Irish Warriors grind out a tough win against Fiji Tribe
- Monday, August 11 2014 @ 09:13 pm ACST
- Contributed by: Wesley Hull
- Views: 2,137


In the end, this result came down to a simple philosophy enacted in bright sunshine and light winds at the McAlister Oval. The Irish Warriors simply did everything better on the day. The basic three skills – kicking, marking and handballing – were just executed better all day by the Warriors and that was enough for them to grind out a tough win against a very willing opponent.
Initially the game featured the higher skill level of the Irish up against the speed of the Fijians. But the tempo changed when a nasty incident saw one Irish player poleaxed in a crude tackle, leading to a red card send off for the Fijian player. From then the 17 man Tribe squad faced an uphill battle. The Irish players managed to then find space and were cleaner with the ball. They were also winning in the ruck with Padraigh Lucey and Paul O’Halloran just too tall for their opponents and giving Ireland first use of the ball again and again.