Roscrea 2nds (11) vs Clondalkin 2nds (12)

2nds Report: Roscrea, 17th January 2010.

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Despite been almost at full strength Clondalkin 2nds struggled to produce a performance that they have become accustom to, in their search for league honours. Poor discipline, cost the away side with Captain Kev Cullen giving away the 2nd of two early infringements that saw them trail 6-0 after the opening exchanges. From then on Clon wrestled the upper hand in the half, with Dave Behan and the returning Dave Gaule looking dangerous throughout and the Clon pack keeping their side on the front foot. As the half drew to a close, this pressure was rewarded, when well timed passes from both Andy Tyndall and Dave Gaule went to hand leaving club legend Pauly Fitzgerald exploit a huge overlap in defence to race clear, and opening the visitors account with a 60 yard run. Tyndall was off target with the conversion into a strong wind, leaving the narrowest of margins between the two at 6-5 at the turnaround.

A big heart to heart was had at half time, with both coach Rob Hayes and the captain raising hairs on the players necks, and removing any post xmas hangover. And it worked with Clon scoring a wonderful team try within in minutes of the kick off, a well won lineout by flanker Paul Hickey, gave the backline the clean ball they thrive on, and a wide pass from scrum half Mark Duggan and beautifully timed Tyndall pop allowed Dave Behan to split the defence, and when the “dreamboat” found Ali Collier in support just five metres from the line with no defence in sight. However, it would appear that Roscrea had a sniper hiding in the trees as Collier immediately fell to the ground as though he had been shot. To his credit he crawled through the muck and dirt to touch the ball down to register Clons second try. Physio Deirdre came rushing on expecting the worst but was relieved to realise that it was nothing more than the fact that Ali had lost his balance when he caught the ball.

As you would expect in such a tight affair, the senior members of the squad stood up to be counted for with the likes of Bren Ward & Finbarr Butler putting in overtime at the coal face and a barnstorming run from prop James Kenny looked to take the game out of reach of the home side. However, a slip in concentration in the Clondalkin backrow, allowed the Roscrea scrum half race clear to dot down to leave the scores at 12-11 with 15 minutes still to play. But Clondalkin were able raise their game and called for reinforcements, with firstly Conor Maloney and then Bobby Smyth and Straight Jacket McKenna all having a big impact of the bench and again turned the match in the favour of the away side. However they never put the game to bed as dogged defence by the home side meant they were unable to turn pressure into points and in a cruel twist almost had the tie snatched away at the death. As early candidate for player of the year, Simon Cummiskey was the most relived man in the ground, as a late penalty attempt drifted wide after his indiscretion.

Clondalkin will be delighted to get out of Tipperary with another win, but will have to improve vastly on this performance if they are to keep the heat on Athy in the race for top spot. The league seems to be heading for a mouthwatering head to head clash between the two on 7th of March in Gordan Park.

Player watch this week focussed on the returning outhalf Dave Gaule who managed to register his first full 80 minutes in the past five years after finally overcoming dogged shoulder injuries. Gaule put in a faultless first half performance but he became more and more erratic and unpredictable as the game went on into the second half. This is understandable for a man who doesn’t know what it like to hear a half time team talk so its understandable that he lost his composure. Better luck next time.

Added by Murts January 21, 2010 (8:29AM)

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