Saturday saw the Irish maintain their unbeaten record at home this year with A Grade drawing against the Beenleigh Bears 12 - 12 and Reserve Grade upsetting a confident Everton Park side 16-10 in the local derby

For A Grade, the draw takes them to 4th spot on for and against over Ipswich after their win over Pine Rivers Boars (25-22). In other results Goodna maintained their unbeaten record with a victory over the Irish's next opponents, Redcliffe (20 - 16) and Wynnum disposed of Gatton (33-7) who now drop from 3rd to 6th in the table

In Reserve Grade the top 2 sides, Wynnum and Ipswich also had victories while the Irish extended their lead in 3rd place to 7 points over next weekend's opponents Pine Rivers Pumas who are currently in 4th

3rd Grade had the bye

MATCH REPORTS

A Grade

Having only been promoted to the A Grade competition this year the Beenleigh Bears had suffered heavy defeats in their first 2 games but pulled our a surprise result last weekend by only going down to competition leaders Goodna by 10 - 7 so no-one knew what to expect from them

We soon found out. Straight form the start Beenleigh camped in the Irish quarter and only some sound defence denied them a try. Play then moved into the Bears half and from a well executed line out a double punch saw the ball go to Richard Otte who fed on to Andy Smith and his strong run was only denied a try when he was held up over the line but the Irish had shown their intentions with almost their first touch of the ball

From here the possession and territory see sawed and you could sense it was only a matter of time before one side or the other broke through. Working their way back down field the Irish commitment was rewarded with a scrum to the left of the posts in Beenleigh territory. With scrum half Phillip Condell making a dummy run to the right, No 8 Daryn Lucas fed the ball from the base of the scrum to out half Joe Dimes on the left. Drawing 2 defenders Joey gave a beautifully timed pass to inside centre Rhydian Jones who drew the final defender and unselfishly passed to Rory Bowe on the outside who ran unopposed over the line.to score under the post. A beautifully executed set piece move got the reward it deserved. The conversion was successfully taken by Ryan Mackenzie

Brisbane Irish 7 - Beenleigh Bears 0

With the Irish combining an improvement in the scrum and commitment at the breakdown along with a willingness to mvoe the ball, as the half time whistle went things were looking positive and a 7-0 lead could and in fairness should have been much higher

Joey Dimes kicked off the second half for the Irish and when the ball just crossed the 10 metre line 6 Irish forwards were there to reclaim it.Replacement Wing Forward Brendan Lloyd was the first to react and drive forward into the Bears. Fast and clean ball from the ruck gave quick thinking scrum half Phillip Condell the chance to chip over the top. With winger Richard Otte and breakaway Pete Garden bearing down the Beenleigh defence allowed it to bounce high and they were immediately on it. There was a nervous moment as Pete tipped the ball forward but he was there to recover it and as he drew the final defender he slipped the ball inside to Otte who dived the the final few yards to cross the line and score

Brisbane Irish 12 - Beenleigh Bears 0

However only 5 minutes later tragedy was to strike for the Irish when a pass by full back Ryan Mackenzie was intercepted on the half way line and Beenleigh ran in unopposed to score

Brisbane Irish 12 - Beenleigh Bears 5

This score acted as a catalyst for the Bears and the started throwing everything into attack meaning that when the Irish had possession they were forced to kick. Good pressure in defence though allowed the men in green to force penalties and slowly started to move the game into the Beenleigh half where it became their turn to test the Bears defence. Beenleigh were up to it though and were soon back in the Irish half.

Pressure form the Irish in the scrum had forced the Bears to go non contested. A situation which favoured them more than the Irish

A neat chip from replacement scrum half Faolan Sweeney was chased and recovered by Pete Garden but with no support he attempted some sort of kick which didn't quite come off and the result was a scrum feed for Beenleigh on their 22. With no pushing allowed in the scrum it allowed the Bears to move the ball our and attack up the field. This drive was assisted by 3 penalties in quick succession against the Irish and the next thing we knew Beenleigh were throwing in on the Irish 22. A further penalty at this lineout allowed the Bears to maintain their pounding attack and 5 phases later the staunch Irish defence finally cracked to allow Beenleigh in for a converted try and to level the scores with only 5 minutes left on the clock

