U20 B 6 – 3 Dublin University
On a bitterly cold Sunday afternoon in Belfield the 20B’s held off the strong challenge of Dublin University to maintain their 100% record for the season. This was as tough a match as the 20 B’s have faced all year and it was not until around ten minutes to go that Collidge managed to take the lead. As the score suggests this was a very tight game where both sets of players fronted up and provided an absorbing match for the many spectators (who had all survived the treacherous journey out to Thornfield). Amongst the spectators was ex Collidge star Karl Finnegan who came to see his nephew James play, James played one of his best games yesterday and should see that fifty euro his uncle promised him.
Trinity with the wind at their backs had the better of the first half as Collidge’s lack of discipline at the breakdown continually gave away both possession and field position. Thanks to a penalty kick from their out half Trinity took a three nil lead. Trinity had Collidge scrambling on at least two occasions when a combination of good Trinity play & defensive lapses let Trinity in behind the UCD defense but thanks to some excellent cover work from the UCD back three of James Finnegan, David Fahy & Shane O’Connor the Collidge line remained intact.
UCD started to gain a foothold in the game thanks to some strong ball carries by the forwards, with Richie Whelan, Daryl (with a Y) Quinn and Eoin Daly to the fore. However any time UCD got into a dangerous position poor discipline (again……) let Trinity off the hook and after one too many penalties UCD’s hooker Neil Foley found himself in the bin.
The half time score remained at three nil and Killian Keane and his friends in the Setanta Sports studio were struggling for highlights to review during the half time break.
Two Ross ‘Torres’ O’Brien penalties saw UCD home in the second half. Thanks to some fine relieving kicks from out half Daniel Clifford UCD were able to play predominantly in the Trinity half but some good Trinity defence and some poor decision making from UCD prevented Collidge from getting over the Trinity line. Second half replacements Fergal Lynch & Robbie Field made an impact for UCD and Robbie after surviving a week on the Black runs of Morzine found his afternoon cut short when he had to depart early after injuring his ankle following a marvelous break that lead to the second UCD penalty.
Trinity threw everything at Collidge in the closing moments but some strong defense saw UCD home. Collidge lead the table and look set for a home semi final when the league finishes in early March. As has been the case all season every squad member contributed to Sunday’s victory and we would like to thank all those who came out and supported us yesterday, it was very much appreciated.
Also many thanks to those who organized the reception for the under 20 parents, on a day when all three under 20 teams played at home it was by all accounts a very successful event.
Under 20 squad v Dublin University:
Kieran Finlayson, Fergal Lynch, Neil Foley, Philip McCarthy, Mike O’Sullivan, Eoin Daly, Sean Tevlin, Robbie Field, Richie Whelan, Maurice Deasy, Daryl Quinn, Tim Gleeson, Mark Conway, Sam Ethell, Daniel Clifford, Ross O’Brien, James Finnegan, Shane O’Connor, David Fahy, Paul Reddy, Sean Conway, Joe Mackenzie.