BUCCANEERS 20 ST MARY’S COLLEGE 24
BUCCANEERS suffered their first home defeat of the season when going down 24-20 to St. Mary’s College in a competitive Ulster Bank League Division 1B encounter at Dubarry Park. But the Athlone side went down battling in the face of adversity. Starting without playmaker and leading scorer Conor McKeon and injured flanker Rory Moloney, the Pirates then lost Alex Hayman, Kolo Kiripati and Conor Finn through injury in the opening half. And, on top of that, Buccs were down to 14 players following David Heffernan’s sending off after a mere 13 minutes!
St. Mary’s fielded a strong selection with a Leinster/Munster pairing of Darragh Fanning and Ivan Dineen in the centre and former skipper Kevin Sheahan at No.8. Favoured by the light breeze in dull but otherwise ideal conditions, Buccs brightened matters up with their new jerseys and a blistering start as Rory O’Connor continued his try-scoring exploits after just 4 minutes when he finished up some excellent build-up play for a try wide on the right. Alan Gaughan, taking over place-kicking duties in the absence of McKeon, slotted over a fine conversion.
However, matters soon went awry for the hosts when Graham Lynch was sin-binned for a shirt tug seven minutes later. But worse was to swiftly follow when referee Stuart Gaffikin (without any consultations with his touch-judges) deemed a spear-like tackle by Heffernan to be worthy of a red card. Sean Kearns duly slotted the resultant penalty but Buccs held their line intact thereafter while numerically depleted. Indeed, they added to their tally in that period during which Hayman moved to scrumhalf with Ben Carty slotting in at standoff while Scott Flanagan came in as replacement hooker with Ronan Farrell benched. Gaughan landed a 19th minute penalty, after St. Mary’s endured what was to be an on-going difficulty for them at scrumtime, to put the midlanders 10-3 to the good.
Buccs had a real let-off when Fanning’s break carved the home defence wide open but David Fanagan had a “Keith Earls” moment when knocking on following the offload. St. Mary’s now applied the greater pressure and forced a close-in penalty which Robbie Glynn swiftly tapped to catch the home defence napping and the scrumhalf got in for a soft try close to the posts. Kearns conversion tied the scores at 10-10. Finn replaced the injured Hayman on the half-hour but sadly his comeback following a lengthy injury lay-off did not even extend until the interval. This resulted in a reshuffle in the home backline with Eoghan O’Reilly now at full-back, Callum Boland switched to fly-half and substitute scrumhalf Conor Lowndes playing out of position on the left wing.
Meanwhile, Buccs should have been awarded a try when speedsterO’Connor seemed to have won the race to a teasing grubber kick ahead but the referee viewed it differently. Nevertheless, this merely delayed Buccaneers second try as, after the metropolitans had hastily restarted, O’Reilly scythed through at pace for a smashing touchdown between the uprights, making Gaughan’s conversion elementary. Buccs suffered a further setback when Kolo Kiripati too was injured with Farrell returning to the fray. Then, just before halftime, St. Mary’s enjoyed another slice of good fortune when the referee seemed to be the only one in the ground who missed Glynn’s stonewall knock-on as he started the move that yielded Sheahan’s 38th minute try between the uprights! Kearns added the conversion to leave the teams level 17-17 at half-time.
Buccs regrouped effectively following the change of ends but Gaughan pulled a 45th minute penalty wide after St. Mary’s infringed at a ruck. Saba Meunargia and Cian Romaine now entered the battle in place of Martin Staunton and Michael Mannion. Six minutes later, after a snappy break by David Aspil, Kearns too was profligate although this penalty was again a matter of ire to the home supporters who felt that St. Mary’s looked the transgressors at scrum-time in this incident. The Pirates regained the lead on the hour mark, Gaughan drilling over a fine penalty after the visitors did not release in the tackle.
O’Reilly was then very alert to rob the advancing Fanagan but a solid drive by St. Mary’s was rewarded when Brian McGovern touched down for a 65th minute pushover try which gave them the lead for the first time. Crucially, Kearns thumped over an excellent conversion from wide on the left for a 24-20 advantage. This meant that depleted Buccs now had to gamble for a try to win and they duly piled on growing pressure in the closing stages, edging ever closer to the visitors’ line. Mannion had returned to action in place of Danny Qualter, another injury victim in a keenly contested tussle. St. Mary’s were now defending desperately and prop McGovern was yellow-carded seven minutes from time after some persistent infringing.
But, try as they might, Buccs just could not fashion the necessary match-winning score with O’Connor knocking on in a crunch tackle when it looked that he might notch a second try and so two time champions St. Mary’s held on
for a hard-earned victory. Nevertheless, the Pirates can take great heart from their sustained and committed display as well as what could be a priceless bonus point, which helped Buccaneers retain fourth place on the league table. Mannion was named AUDI ATHLONE Man of the Match and Jacob Walshe, Qualter and Farrell also shone in a fiery effort by the pack. O’Reilly and O’Connor always threatened when in possession and Lynch was busy throughout.
BUCCANEERS:- C.Boland; R.O’Connor, A.Gaughan, B.Carty, E.O’Reilly; A.Hayman, G.Lynch; J.Walshe, D.Heffernan, M.Staunton (captain); M.Mannion, D.Qualter; S.McVeigh, R.Farrell and K.Kiripati. Replacements:- S.Flanagan (for Farrell, 16 mins), C.Finn (for Hayman, inj. 30 mins), R.Farrell (for Kiripati, inj. 36 mins), C.Lowndes (for Finn, inj. 39 mins), S.Meunargia (for Staunton, 46 mins), C.Romaine (for Mannion, 46 mins) and M.Mannion (for Qualter, inj. 74 mins).
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE:- R.Crotty; T.Kennedy, I.Dineen, D.Fanning, D.Fanagan; S.Kearns, R.Glynn; B.McGovern, H.Kean, R.Sweeney (captain); C.Ruddock, M.Fallon; D.Aspil, B.O’Flanagan and K.Sheahan. Replacements:- T.O’Reilly (for Sweeney, 65 mins), I.Cullinane (for Aspil, 70 mins), R.Sweeney (for O’Flanagan, 75 mins), P.Starrett (for Fallon, 77 mins), M.Elliot-Murray and E.Robillon.
REFEREE:- Stuart Gaffikin (IRFU).
