January 21st, 2013 
Rob Kilkenny opened up a six point advantage at the top of the table in Division 2a thanks to a bonus point win over Portlaoise on a day when title rivals Malahide had their game postponed.
While the north Dublin side do have a game in hand, the odds are now slightly with Kilkenny after they came from behind early on to blitz Portlaoise on Sunday.
At the bottom, Clane picked up a valuable losing bonus point in their 31-24 home loss to Mullingar to move a point clear of idle New Ross.
Meanwhile Gorey maintained their strong run with a one point home win over Rorscrea.
Results
Clane 24, Mullingar 31 (Write a Knocket)
Gorey 15, Roscrea 14 (Write a Knocket)
Kilkenny 51, Portlaoise 15 (Write a Knocket)
The Table
| P | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | D | B | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kilkenny | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 360 | 155 | 205 | 6 | 50 |
| 2 | Malahide | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 242 | 111 | 131 | 4 | 44 |
| 3 | Gorey | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 290 | 181 | 109 | 6 | 42 |
| 4 | Roscrea | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 245 | 153 | 92 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Mullingar | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 208 | 245 | -37 | 3 | 23 |
| 6 | Portlaoise | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 189 | 266 | -77 | 4 | 16 |
| 7 | Clane | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 135 | 361 | -226 | 5 | 9 |
| 8 | New Ross | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 93 | 290 | -197 | 3 | 7 |
Posted in
Gorey could get promotion if results go their way, there good enough for it anyway
All depends on how they get on in the cup against Dundalk if they get knocked out they might loose interest by the time Malahide play them. I think they will win tho as they are at home!
not sure how you really reckon that seen as malahide have the bottom two, both at home, before the game in gorey. BY my reckoning they’ll probably be 7 or 8 points clear before the match.. but suppose you never know. I wouldnt even put a 5′r on it though
They will definitely make it tough for Malahide but I think finishing second is beyond them at this stage – Malahide would have to drop points agianst Clane or New Ross at home which is a long shot.
clane and new ross are fighting for their life thats the only thing. We played Clane yesterday and they played well securing 2 bonus points from yesterday which I would say will help them massively. They fought for every bit of ground and deserved both points.
Mullingar were poor to be fair. Theyre front row is gone soft and there backs are very young. Clane should have been nowhere near them never mind getting a bonus point
I can see where your comin from but the weird thing is our team is getting younger again enxt year not older with alor of retirements ahead and some talent coming up from the 19′s
Malahide will pick up 10 points in them two games with no problem at all! Clane from what i have seen all year are by far the worst team in the league but i think there surprising 2 bonus points vs mullingar are what will leave them second last! Cant see either these teams picking up even a single point in their remaining fixtures! Both of them will probably be knocked out of the towns cup next week too, nothing left in their seasons! Portlaoise and Mullingar will fight out for 5th, roscrea 4th, gorey 3rd, 1st is still up in the air in my eyes, kilkenny have a tough trip to roscrea in 2nd last round if they over come this they win, if the slip up all comes down to a tough game for malahide away to gorey, but all in all, i cant really see kilkenny slipping up from here!
We’ll beat Roscrea but not with a bonus and we’ll put 5 or 6 tried passed New Ross. Malahide will get ten points from Clane and New Ross and a narrow win over Gorey leaving us promoted automatically by a point. Malahide will hammer Asbourne in the playoff though
Ashbourne will beat Malahide handy enough.
Yeah because they’re class this year.
Iv played both teams and seen both teams a few times, malahide will beat Ashbourne by def a try if not more, play a good brand of rugby with some explosive backs
Look at the teams theyre playin! Clane almost folded last year, Portlaoise have won 5 matches in 2 years. Mullingar went to clondalkin start of the season for firsts and seconds matches with 13 players in total. This league is pure muck. There’s been 2 competitive matches in the whole league, kilkenny and Malahide home and away, and you think this is enough to beat Ash? No chance.
no chance? beat monkstown handy enough earlier this year, plenty more rugby before that mully. Gorey and Roscrea have been really good this year too. Mullingar not far off and portlaoise had their days, to say its been much is just trolling.
So roscrea in gorey wasn competitive? Kilkenny in Mullingar? Gorey in Mullingar? Kilkenny in gorey? Malahide in roscrea? Ok so Mullingar went to clondalkin with 16 players at the start of the season, what difference does that make to Ashbourne playin malahide? Absolutely none, Malahide are a better team than Ashbourne at the moment, plus no point bickering over something that probably won’t make a difference because Tullamore will get promoted
He hasn’t a clue sure. Kilkenny and Malahide will be going up end of. The league above isn’t anything spectacular. Carlow, Ashbourne, Wicklow, Monkstown aren’t really up to much. You’re right though, Mullingar aren’t far off and neither are Gorey. Mullingar just aren’t great on the road but that’s because all their away matches are two hours drive!!
Very true, very hard to get lads to commit driving 2 hours to play for a mid table place, be different if we were title contenders. Hopefully next year we will give a good push. Malahide and Kilkenny are going up, Kilkenny automatically I would say. Gorey to beat Dundalk this weekend too, its along shot but Gorey is a tough place to go and Dundalk didnt win last weekend, last thing you want is a 2 and 1/2 half drive to Gorey after a loss
Ye haven’t a clue any of ye about 1b I played on 2a last year it’s a piss poor league in 1b you’ve a hard game every week no clanes or trips to new Ross their like a week off .
