UCD J1 v Barnhall J1 Parsonstown
This week the University College Dublin Rugby team made the arduous trip to the west of the city to Parsonstown to play Barnhall in a fixture which has historically been a bruising encounter.
Barnhall knocked UCD out of the metro cup the last time these sides met in the 2009 season so revenge must have been on the minds in the opening quarter.
UCD started brightly and struck first through a 30m Peter Condon penalty, who recovered well from an earlier miss, which he was expected to knock over easily…but didn’t. Condon ended the day with a remarkable 17-point haul.
Obviously the seedy undertone leading into this match surrounded the furore of red-top newspaper allegations involving James “Terry” Hayes and an unnamed Fiery-haired front rower, whose milkshake failed to bring this girl back to the yard. Credit must go to the mediation skills of both coach and manager Daragh and Shane Geraghty whose work with both sides’ representatives throughout the ordeal appears to have brought it to resolution and kept it for the most part behind considerably sized closed doors.
This unity paid dividends after 12 minutes, after some great work in the scrum from Conor Mitchell and Gerard Moran UCD edged up on the right side, which released the dynamic back-row of Wes Carter and the ironically named Joey Slowey. Quick ball ensued, and the final pass spun out wide from Fionn to Peter Riordan who danced along the right touch line to score his first ever try in senior rugby.
It was a tribute to the man who has come through so much adversity in an admittedly short career to date, battling against the elements and playing without his usual back-three partner and mentor Simon Gillespie. We wish Peter a speedy recovery from what looked like a suspicious hamstring injury late on in the match, whilst chasing an apparently lost cause, such is his commitment to the cause Riordan never let up even when the attacker was a full 15 yards past him.
The next UCD try came from some superb team work; all 15 players getting their hands on the ball. What started from a poor return kick from Barnhall, caught at the back by the magnificent Fionn Carter at the back, throwing a wide pass to Doug Orme-Lynch-Corley-Corley-McSweeney who looked dangerous throughout, led to the ball being retained by some good forward momentum created by Second-Row William Hutch and Maurice Deasy. It was great to see the former reach the full 80 minutes in this fixture, something he has been working towards all year.
Quick ball from James Murray, released the formidable centre partnership of Dave Gibbs and Rory Allwright, who broke through the gain-line like Ashley Cole through his marital vows, with Mark Screech Jennings quick to gather the fast ruck ball and snipe under the posts for a fine team try.
The kicking tee was once again taken on by Joseph McGinley who contributed to a 100% record when he brought the tee in, which he was delighted with. “It’s just great to be even a small part of the team, even though I wasn’t taking the kicks I knew that the confidence which I brought to the kicker didn’t go unnoticed and accounted for at least 50% of the consistency” said the handsome McGinley.
Half time scores 20-5.
The second half was a much more dogged affair, both sides intent on forcing their unique style of play on each other, Barnhall tight aggressive approach against Collidge intent on getting the ball wide at the earliest opportunity.
Both sides were to have their share of luck Barnhall’s second and third try coming from concerted forwards efforts. UCD secured the final bonus point try coming from a fine break from Screech Jennings, carried forward by Orme-Lynch who held the ball up well in the tackle, although failing to release the powerful McGinley on the left wing. Powerful recycling from second-half replacements James McAllister and Eddie Conlon led the play to out-half James Murray who stepped beautifully to evade the ensuing defenders and score under the post to cap of a man-of-the-match performance.
UCD then called on the expertise of Harvard alumni Laurence McKenna to steady the scrum in what at times looked like a scrumaging road show such were the volume of set-pieces. McKenna best known for his steak-eating efforts in the North County Dublin region added some considerable charm and wit to the front row in the late stages.
The final score was 32-17, which leaves UCD in 3rd place now just 2 point behind that elusive play-off position and an inevitable colours derby with Dublin University.
The players would formerly like to welcome back the charismatic, enterprising talent of Joseph McGinley who made his long awaited comeback from an unfortunate ankle injury a mere 150 days after his operation. Whilst not one single player approached him to mention such a magnificent feat on the day, such as McGinley’s impact it needn’t be said, but this columnist feels differently.
Focus now switches to the Metro Cup where the ducks invite Railway union to the UCD Superpond for their 2nd round encounter, where UCD will be hoping to gather a head of steam and forge an elusive extended Metro cup run. Dave Gibbs will hopefully have recovered from what looked like a severe bout of sun stroke in what were incredibly humid conditions; UCD will likely have a full panel to choose from.
Notices:
Eddie Conlon scored a try from 30m. He ran past, say 3? people, and finished it with a hand off. Several people may have cheered.
Last weeks crossword winner was Gavin Telford who won a €20 voucher for Yazoo.
Winner of the next weeks Man-of the match award lotto was Stephen O’Dwyer who will hopefully play next week to collect his award.