v Carlow
(13 Sep 2009)
As soon as the Autumn internationals came to a crescendo, attention was naturally always going to switch to Belfield Park and the Superbowl for Sundays J1 Metro Fixture between UCD and Carlow RFC. Two teams vying to face each other again – one to avenge their earlier defeat in Oak Park at the beginning of the season, the other to regain a foothold on the summit of the table, which slipped away the week previous.
All the talk in the papers this week was, of course, of the surprise re-inclusion of Peter “Pistol” Riordan, into the match day squad, but few could have predicted that the impact he could have from a starting berth. Obviously his loan spell has served his confidence well, and showed himself to be sharp and enthusiastic throughout. This was to be the first of many surprise inclusions from budding coach and mentor Daragh Geraghty.
The fearsome combination in the respective coaching and management hot-seats of the Geraghty Brother Grimm, which, as many of you may remember, raised fierce scrutiny and pressure in both the print and online media at the start of the season, should certainly now been quelled, if not completely extinguished, as College sit comfortably with the jewels of the league. Question marks are bound to have overshadowed the (considerably) older brother Shane’s return to management after brief spells with Lansdowne U-14’s and Royal Antwerp, but with his continued effort, they have shown together a tight, if not somewhat ambiguous, bond together.
The team have reacted well to the new approach; last years shackles of structure which plagued the previous management regime under Graham Jones, have been kicked off as ‘collidge’, much like the current Irish team are looking to keep the ball off the deck and play what’s in front of them. “He basically just told us to get amongst it”, Rory Allwright, centre and last years player of the year explained to me.
The match started at a ferocious pace, with Carlow taking the upper hand, given to them like a subservient schoolboy, from UCD’s mistakes, they pulled the child around with all it’s might for the first ten minutes.
Collidge then began to put some phases together, great work on the deck from the ever present Wesley Carter, Stephen O’Dwyer and William “studs” Hutch creating some much needed power. Rob Shanley, who personally asked for a mention, played ok. I have included his own report , which he asked to be included here. “Rob Shanley got totally amongst it, he was sheer class, whipped this ball away like a medium to fast paced blender, with nearly brand new Duracell batteries. His composure and exuberance at the breakdown was exceeded only by his tenacity and vigour at the contact area,, certainly one to watch for the future”.
The raucous student crowd, for parts of the game nearing 30-40, (mostly due to the shortcut for the Astro pitches behind) didn’t have to wait long for the first score which Kyle Koppemal produced. A scintillating break from right to left, beginning with neat soft hands from the graceful Arthur Houlihan (obviously invested in some fairy liquid of late), fed the festive Lawrence McKenna into a powerful burst, which brought play into the Carlow half. Some neat interplay in the centres, from Crash ball merchant, David Gibbs, created the space to free the second fasted South African winger, for his first touchdown. BOOM! 7-0.
Kyle Kopperberg got his second shortly after as did William Hutch, before Carlow took advantage of a loose kick from the college defence to open their account. The conversion under the posts was missed, owing to a strong wind.
UCD managed one more score through the legs, body and indeed arms, feet and hands of Robert Ensor who was energetic and gorgeous throughout the game.
The half time orange pieces, vitamin shots and Powerade were plied into the tank at the interval, (mostly by manager Shane Geraghty who hadn’t eaten since kick off), and the second half got underway.
For a man whose name is difficult to spell, he certainly makes you practise it, Kyle Copperface, again on the score-sheet showing why Peter DeVilliers and South African rugby are playing an uphill battle with the ban on overseas player being selected.
All of the above was to emerge as merely the poor first act in a Blackrock inspired Shakespearian performance in the final Quarter.
Carlow upped the intensity with 10 to go, only trailing by 37 points, they pulled one back, as momentum began to shift. Cometh the hour and Cometh the man, further evidence of the revolutionary man-management and courage shown by gritty coach Daragh Geraghty is illustrated as he looks to stalwart, brethren and most importantly quasi-father of this Young UCD team, Shane Geraghty.
His impact was evident from the start, unsuccessfully diving into tackles showing complete disregard for his almost certainly frail body, he bullied and panted his way slowly but surely around the pitch. When he wasn’t smashing into rucks and mauls, he was back defending, always seemingly the last man in defence, and then supporting brilliant in attack. His chance was to come.
The move was straight from the training paddock, only this time it was a proper call not just Shane screaming “give me the f&*^ng ball”. Lineout darts from rejuvenated Barry Lynch, to the stretching James Hayes, produced quality ball off the top for blow-in Mark Buckley. The initial break was made from Sligo native Simon Gillespie who broke the first tackle effortlessly, and threw the final reverse spirit-fingered pop-pass back into Geraghty. From an ambiguous distance, “Gero” sped from side to side, forward and back, finally catching the ball into his greasy palms, shirks off the first tackle, ties his shoe-lace and continues towards the try line, again at ambiguous speeds, to score not only the finest try of the match but the moral victory as well.
The people’s champion showed again, in a Giggsesque beforemance that age is a barrier for no man. Notable performers on the day were the front row of Lawrence McKenna, Barry Lynch and Gavin Telford. UB40 fan Gavin Telford has excelled in his recent move to tight-head prop, and owes a severe degree of gratitude to triumvirate of Conor Mitchell, Ger Moran and Edward Conlon who have taken Gavin under their considerably sized wings of late.
Eddie Conlon was superb down the touchline all game, creating many scoring opportunities for Simon Gillespie, until he was made redundant in the final ten.
UCD: Lawrence McKenna (Ger Moran 65), Barry Lynch, Gavin Telford, James Hayes, Arthur Houlihan, Stephen O’Dwyer, William Hutch, Wes Carter, Rob Shanley (Mark Buckley 75), Simon Gillespie, Robbie Ensor (Shane Geraghty 79), Rory Allwright, David Gibbs, Peter O’Riordan (Karl Shirran 75), Kyle Koppehmal.
Coach: Daragh Geraghty.