v Bective Rangers
UCD U20 B’S 27 - 10 BECTIVE RANGERS
On a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon in Thornfield UCD Under 20 B’s put in a very impressive performance to beat a very determined Bective side, twenty seven points to ten. Both the result and the performance ensured that Collidge reached the Christmas break in fine form and yesterday’s match also helped banish the memories of last weeks loss to Blackrock.
Collidge dominated the match for long periods thanks to a very good performance from the pack where everyone contributed, none more so than tight head prop Kieran Finlayson who was playing with a damaged ankle (Kieran said he hurt it at training – but rumor has it the injury occurred down at 7-up on ice when he was attempting a difficult triple axle jump under the guidance of his figure skating coach David Murphy (is there nothing this man cannot coach?)). Other stand out performances amongst the forwards were the ever impressive Neil Halligan, James Hayes in the second row and all three members of the back row, captain Maurice Deasy, Jack ‘Hulk’ Hogan and Philip Lewis.
Thanks to the forwards performance in the scrums where they had Bective under pressure for most of the game and out of touch where hookers Ruairi Moore and Rob Hannon regularly found their jumpers the UCD backs were able to move the ball and attack Bective out wide. The quick service from scrum half Stephen Hemmingway meant that out half Ross O’Brien (fresh from his birthday visit to the Gaiety panto) could frequently release his backs where Peter Condon once again impressed at outside centre. The back three of Colm ‘motor mouth’ McSharry, Eddie Fox and Conor ‘Scott Gibbs’ Allen dealt with anything Bective threw at them. One superb ‘mark’ from Fox and a quick tap and go lead to a brilliant counter attack that nearly resulted in a length of the pitch try for UCD.
Collidge’s scores in the first half came from Colm McSharry who did very well to finish in the bottom left hand corner, Conor Allen and Peter Condon, none of the difficult conversions were successful so Collidge lead fifteen nil at half time.
Bective started the second half very well but Collidge’s defensive line held firm and Bective were only able to come away with three points. Collidge managed to soak up more pressure from Bective without conceding any points and replied with two well taken tries from McSharry and Condon again. Deep in injury time Bective scored a very soft (from Collidge’s point of view) consolation try. On the whole it was a very good performance but it really is a case of what might have been had we managed to beat both Newbridge and Coolmine earlier in the season.
The lads deserve special praise for their efforts this week as they are all in the middle of numerous exams, not only did they play yesterday but there was also a full turn out at training on Thursday night.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank John McClean for his continuous support, Dr. Tom Field and physio Rachel Burke for their expertise, all the parents for their support, Pete Herangi for his assistance and all the lads for their efforts so far this season.
We are scheduled to play Trinity on Sunday January 20th in Belfield, we are hoping to move this game to the preceding Friday night, January 18th where all support would be most welcome.
I am sure you will also be glad to hear that Joe Mackenzie is recovering from his broken jaw. Joe broke his jaw in three places last week in a brave tackle against Blackrock and was operated on last week. Many thanks again to John and Peter Clarke for their assistance with the commerce faculty. We continue to wish Joe all the best in his recovery and hope he gets the wire removed in time to enjoy his Christmas dinner.
Also the lads send their best wishes (as opposed to the pizza they sent to Joe) to Pete Herangi for his forthcoming wedding in December and they have promised not to crash the wedding afters!!
Finally I would like to wish all the members of UCD RFC a very happy Christmas and a successful 2008.