North Kildare 2nds (7) vs Clondalkin 2nds (27)

Clondalkn 2nds survived an early scare to tough out a bonus victory over a resiliant North Kildare team. Playing in deadly weather conditions, Clondalkin suffered an early setback with injury to Ray Kelly before the match even started. The cause of the injury has yet to be identified but many in attendance attributed this to the fact that he was forced to sleep in the spare bedroom the night before. The injury meant that Kevin 'Maori' Hanlon was drafted into the starting line up.

Playing in a gale force wind Clon were pinned deep inside their 22 from early on and let in an easy 7 pointer within the first ten minutes after the Kildare centre walked through a misfiring defense. Clon responded well and got a try of their own when Kev Hanlon touched down after the pack had mauled the ball all the way from 30 metres out. This lifted Clons spirits and Dave Behan finished a well worked team that had been set up by Paul 'Dragon' Fitzgerald just before the break.

Clon went into half time 12-7 up. However, Paul Hickey was forced to retire from the game after taking a bang to the head in the first half. Worse news was to follow when Hickey slipped in the showers and knocked himself out thereby pretty much ruling himself out of the upcoming Lalor Cup final. Hickeys replacement was Straighjacket McKenna who in many peoples eyes is a younger version of the great man he replaced. McKenna's first contribution to the game was a bonecracking tackle on the Kildare number 8 who up to that point had been a thorn in Clondalkins side. The 8 spilled the ball in contact, Andy Tyndall kicked through and Paul Fitzgerald managed to intercept the fullbacks desperate pass to stroll over for Clondalkins third try. This try reminds people why Paulie was voted the clubs best fullback of the last century.

Kildare responded well with their pack carrying strong and hard into the wind. However, the Jacket was revelling in the step up to the second team and was intent on making a big impression and almost single handedly prevented Kildare making any meaningful ground. However, the Kildare number 8 was intent on showing that he would not be dominated by Clon and made some decent yards following a massive hand off one on Clondalkins props who'd rather not be named in this report. Kev Cux responded well to the hand off however and picked his game up somewhat for the remaining half hour. A big carry from Cux put Clon into a position where Phily Byrne could cross over from 0.1 metres out. Clon were now 22-7 ahead.

A moment of recklessness at the restart from the impressive Conor Caslin saw him see yellow after he appeared to kiss one of the Kildare players on the lips. This was Caslins last appearance for the seconds but the he made up for this with a strong substitute performance later for the firsts. Despite being down to 14 men, Clon managed to eek another try courtesy of Dave 'Two Score' Behan. With the game sewn up 2nd Team Coach Kenny O'Brien decided to expirement with his back line. Onto the wings came Paddy Curran and Carl Horan who were both keen on making a big impression with the cup final soon to take place. Curran will rue a knock on close when he was within touching distance of the line but not hardly as much as Horan will regret being nutmegged by an Al O'Brien pass or of fumbling the ball as he was about to touch down for try time. Three missed chances took a lot of the gloss off the score.

Captain Kev Cux was happy with the result but still asked for more from his players. "A win of any sort against North Kildare is a good result but i still think theres more to come from the club. Injuries to Ray, Hickey and Gaygo have left us stuck in the back row but i'm glad to say Murtagh, our form player of the season made his return today and will be fit to play a full eighty minutes next week" said a contented Cux.

Coach Kenny O'Brien had the following to say after the game, "If you get a text from Cuxie on Thursday then you better let him know your available by Friday otherwise you'll have to deal with me. All right?".

Added by Murts November 26, 2009 (5:24PM)

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