Athy 1sts (10) vs Clondalkin (22)

Clondalkin 1st team overcame Athy by a score of 22-10 at the Showgrounds last weekend. The scoreline does not do justice to the efforts of Athy particularly in the second half but is testament to the growing resilience in Clondalkin as they had to endure wave after wave of attack in the last twenty minutes to secure this victory.

Clon got off to the ideal start with Captain Dan Fitzpatrick leading from the front, or should we say back of the maul, to touch down for Clons opener following a dominant drive by the pack of forwards. Chris Jebb, who is fast becoming the youngest ever legend in Clondalkin history, slotted the resulting conversion. Clon dominated possession and territory for most the first half and were rewarded with some magical breaks by the Nolan Sisters who made the wing berth their own with some elusive running lines. Clon were rewarded for their efforts when Jebb slotted a penalty after half an hour. Athy fought their way back into the game and forced a penalty to take the score to 10-3 going into the break.

Clon continued their dominance into the opening 20 of the second and a mesmeric run from Niall Nolan saw him set up Clons second try of the game. Jebb converted and the score was now 17-3. It was time now for coach Rob Hayes to introduce Tom Duffy off the bench who brought a new meaning to move ‘scream ball’ when he charged screaming like a banshee for twenty metres only for Mark Molloy to dummy a pass to him instead going to Chris Jebb who unleashed a blistering backs move to see Andy Dixon storm over in the corner. The score was now 22-3.

Clon’s defense was put under serious pressure in the last twenty minutes of the game and some tough tackling from Kev Kelly, Ciaran Cullen, and Ray Kelly helped Clondalkin withstand some tough running from a fit Athy side. The most bone crunching tackle of the day however is undisputedly the bone crunching tackle of Paul McDermott on the Athy fullback. Athy eventually broke through when their small first centre managed to power step an un-named Clondalkin player to take Athy all the way to the line only to be caught on the line by Mark Molloy. This only slowed up the inevitable and Athy recycled the ball quickly to bring the score to 22-10. The game was brought to an end with a Chris Jebb knock on, a move than cost him an error free game.

Captain Dan Fitzpatrick had this to say after the game, “Right, I know it was me who the centre bounced for their try and I looked ridiculous falling backwards but everybody is entitled to make one mistake right. Mine was that missed tackle right. For the rest of the boys it was not showing up in Citywest on Friday night. After today, there is no room for any more mistakes, right. We are in good shape to start this season and the addition of new faces like Blue Wicked Andy have really had a positive effect on the team”.

Coach Rob Hayes added to this by saying “The lads can achieve anything they believe they can achieve. Its what goes on in their heads that really count”. Lets hope he’s not talking about Carl Crazy Horans who’s thoughts have gone overdrive in Thailand.

Roll on the long trip to Longford.

Added by Murts September 16, 2009 (5:43PM)

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