v Coolmine
UCD under 20 B 5 - 10 Coolmine RFC
There was once again a sense of bitter disappointment and frustration for the under 20 B’s yesterday as the final whistle was blown in Coolmine. Where last weeks match was a game we should have won this was a game we could have won only for Collidge to be held up over the Coolmine line in the very last play of the game.
Despite being under immense pressure in the first half as Coolmine monopolised both territory and possession Collidge were just three points down at half time thanks to a penalty from the Coolmine out half. The defensive effort led by the second row pairing of James McAlister and Sean Daly and marshaled by scrum half Chris Spellman was outstanding as Collidge repelled anything Coolmine offered in attack. Despite being under pressure in the scrum UCD were able to clear the ball away a number of times thanks to the efforts of outstanding number 8 Jack Hogan and the safe hands of out half Ross O’Brien and centre Pete Condon.
After the break Collidge started to secure some possession and gain a territorial footing in the Coolmine half but unfortunately we would lose possession or take the wrong option and Coolmine were able to clear the play downfield. From these clearances Collidge attempted to counter attack at every opportunity through the back three of Eddie Fox, Colm McSharry and Conor Allen.
Thanks largely to the strong boot of their Out Half Coolmine were finally able to get into the UCD half but Coolidge’s defence was more than capable of dealing with these attacks. With approximately twenty minutes to go UCD Captain Maurice Deasy turned over a Coolmine attack and Collidge attacked the right hand touchline. Unfortunately possession was once again lost and Coolmine were able to counter attack from just inside their own half. To their credit Coolmine took advantage of the numerical mismatch created by the turnover and they finished very well despite the efforts of replacement Stephen Hemmingway and full back Fox. Coolmine duly converted to make the score ten nil.
From the restart UCD attacked Coolmine and were able to build some pressure. An attack down the left hand touchline saw UCD replacement Kevin Haugh being high tackled and Ross O Brien’s resulting penalty kick hit the left hand upright. The rebounding ball fell kindly to Coolmine who were able to clear the danger. Collidge were able to secure possession from the line out and after maintaining this possession through a number of phases a clever chip from centre Peter Condon caused confusion in the Coolmine defence which enabled Colm McSharry to touch down for UCD in the right hand corner.
Unfortunately UCD were unable to get the score that would have tied the match, a driving UCD maul was stopped (illegally) short of the line but Collidge were unable to get the ball down over the Coolmine line despite huge efforts from Jack Hogan, Kieran Finlayson and Conor Allen. The final drive was held up over the line and when the referee blew the final whistle it was another case of what might have been.
Once again the effort and desire of the players should be commended and hopefully with a bit of luck we will get the win against DLSP in our next match in two weeks time.
A special note of thanks to Vinny Hammond for his assistance yesterday and to the medical team of Rachel Burke and Dr. Tom Field for the efforts during a very busy afternoon.
Man of the Match for UCD was number eight Jack Hogan.
Ian Wyse