UL BOHEMIAN 16 BUCCANEERS 21
BUCCANEERS snatched a last gasp try to defeat UL Bohemian 21-16 in their Ulster Bank League Division 1B tie played on the back pitch at sunny Thomond Park on Saturday. Buccs dictated play for the majority of the proceedings but a gritty home side battled all the way and will take solace from both their performance and the losing bonus point secured.
Conditions were near perfect for this encounter but the game took time to come to the boil. Most of the action was confined between the two 22 lines in the opening half, despite the visitors getting off the mark with a Ross Keller penalty after just two minutes. Shane Airey levelled for the hosts twelve minutes later. Teenager Keller landed two out of three further placekicks for the midlanders with Ian Condell incurring a yellow card for the latter penalty on 37 minutes. Airey missed a penalty with the final kick of the half at which stage Buccs led 9-3.
The Pirates made the Limerick side suffer further while depleted. Shane Layden and Billy Henshaw made great inroads down the right before Buccs moved the ball infield and Jacob Walshe surged over for a 45th minute unconverted try, the young prop’s third touchdown in successive matches.
It looked likely that Buccs would kick on from here but concentration and application dropped. The Red Robins capitalised on this and Rory White got in for a 57th minute try at the posts which Airey converted. The Athlone side will not be happy with the defending for this score and, three minutes later, there was just a solitary point between the sides when Airey landed a penalty after Henshaw was sin-binned for not rolling away. Kolo Kiripati knocked on as he stretched for the home line shortly afterwards and UL Bohs, for whom Jack O’Donoghue was outstanding, led for the first time when Airey slotted over a 76th minute penalty.
This stung Buccaneers into their best period of sustained play and they laid siege inside the home 22 for the remaining minutes. Their chance looked lost when Keller’s late drop goal attempt was wayward but the Pirates won the restart and again patiently went through the phases for a protracted spell that looked like ending in disappointment when Callum Boland’s drop goal attempt was blocked but the centre somehow retrieved possession from the midst of three home players. When the ball eventually reached Layden on the left, the fullback powered through two tacklers for the winning try. Keller’s fine touchline conversion completed the dramatic 21-16 victory that should have been forged much earlier.
UL BOHEMIAN:- M.Lawler; T.Rafferty, A.Enright, R.White, R.Bourke; S.Airey, C.Miller; P.Poillet, T.Doyle, V.O’Regan; Ed Kelly (captain), C.Kindregan; E.Cross, I.Condell and J.O’Donoghue. Replacements:- S.O’Boyle (for Cross, inj. 44 mins), J.McNamara (for Enright, 55 mins), C.Flanagan (for Kindregan, inj. 67 mins), J.Molloy and C.Ryan.
BUCCANEERS:- S.Layden; B.Henshaw, C.Boland, A.Hayman (captain), E.O’Reilly; R.Keller, M.Dolan; J.Walshe, S.Delahunt, S.Meunargia; D.Qualter, K.Kiripati; S.McVeigh, R.Moloney and L.Satchwell. Replacements:- G.O’Connor (for Dolan, inj. 35 mins), C.FitzGibbon (for O’Reilly, inj. h/t), M.Fifita (for McVeigh, 44 mins), M.Staunton (for Meunargia, 60 mins), G.Halligan (for Delahunt, 66 mins) and S.McVeigh (for Satchwell, 71 mins).
REFEREE:- John Carvill (IRFU).
