Week three of the touch tournament was certainly entertaining and somewhat controversial, after referee James Taggart took a firm hand and zealously began dishing out yellow cards.
Big Deal were the first victims of Taggart's own brand of zero tolerance when one of their ladies was sin-binned for dissent following a score.
The team that suffered the most was possibly Fast Busters, with Richie Beatty repeatedly sin-binned in one incident! Perhaps the new Barbie pink kits, kindly supplied by Paul Holder's Midway Services, were offensive to James.
Richie found consolation when he suddenly appeared as an emergency substitute on the next pitch for Bandits, perhaps looking for tips from Terry McCartney, as he later refereed a match himself.
When the dust had settled on the action, All Stars, despite their opening 3–3 draw with an energetic Starsky & Touch, had shown their quality and ended the night hanging on to Barbarians' coattails in second place. Despite the comments from the sidelines, "Guv" was not always at fault for the tries conceded by All Stars, a team that has become synonymous with Stevie Welsh. This week, it was an extravagant dive for a try in the corner, with little points for artistic impression that would appear on the highlight reel.
Last week's second placed team, Fast Busters, suffered a torrid evening without the influential Richie Finlay, shipping 19 scores in two defeats, 9–1 against Jokers and 10–0 facing Barbarians, a far cry from the defensive prowess praised in last week's report. Perhaps it was the new pink strip!
For their part, Jokers showed the form displayed in week one in that match, and while the defeat to Barbarians was not really a surprise, the scoreline, 9–1, reflected more their week two form, which continued when they finished the night losing to Conrads, 5–2, the young, mostly under-16, squad's first victory.
Macca's team almost recorded their first win when they narrowly fell to Big Deal 3–2, in the game that saw the first yellow card, but they did end the evening with their first positive result, a 3–3 draw with Devenish College in a thrilling game, but still that first win eludes them.
One team that did record their first win was Bandits, who started with a good win, 7–2, over Big Deal, before losing a very close tussle with Clubman Select 1–0, resplendent in their new lime-green, Tickety-Moo, sponsored strip.
Game of the night was undoubtedly Starsky & Touch's meeting with Devenish College, with Kenny's troops taking the honours with the solitary score. A great match with both sides trying everything to make the break. Starsky & Touch have plenty of talent; they just need to harness this and bring the girls into play more, as they risk playing as five against seven.
So, a good night for Barbarians, who despite the absence of flying winger Jimmy Moore for the second week running (did he really forget last week?) added 19 scores in two games.
Perhaps the organiser needs to look into some handicapping system. Oh, I forgot the organiser plays for Barbarians!
Insight of the night was probably Robbie Watson of Barbarians complaining that the team conceded a try against Jokers, the first in five games. Seeking perfection or what?
OTHER RESULTS
Clubman Select – 2, Conrads – 0
All Stars – 7, Macca's – 3
All Stars – 3, Devenish College – 1
Starsky & Touch – 3, Big Deal - 1
The top four remain the same, just the order has changed,
Barbarians 32 points
All Stars 27
Devenish College 23
Fast Busters 20
YOUTH RUGBY
Last Friday, 15th June, saw the youth section run a barbecue at the rugby club. The event started at 7.00pm with an exhibition touch rugby match, followed by a match between next season's Portora 1st XV and Enniskillen's U-18s, 'the re-match'.
