow will be a tough test. They lost 5-3 in Tullow at the start of last month but made amends with an eleven point home win over Ashbourne to hold onto third. This is a real test of their ability to get back into the play off spot they held last season.
Home by 5
Portarlington v Co Carlow
Hard to look past the home side here although Port’s form is poor of late. In face ever since we caught them beating Longford in the last minute in November, things have stalled with defeats in Wicklow and Clondalkin and a heavy loss at home to Tullow.
Carlow are done at this stage and very much preparing for next season and trying to finish the season on some sort of a high. This is an away fixture they’ll hope to compete well in.
Home by 15.
The Table
| P | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | D | B | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tullow | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 252 | 99 | 153 | 5 | 39 |
| 2 | Clondalkin | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 167 | 135 | 32 | 2 | 26 |
| 3 | Wicklow | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 178 | 135 | 43 | 3 | 25 |
| 4 | Monkstown | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 145 | 128 | 17 | 2 | 24 |
| 5 | Longford | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 186 | 142 | 44 | 6 | 22 |
| 6 | Portarlington | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 159 | 209 | -50 | 5 | 17 |
| 7 | Ashbourne | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 123 | 161 | -38 | 2 | 16 |
| 8 | Co Carlow | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 87 | 288 | -201 | 1 | 1 |
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Very interesting fixtures in store, especially in the battle for second place, Sundays results will tell a lot. All the 1B sides will be also hoping to build momentum towards the 1st round of the cup in four weeks time! Tullow could well be virtually promoted then.
Ashbourne v Tullow This one must be just about the standout tie of the round. Tulow will have a lot on their plates here. Ashbourne are not a team to fade off at any point of the game.
Tullow have game time under their belt this side of Christmas which I feel is a big plus! But then again it is a lot harder to turn up for an away game especially since they’re so far ahead in the league and there is less pressure on them to preform. It all depends on how much Ashbourne want this one.
Home by 8.
Clondalkin v Monkstown. Monkstown got the better of this local derby last time out and won it with a decent margin (11pts), but Clondalkin were very much on form before Christmas and they play their short tight pitch very well.
Clondalkin by 3.
Longford v Wicklow. Wicklow are down a few players through injury and suspension, also the long trip down to Longford won’t help! If the rain that is forecast hits, the Longford pitch it will hold it and cut up quite a lot. This should suit the aggressive Longford pack. Wicklow aren’t a team that seem to preform after a long break, take Tullow demolishing them at the start of the season and their crash in form last season.
Wicklow won’t be beaten easily but I think that there is too much going against them.
Longford by 9.
Portarlington v Carlow. Carlow might pull out a shock win here if they can catch Port asleep after the Christmas break. The likely-hood of this happening is quite small but all the same it wouldn’t be too big a shock to see a few big results this weekend.
Portarlington by 20.
Yeee hawwww………. yippeee
and any other expression of joy that one wishes to add….
so tullow were supposed to lose by 8 I’m not even going to say much but can you come watch tullow and then maybe your predictions might be a little bit more accurate they are playing some fabulous rugby
Any sort of rugby where the ball gets past no. 10 in Tullow can be considered “fabulous” compared to the tripe normally served at the black gates. It took a kiwi import for you lot to see the light…
bit of a chip on your shoulder have we ben?
Ben your welcome to come and have a look for yourself theres more than massey doing the damage I’ll our brand of rugby has got us to into 2 cup finals in the last 5 years andrew we’ve lost to the eventual cup winners 8 years in a row by less than 7
Ha! Someone from Tullow accusing someone else of having a chip on their shoulder? Do you know what hypocracy means?
That’s some record of loosing alright! Where on the cup is that encribed? Everyone remembers who the winners lost to don’t they?
Cill Dara ran away with 1B last year and now look at them. They get sent home crying most days they go out to play with the big boys. Granted they got in a sneaky kick to the stones this week. You can expect the same treatment yourselves next season… It’s only 1B lads…get over yourselves!!!
id agree with this, the standard of 1b is fairly poor, aside from tullow the rest of the teams would struggle against the better 2nds teams in 1a. at least kilkenny and malahide try to play rugby, they wil imnprove the standard in 1b next year.
sure, tullow are going well this year but they have been playing very average teams. they beat a struggling scorthy team and you would think they had won the heineken cup!!
i have a feeling that if they meet dundalk, newbridge or tullamore in the cup they will get a very rude awakening.
I should correct myself… Obviously I meant to say that no one rememberes who the winners beat on their way.
Stig you talk some crap you know that!!!!!
If you look at Tullow’s results they have been lucky to get away with win’s in a few games also. The standard in 1B is a long way from that in in 2A by your logic. To state that a 1B team will struggle against a 1A seconds team is so far from the truth.
Go watch some of the 1B games you muppet and you will see for yourself!! Or just stay watching your 2A games thinking the mentioned 2 are the ultimate rugby package..Port are the only team that came up from 2A last year and if they lose to Ashbourne next week they could be in trouble for the relegation play off place and could end up straight back down. It is a an extremely competitive Division. Ask Tullow at the end of the season…Just wait till teh cup and we shall see what happens. I guarantee that their will be 2 teams from 1B in the semi final at least!!!!
bullshit the only way there will be two 1b teams in the semi final of the cup is if both avoid any 1a teams up til then.
navan and naas seconds would beat most of these 1b teams aswell. there will be a few cricket scores in the 2nd round my man when the big guns enter the fray.
i have watched a lot of matches from 1a, 1b and 2a this year. i know some clubs are struggling for numbers and have limited money available for coaching but the basic standard in 1b is just dire. most teams can hardly string two passes together let alone run backs moves. Most games are just bash fests with around 20 scrum resets and the two packs kicking the shit out of each other and crabbing forward inch by inch while the ref shouts ‘thats once now use it’
Yawn!!!
we will see