Clondalkin 3rds (18) vs Sutton 3rds (10)

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A makeshift Clondalkin 3rd team defeated Suttonians by a scoreline of 18-10 with tries from the six minute man Murph, Mark Molloy and Steven Tyndall.

Clondalkin 3rds, who are reeling from the shock retirement of talismatic captain Jeff Gallagher, got off to the best possible start after a cross field kick from utility back Mark Molloy was caught one handed by debutant Steven Kenny who selflessly passed to the onrushing Alan Murphy who was returning after a two year absence to stroll over for one of the easiest tries to be seen in Gordon Park history. Murph then celebrated in unique style by running directly for the showers and getting changed out of his playing gear. According to the girls this is the longest that Six Minute Murph has ever lasted.

Suttonians were down but not out and were looking for something special from the re-start to get them back into the game. This came from the most ubusual or should we say usual of sources, Tom ‘The Dropper’ Duffy. The Suttonians outhalf kicked the ball high toward The Dropper who rose god like into the air, with some saying he went as high as five inches off the ground, with one hand blocking the sun from his eyes and the other focused on the ball only to allow the ball bounce off his chest and travel at least 30 meters forward. The Dropper, who is leading up Clondalkins quest to enter the Guinness book of records in November with the 5000 tackles challenge, may want to contact Guinness to see if he set the record for the furthest knock on in rugby history. Suttonians were gifted a scrum on the 22 metre line and only resolute defending from outhalf Mark Molloy and his backrow colleagues of Steven Tyndall, Jeff Cribbon and Damien O'Brien kept Sutton at bay. In fact it was a hardhitting tackle from Cribbon that forced the turn over which allowed Wicklow star and fullback Kieran Jones clear the lines.

Clondalkin then began a period of concerted dominance and were unlucky to miss out on several try scoring opportunities before Tyndall barreled over the line with assistance from scrumhalf Mark Quinlan. Clon quickly followed up Tyndalls try with a moment of individual magic that saw Mark Molloy cross the line from his very own show and go. Clon into the break 15-3 up.

Manager Sid Stapleton made wholesale changes to the team at half time and this appeared to have an unsettling effect on the team as they lost all their continuity from the first half and began coughing up easy possession. Sutton dominated for the first 30 minutes of second half before the Clondalkin defence gave way resulting in the Sutton second row squeezing over for a well deserved converted try. The game was now set of for a climactic finish with the score 15-10 with 10 minutes to go. However, Neil O’Hara was not about to allow Sutton steal victory and immediately forced a penalty from a beautiful Kieran Jones restart. The new guy who’s name will be filled in at a later date stepped up and slotted the 40m penalty to bring Clon home to an 18-10 win.

Sid Stapleton had this to say after the game “The first game of the season is always difficult especially given the loss of some key players from last year but we had a lot of new faces who stepped up to the mark. I wouldn’t like to single anybody out but Dave Gilmore and Steven Kenny in particular had terrific games today. Credit must also go to the supporters today with well over 100 people showing up to watch this game. Next up is Terenure this Saturday coming so we better be prepared”.

Captain Mark Molloy had this to say following the game “I bet you that Al O’Brien doesn’t even last five minutes on Sunday and I’ll have to play another full game”. Markies prediction was ominous as Al get injured in the warm up on Sunday and indeed he did have to play another full game on Sunday after being substituted early on in the game.

Added by Murts September 15, 2009 (2:42PM)

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