UCD J1 33 – 11 Naas
UCD welcomed Naas to the Thornfield pitch for what was expected to be a make or break match for the students’ season. With only one win under their belt, UCD were still looking to prove a point and make waves in a league where they are certainly not out of their depth.
In what was an unusual luxury, manager Graham Jones had the opportunity to choose an unchanged team from the week before; that was until Sunday morning where Gavin “buzz fizz” Telford had to pull out in the pre match warm up. The other late change Rob Shanley was replaced at Scrum Half by Stephan Hannigan, who controlled and distributed well throughout the game.
UCD began brightly, and in the first minute of the game, they were rewarded with a scrum on the edge of the 22, after a swift line break from Centre Rory Allwright shadowed up by Stephen O’Dwyer, who revelled in his role at flanker from his usual second-row berth. This was to be one of the few positive moments in what was a lacklustre first half, as ‘collidge’ ambled and jogged their way through the half without the passion or intensity normally associated with them. Centre Gillespie opened the scoring with a penalty from 35m, but even that couldn’t ignite the young college side who struggled to settle into the game.
Naas were more than plucky in their endeavours and defended admirably committing numbers at every ruck and contesting well, which gave collidge little room for error. Playing up the hill and into a strong wind, Naas battled their way in the UCD 22 and gained themselves a scrum. Their scrum-half made a powerful break down the blindside running over the winger and setting up a platform five metres out. It was from the resulting pick and drives that Naas found the white line and notched the first try of the match. The attempted conversion never troubled the posts, nor anyone within twenty metres of them, and left the scores at 5-3 with ten minutes on the clock.
With territory came the next score and Gillespie added two more penalties; the first of which, into a difficult swirling wind from 40m out, which came as the result of some superb work in the tight from Connor “Mitch “ Mitchell and James “Jambo”, that was to be the end of the scoring of a dour first half.
UCD led at half time 9-8 but certainly couldn’t lie back on their lead, as they gave up the “hill” and the wind advantage, they knew they would have a tough ¾ of an hour ahead of them. “Jonesy” obviously rallied the troops into action as UCD began the second half as a completely different outfit to the first. The commitment and fervour that was lacking in the first half began to shine through as Collidge began to play a more expansive game. After some intelligent movement and quick passing from Mark Buckley and Rory Allwright, in the inside, Kyle Koppehmall took the ball at pace and linked up well with Joe McGinley who broke up his wing and took the play into well inside the Naas half. UCD spent a considerable amount of time in the Naas 22 but were left to rue some missed chances as Naas’ defence stood firm, but the more positive attitude was to bode well for the rest of the half.
UCD eventually did break through the Naas rearguard as David Gillchrist won a scrum against the head, and Nigel Mills put the head down from 10m out powering his way through the helpless winger to get his name on the score sheet for the first time this season. The difficult touchline conversion was missed, so the scores remained tight. Naas, however, regained three points almost immediately after some poor discipline in the tight from college. UCD then seemed to find another gear, as Naas struggled to keep up with the more rapid tempo. The next try came from what would certainly be considered an unlikely source, as Ger “ White Usain Bolt” Moran found a pace and power which surprised even the most optimistic of onlookers, he even had the audacity to step the first defender, before stretching like a pension’s savings after budget day to scramble into the corner.
UCD then began to turn the screw as 1-15 gave their all in the tackle, the breakdown and supporting in attack. After a fine backline move from an attacking lineout, the UCD men swept the ball across the pitch with Buckley commanding the helm, looking more and more the all-round number ten with every game, he hit the oncoming winger Dave at pace, who fed full-back Koppehmal in support who, sensing line was within reach, rejected the overtures from support outside him and weaved his through defence and had the peace of mind to make the extras all that easier for Gillespie under the posts. It was hard to know if it was elation or relief as he touched down, as he may have had one or two questions to answer had he not completed.
Sensing his crown was under threat, and after what was surely a twenty minute rest to recharge the batteries and limbs, Ger Moran found another rare burst of pace from a distance ranging from 20m to 150m depending on who you ask, Moran left the obviously injured limping winger for dead whose crutches got in the way as he leaned to tackle the 18st sprinter. Moran reached speeds not seen on the Thornfield pitch since Aer Lingus changed their flight path to Boston, and showed a clean pair of heels to 29 players as he collapsed over the line liberated by the grass on his face.
College have now began to find form and focus is now shifting to continuing their ascent up the league, with performances improving week-on-week. Optimism and confidence is certainly growing within the camp as they build a momentum for the fast-approaching cup season.
Again thanks must go to all management, backroom team and of course a generous arrangement of supporters who found the time to come out and support the students, on a Heineken Cup weekend. I’m sure they’ll feel somewhat vindicated as scenes like Ger Moran’s fist-pump tries don’t come around too often.