Ashbourne are only just losing games so I’d think they’ll beat mala or gorey . Jb10 your a mullingar player that’s been just promoted for 2b and you think ye’re leinster or Toulon you haven’t a clue mate . I’d love to see Kilkenny or mullingar travel to tullow away then Wicklow away and portarlington we’d see what their made of then , so instead of talking about a league (1b) that you know nothing about the standard jb10 maybe you should take a look at yourselves after ye beat the mighty clanes and new Ross who can barely make a 1st 15 , and think I hope we get tullow or ashbourne in the cup .
ok, im not even going to speculate anymore because there is no point and the tone here is descending, i havent seen ash play either – what i suggested is that their results suggest they may be in trouble as the 2nd place side will effectively be as good as the 1st place side in 2a, there is really nothing in it. Im sure the ashbourne v whoever game will be close enough though, lets just see how things work out. Whats interesting to me is that the gards wld be getting walloped again in every game next year in 1b if their woes continue. If it comes to it the branch should try to avoid this and move em further down if they request it again and let others move up that can compete, the gards definitely dont need another humiliating year.
the gards have got a few players back and will be stronger next year and should be competitive in 1b. i agree it was a farce this year though and monkstown, wicklow or tullow would have offered a lot more to 1a.
the branch and the club themselves should hang their heads in shame that this situation was allowed to develop.
no exaggeration in their early games there were fellas playing who looked like they havent played rugby for long. it was lucky nobody got seriously hurt.
as regards the above thread ive seen kilkenny and malahide and i think both teams will be in the top 4 in 1b next season. within 3 years both teams will be in top 4 in 1a.
both would beat ashbourne hands down.
haha how do I or what made ya think we were leinster or toulon?? haha Im a follower of Junior rugby in leinster and have been to alot of junior matches in all divisions. Tullow are a different class, No one in leinster including the big guns would want to go to black gates.
Ashbourne are only just losin games, your right but Malahide are just winning games. In the last 10 minutes of a match and its a draw your money has to be on malahide. Have you seen either malahide or Kilkenny play this year blindside?
I hope we dont get either tullow or ashbourne because we are not at their level and never once did I say we were, this post was about Malahide and ashbourne so when ya have something good to contribute like why you think ashbourne will beat malahide please come back and give us your view?
every club in leinster struggles for numbers when your in a relegation battle, Garda, Co. Carlow, Swords, Athy so your point about New ross and clane has no relevance
A lot of condescending talk going on here regarding the quality of this league. Having seen each of the top sides play I can safely say that all of the top four teams would fit comfortably into Division 1b.
Kilkenny are a very strong side ,solid pack followed by strong running backs
Malahide while perhaps not as abrasive up front have a fantastic backline that play an expansive game yet have the grit to hammer out results in the wet also.
Gorey are a young side that appear to be coming on leaps and bounds , very strong up front yet play an attractive brand of rugby too
Roscrea are a very big strong and abrasive side that are well able to spread it wide to good effect too.
To underestimate the standard of these teams is quite foolish and I’d wager a few will take some nice scalps in the PCT
Absolutely, Ive played against Kilkenny and Malahide and can tell you for sure that the back row and centres for Kilkenny would play AIL no problem and so would a few of the backs for Malahide.
There is a gap between the top 3 and the rest of us, ill give you that but it seems to be that way all the way up through the leagues
Havn’t seen either playing this year – looking forward to watching both in the ptc final
didnt portarlington do ok this year? in my view both KK and Malahide have improved 20% on last year and they were both at a v similar level top port. Im sure theyve improved a bit also. There is never antyhing like worlds apart between the top sides in a division and the middling ones in the league above.
BTW malahide dont eneter the towns cup, dont know why.. something to do with what leagues the kids play in or something. Great competition, shame to be excluded.
Correct me if I’m wrong but could it be due to teams entering the PCT having to be at least 18 miles from the GPO? I believe that’s mandatory , however I reckon malahide would be out that distance from town.
Malahide not excluded from PTC. They have opted to stay in the Metro and play in the Spencer cup and the Metro Cup. Club decision and one to be respected
Malahide have asked play in the PTC but are not allowed as the youth part of the club play in the Metro comp and the whole club would have to change
There is a lot of rubbish being put on this about Clane & New Ross. Both teams are quite similar in that they had a back bone of decent players for the last 10 years and they all retired at the same time, and when underage structures arent strong, the players coming through arent up to the mark, hence why Clane & New Ross have really struggled this year.
However, are the hidings they have gotten reflective of where they are. Neither are fielding seconds but have squads of about 25+ when all are fit. I know that from speaking to people, Clane have been competitive in most games for about an hour and then just folding in the last 20 to concede big scores. A year in 2B for both sides might do wonders for the younger players on the teams but I think some of the talk above is disrepctful to both clubs who are fulfilling fixtures every week and still remaining somewhat competitive despite obvious massive player turnover in recent seasons.
On the other point, KK & Malahide to go up. Havent seen Ashbourne but have heard they arent great,although I see they go to Clane this weekend in the cup. That could be a massacre.
Kilkenny to beat Port Laoise by another 40 points tomorrow.