Brisbane Irish 12 - Beenleigh Bears 12 

As the Bears kicked down field after the kick off the ball was fielded in Irish Territory by Captain and right wing Andy Smith who passed off to Ryan Mackenzie. Ryan ran down the tram tracks to just short of the Beenleigh 22 where he was felled by a high tackle. The offender received a Yellow card and Ryan stepped up to take a difficult penalty form outside the 22 and on the 5 metre line that i successful would win the game. Despite his best efforts and the kick having the distance it drifted to the right of the posts

Reserve Grade

With the return of Everton Park to senior rugby after 3 years absence and with the Irish sharing their ground this was always going to be a keenly contested game

The opening points came as a result of good pressure from the Irish after a deft chip ahead by right winger Brendan Flaherty which pulled up just short of the EP line. From an ensuing free kick when the Irish looked to move the ball wide to the left, EP were caught offside and Cathal Brophy had no problems converting the penalty from in front of the posts

Brisbane Irish 3 - Everton Park 0 

After 15 minutes Everton Park hit back. A lineout on the 22 saw the 10 passing inside to the winger who drove forward to set up a ruck in front of the posts. Two further rucks provided quick ball which culminated in their 13 crossing the line. With no Tee forthcoming form the sideline the conversion was an attempted drop goal which failed

Brisbane Irish 3 - Everton Park 5

This score only fired up the Irish and from a lineout 3 minutes later the ball was held through 3 phases which saw play swing to the right then back to the left and return to the right again where new boy Shawn chipped over the defence for the ball to be fielded by their full back who was then hit in the tackle by Shawn chasing his own kick. The ball spilled out and was fielded by Cathal Brophy who drew the remaining defender and a quick pass saw Brendan Flaherty cross the line untouched.Cathal then successfully converted the try and the Irish were back in front

Brisbane Irish 10 - Everton Park 5 

Not long after and 2 minutes before half time, Andy Michel fielded a clearance kick on the Irish 10m line which he ran back down the centre of the pitch until he was tackled at the EP 10m. At the ruck which followed EP were pinged for offside but Cathal Brophy's kick slid just right of the posts

Half time: Brisbane Irish 10 - Everton Park 5

Everton Park were the first to score in the second half after some weak defence from the Irish allowed them in for a soft try

Brisbane Irish 10 - Everton Park 10

The Irish soon fought back though and after wheeling an EP scrum on their 22, good pressure from replacement half back Faolan Sweeney saw a free kick awarded to the Irish. A quick tap saw Liam Culhane take the ball up just short of the line and quickly recycled ball was was picked up by Sweeney who tried to dart past the defence round the ruck only to be brought down inches short of the line. Quick ball here would surely have seen the Irish score their second try but a cynical foul by the EP hooker, who killed the ball on the Irish side, prevented the ball coming out and the resultant Yellow card for Sherman and the penalty conversion by Cathal Brophy saw the Irish rightfully retake the lead with 8 minutes left on the clock

Brisbane Irish 13 - Everton Park 10

At the restart EP failed to get the ball 10 metres providing a scrum on the centre dot to the Irish. With their hooker off the pitch Everton Park went to Golden Oldies scrums and when the ball reached number 8 Joel Rickuss he immediately picked up and sent Sweeney into space on the right. Sweeney drew his man and passed to full back Andy Michell who had come up into the line. Andy drew 2 defenders but his pass was just forward and a certain try was missed.

As Andy passed the ball he was shoulder charged and went down hard before having to leave the pitch. X Rays have now shown he has a cracked collar bone and 3 cracked ribs. Surprisingly the referee never saw what was an action outside the spirit of the game of rugby and awarded the lineout throw to Everton Park

Justice was not far away though as pressure at the lineout resulted in a wild tap back and Joel Rickuss deftly plucked the bouncing ball out of the air to charge for the line. As he was brought down EP came in from the side- penalty Irish. Quick as a flash Faolan Sweeney tapped the ball and made for the line only to be brought down by a player who had made no attempt to retire the 10 metres. This time a breath was drawn and a kick at goal was indicated to the referee and Cathal Brophy had no trouble in slotting it over to increase the lead with 5 minutes remaining and this was the final score

A well deserved victory for the Irish who showed great spirit and determination especially in defence while also showing a willingness to run the ball