AIL Match Report: Old Belvedere 21-14 St Marys
Energia AIL Division 1 (a) Round 16 .
Old Belvedere 21, St Marys 14 .
Sat March 21st, 2.30pm K .O .
Ollie Campbell Park, Anglesea Rd, Dublin 4.
Match Referee ; Jonathan Irvine IRFU .
‘Old Belvedere back up recent run of good form with value for money win against leaders St Mary’s in this Dublin derby duel ‘ .
This contest was played under blue skies and Spring sunshine on a fast track, with a feint wind favouring the visitors in the first half .
St Marys rocked up to Anglesea rd locked and loaded firm favourites with 12 from 15 , 8 try bonus points , top of the table and a mere 2 defeats to date ,. However , they were slow out of the blocks and on 2 minutes Old Belvedere threw the gauntlet down winning a scrum penalty . 1st blood to the Old Belvedere front row union of Hugh O’Malley, Ryan ( ‘Rhino’ ) Mc Mahon and Captain fantastic Callum Wilson. !
Three minutes later St Marys playmaker Conor Dean’ misjudged a cross kick drifting straight into touch . The first real attack of this contest arrived 13 mins in, off a St Marys line out take and drive terrace side, some 15 meters out from the Old Bevedere line . The visitors pack came hard with ball in hand and straight up the guts asking questions of the Old Belvedere defence. A scrum followed in this sequence followed by some more St Marys close in rumbles which ultimately ended when Josh Gimblett knocked on over the line . A good defensive set for the hosts !
However, just 2 mins later , St Marys scored their first try off a line out take some 20 meters out far side . Taken at 4 by Josh Gimblett the ball was tapped down to Scrum half Rob Gilsenan who skipped around some poor Old Belvedere defending to dot down under the sticks . Centre Mick O’Gara converted to put the visitors 0 – 7 .
If the first quarter belonged to the visitors well the second quarter was definitely won by the hosts as seen on 20 mins when Old Belvedere transitioned swiftly from defence to attack with a perfectly weighted kick pass from Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Merdith from his own 22 dropped into the bread basket of left wing James Dillon out wide who slalomed his way through the St Marys defence to put his pack on the front foot and give his side some real estate in the visitors half . Old Belvedere came close to scoring their first try on 27 mins when a Garryowen from half way wasnt claimed by the St Marys Defence and James Dillon picked up the pieces close to the try line before off loading to the supporting Josh Ericsson who knocked on over the line . A let off for St Marys for sure .
Not to be denied, on 29 minutes Old Belvedere Centaur , Jayden ‘(Doddsy’) Beckett intercepted a St Marys attempt to run the ball from their 22 meter line . The defensive linchpin reared up on his hind quarters to pluck the ball out of the air then gallop untouched over the try line near side . Morgan (‘Moggie’ ) Merdith added the extras to tie up the score at 7 – 7 .
The Old Belvedere set piece out of touch was functioning smoothly with lock Paddy Dowling winning quality primary possession at 4, and launching some attacks for the hosts in the final 10 minutes of the half, most notably on 37 mins . Equally prominent for the hosts
was No ; 8 Josh Ericsson winning vital turnover ball at the breakdown .
A significant moment of this relatively low-scoring first half ( given recent scorelines ! ) came in injury time when St Mary’s wing forward Josh Gimblett was shown a yellow card for a tackle ‘ in the horizontal ‘ on Old Belvedere Centre Andre Ryan . There were no further scores before the half time whistle with the scoreline reflecting very much how close this contest had been .
A feature of this first half was a resolute St Marys defence, particularly in midfield marshalled by centre Mick O’Gara , which Old Belvedere could not penetrate rarely getting beyond the gain line , huffing and puffing but without puncturing the blue line, despite enjoying odles of possession and territory in the visitors half . Both sides defended well thus keeping the try scoring opportunities at a minimum .
Half Time Old Belvedere 7 – St Marys 7
Old Belvedere began the second half attacking the Anglesea rd end of the pitch, with the aid of the breeze , and significantly with a 1 person numerical advantage . It’s a numbers game !
Old Belvederes full back Joe White was replaced on 49 minutes by David ( ‘Wilko ‘ ) Wilkinson whose introduction had an impact on proceedings , noticeably in the centre of the field where the hosts
were now finding space and getting attacking plays beyond the gain line, in contrast to their somewhat stymied 1st half attacks .
It just wasn’t going the way of St Marys in the 3rd quarter . A typical attempted attack came to nothing on 52 minutes when full back Ruari Shields failed to find the touch line with his penalty kick, kicking the ball out and over the try line thus denying the visitors an attack in the Old Belvedere 22 . Similarly on 56 minutes a delightful Conor Dean slice through the Old Belvedere defence out wide far side looked promising for the visitors but again ended with poor handling and a knock on in the Old Belvedere half .
On 59 minutes Old Belvedere went on the attack in the St Marys half . After some good work by the Old Belvedere pack softening up the visitors with some good combos of ball retention and recycling, a double pump pass from David (‘Wilko’ ) Wilkinson befuddled the St Marys defence creating a vast chasm to put Center Andre Ryan through the gap who showed some nifty foot work stepping tackles before riding the late scramble Defence to dot down under the stciks. Morgan ( ‘Moggie’ ) Merdith kicked the conversions from under the posts to put Old Belvedere ahead 14-7 .
On 64 mins St Marys wing forward Ronan Watters made an impressive break from his own half and carried deep into the heart of the Old Belvedere half near side before being hauled to the ground with an important cover tackle from Old Belvedere’s scrum half Hugh ( ‘Hughie’ ) O’Sullivan .
The decisive move and ultimately the winning score came on 71 minutes when the match was still very much in the balance . It
came off an Old Belvedere Scrum on the St Marys 10 meter line RDS side . Scrum half Hugh O’Sullivan fed David ( ‘Wilko’ ) Wilkinson who drew 2 defenders before offloading to Morgan (‘Moggie’) Merdith who ran a delightful zig zag line before rounding replacement Stephen Gilgallen and riding the tackle of the covering Leandro Ramirez to touch down under the sticks for a delightful individual effort . With the extras converted by the try scorer , the hosts forged ahead 21- 7 . The scoreline did not unduly flatter the hosts who, it has to be said were playing well within themselves at this point .
Back came St Marys winning a penalty and vital field position off an old Belvedere high tackle on 75 mins. Out half Conor Dean kicked to the left-hand corner RDS side, where the St Marys pack won the throw in and mauled infield. The pack retained possession , recycling before winning a close quarters penalty . They elected to tap and go , punching straight up the solar plexus with subsitiute Thomas O’Reilly getting on the end of a pack try to give St Marys some hope and at least a bonus point in defeat ! Mick O’Gara converted . 21- 1 4 . Could this be a dramatic come back for the title chasing league leaders ?
Not so . Old Belvedere showed commendable composure in the final minutes of regulation time, and in injury time to see off the late St Marys effort with Luke Mc Laughlin aided and abetted by veteran Adam ( ‘Head ‘ ) Howard winning a vital turnover club house side in their own half on 83 minutes to kick to half way . They retained possession of the line out , with some pick and jams denying St Marys the ball and without it any chance of a last gasp equalising score .
Full time at Ollie Campbell Park 21 – 1 4 .
‘Lordie ‘ .
