Clondalkin 2nds (27) vs Athy (16)

Provisional Seconds Leinster League Division 2
Jonny Stapleton

Clondalkin Seconds took control of their league title destiny in Gordon Park last Sunday replacing their most recent opponents Athy at the top of the table via yet another impressive victory.

If the league title was Clons to gain prior to kick off it is certainly theirs to loose after the well deserved win. As it stands now victory in their remaining three games will see Clondalkin seconds collect league honours for the first time in ten years and their first ever Division 2 crown.

Captain Kevin Cullen ensured there was more build up to this game than there was building in Dublin during the Celtic Tiger years and that added pressure seemed to negatively effect the hosts. The occasion got to Clondalkin and they fell behind to a well executed Athy maul after just five minutes and failed to impose themselves on the game early on.

There were some fine individual moments from the likes of Conor Maloney, Paul Hickey, Ray Kelly and Conor Caslin but the fact they were all of a defensive nature highlights Athy’s early dominance. Player of the month Andy Tyndall, whose kicking has been of the match winning kind of late, maintained his rich vein of penalty form to reduce the deficit to two.

That effort seemed to settle Clon’s nerves and they began to impress with, rather than, without the ball for the first time. Bren Ward came off the bench to resolve all line-out issues and Clon began to dominate. Lee Beresford nearly added the finishes touches a neat back line move but true to form butchered the move before Clon eventually took the lead.

An Andy Tyndall charge led to the full back winning a penalty it looked like he would slot over to make it 6-3, but Clon had other ideas. The scrum half put a certain three points in jeopardy by tapping and going but turned from crowd villain to leading man after his quick thinking eventually resulted in James Kenny finishing from close range.

Andy Tyndall added the extras and a penalty before half time to leave it 13-5 to the host at the turn around. With top of the table up for grabs Athy were certainly not going to give up and they did their best to back into the tie after the restart.

Tensions were certainly high and Clon’s credentials were certainly tested. It was an exam they passed however as the visiting early onslaught only yielded three points thanks particularly to the experience of Finbarr Butler and the brilliance of Hickey and Kelly in the home backrow. The flanker and number eight were having a personal dual for the man of the match title Hickey impressing the judges with continuous and regular jabs whilst Kelly hits albeit less frequent were of the knock out variety.

Indeed one ‘Razor’ Kelly hit nearly sliced an opposing centre in two and set the tone for the entire second half. The sides then exchanged penalties and some blows as the score board was pushed to 16-11 and the player count to 15-14, both in Clon’s favour. With a man advantage after the visiting outside centre saw yellow Clon began to dominate and Ali Collier and Dave Beehan benefited form some fine Paul Fitzgerald work to win the hosts a close range penalty.

Eoin McGuire, who was direct and aggressive after he came off the bench and back from his rugby sabbatical, took the tap and crashed into the opposing pack before Butler took the quickly recycled ball and brought it over the white wash via two tacklers, making it 21-11 in the process. This try sees Butler take over Mick O'Briens long held record as the oldest Clondalkin player to score a try in a league match.

Athy did attempt a comeback but missed a kickable opportunity and in truth Clon looked defensively sound. Kelly continued to excel and was more lance than torn in Athy’s side while underage graduate Bobby Smith won some important penalties continuing to impress in his freshman year. The backline also saw a lot more of the ball and marshalled by Dave Gaule began to express themselves in the form of attacks.

It was second row Butler however who provided the magic for the hosts third try. Again Maguire carried in a close range penalty and again Butler collected quick ball, but rather than dart for the line himself he put it on a plate for the try hungry Beehan to devour. Clon did push unsuccessfully for a bonus point try but were delighted the replaced the opponents at the top of the table after the turn.

It was a victory however they were allowed to enjoy for all of 30 seconds. “That was a great win and I want to thank everyone involved for the effort. But we have to forget about that win now and look forward. Lets focus on our next challenge. We need a big effort from everyone to win our next three games and to win the league,” Cullen explained.

Player watch focussed on Man of the match and player of the month Andy Tyndall. Tyndall has been in impressive form for a number of games now and was again the main reason why Clon took victory with a near perfect kicking game. The performance was reminiscent of his Leinster youth days and was of such a high standard that Kevin Laide could even be seen cheering him on. Tyndall had this to say his when presented with his player of the month award "Mammy will be happy when she see's my trophy. I'm going home to show her now".

Added by Murts March 10, 2010 (5:50PM)

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