Clondalkin 2nd XV (6) vs Newbridge (15)

Click on continue reading for full article by Jonny Stapleton

It was a case of plenty of fight but little flair as a very strong Clondalkin second team fell foul to Newbridge during their opening encounter of the season in Gordon Park Wednesday evening.

Clondalkin never looked over awed against their Kildare visitors and more than held their own despite being pitted against divisionally superior opposition. But the Gordon Park outfit created very little chances and shipped the result by conceding two soft tries.

A lack of cohesion and structure made irrelevant the abundance of talent the Clon side had at their disposal, as a second string loaded with first team hopefuls fired attacking blanks.

Right from the off the hosts dominated territory and looked solid if not spectacular. The early exchanges however were marred by interruptions and Clon’s attacking game suffered.

With proceedings more stop start than a traffic jammed hindered Red Cow roundabout the Gordon Park side couldn’t get any sort of pattern in their play.

Individual stars shone on occasion but there were no constellations as the team failed to shine in unison and struggled to gel.

Alan Hickey did convert a penalty after good Philly Bynre and Dave McGarry work to give the hosts a deserved lead after 15 minutes.

Clon continued to dominate territory and possession as the half wore on with John Nolan impressive under the high ball and Hickey kicking to good effect, but they struggled to string any phases together and as a result failed to increase their advantage.

With the likes of McGarry, Paul Hickey, Alan O’Brien, Eddie Dunne and Sean Brennan amongst others making tackles the home side also looked relatively comfortable without the ball. However heads began to drop slightly when they failed to take advantage of favourable possession.

And Newbridge soon took advantage and punished some lack play by levelling with a penalty before going further ahead via a very soft try.

The Kildare men’s big flanker sold what proved to be three very expensive dummies before almost walking home from the 22 to make it 8-3 as half time approached.

Hickey took advantage of some fine ruck play by last terms captain Derek Murtagh reduce the arrears via a penalty. A half break by the out half then resulted in Clons best attack of the half and almost produced a try for Brennan.

With a packed bench Clon made a numerous changes at the break and it had an instant effect. With new blood eager to impress the tempo was picked up instantly. Ollie MeGraw was set free from his restricting front row role and made some big if borderline late and high tackles in the opening minutes, whilst Chris Kelly added a combative dimension to the backline.

Clon also began to dominate come ruck time. Thanks to the likes of Kevin Cullen, Murtagh, Brennan and sub Conor McAuley they began to turn over ball, but once in possession they struggled to impose themselves

Meanwhile Newbridge took full advantage of the elements and pinned Clon in their own half.

The hosts were pinned on their own line and intially repelled all attacking advances with impress vigour and organisation. But after weathering the storm they sprung a leek during a summer rain shower and gifted their visitors with a second soft try. This time Newbridge extended their lead thanks to an intercept.

Conceding such a score seemed to rally the host and they did finish the tie very strong. Dave Gaule made a number of impressive breaks in the latter stages and first team regular Seany Brennan began to show his leadership qualities.

Last terms third team top scorer Simon Cumminsky also made an impressive cameo off the bench, as did Mark Quinlan and the pack as a whole began to impress. Derek Murtagh even avoided a bust up after an opposition player bit his finger!

However despite their late dominance ring rust prevented Clondalkin from reducing their arrears and registering a deserved score. They did however manage the next best thing and gave some debuts to new blood and all bodes well for Cill Dara next weekend.

Added by Murts August 30, 2009 (6:32PM)

This article hasn't been commented yet.

Have a comment? Please register