This was not an easy day for the squad who have had a superb run up to now. No matter what way we look at this, the home side were hungrier from the get go and wanted this more.
While the conditions were truly awful to start with, their more weighty pack made the difference in what was never going to be a rugby spectacle.
They started with almost a full press forward game and with wet conditions aiding the forward play our scrums came under pressure early on.
Aided by a wind that sheared diagonally across the pitch, the first half was spent almost entirely in our half.
We made hard work of our clearances and their back row left little to take around the fringes.
Emboldened by their strong scrummaging they opted for the corner when awarded a penalty for Coolmine going in at the side.
The resulting drive from their take-down in the lineout wasn't met quickly enough by us and they steamrolled in for their first try: 7-0 to the good with conversion.
We weren't clicking like normal and spent much of the half defending, some times quite well, others not so.
There were a couple of flashes of that high tempo game we've made our own in that opening period but the slippery conditions made hard work of any fast play and inevitably ended up in a set piece where we were struggling.
It wasn't all one way in the scrum with Coolmine getting a couple over on Wicklow as well but their back row and back three kept the pressure on both at the break down and out wide and we failed to get any rythm going. 
A brighter period for Coolmine coincided with the brighter weather which cleared up but the big boot of their full back kept us pinned back in our own half and a knock on in our 22 gifted them a scrum. From this they were awarded a penalty - 10 - 0 to Wicklow
Coolmine go back up into again and pushed hard, winning a penalty which went to their corner but the ball was adjudged not straight which confounded us watching the game and they were let off. Probably the best chance of the game for us to score as we had played much better for that period.
A big scrum almost won us the ball back and we up the pressure but they managed to clear all the way back to our 22.
A scrum to them in front of the posts and a try worked from it, was a bit of a spirit crusher as we had made all the play before that. 17 - 0 to them.
The second half saw a much improved performance from Coolmine and we shut them out for long periods but we really only edged our way into a scoring chance perhaps twice in that second half.
Greg Culhane put in a storming final 15 with one wonderful solo turnover effort.
I counted about one penalty to us for that period (we opted for the corner) and maybe half a dozen at least to Wicklow.
They crossed for a scrappy try after what looked like a cross over by them but our protests came to nothing.
22 - 0 it stayed for the rest of the game with most of the play in the middle of the pitch - Wicklow not really able to get anymore on us but Coolmine looking like we didn't have the ammo to test them.
Our one clear chance saw the ball rifled behind the runner into touch on their 5 metre line - it summed up our day.
Malahide won't be any easier.
Need to hit the reset button and get back into our win mode asap.
Final score Coolmine 0 - Wicklow 22
