Match Report: Old Belvedere 11 – 7 Clontarf
Energia Men’s AIL Division 1A, Round 4
Old Belvedere RFC 11, Clontarf RFC 7
Saturday 24th October, Ollie Campbell Park, D4
Match referee: Jonathan Erskine (IRFU)
‘Old Belvedere edge Clontarf in a tight, tense, turgid, low-scoring contest, played in wet and windy conditions at Ollie Campbell Park.’
This top-of-the-table Dublin derby between northside and southside rivals Clontarf and Old Belvedere was dictated by the testing autumnal conditions, and was something of an old-school, attritional arm wrestle. With the set piece, ruck, maul and tactical kicking dictating field position and scoreboard, the sizeable and vocal Clontarf support will feel that they left this one behind them. With conditions deteriorating in the final quarter, and at 11-7, the visitors lost a match point when knocking on over the Old Belvedere try line on 70 mins, after some excellent build-up play from their forward pack. Old Belvedere dodged a bullet, for sure, but did enough to hold out their rivals in an exciting end game where Clontarf refused to go away, gallantly fighting their way back upfield in the dying minutes of extra time.
Clontarf, playing with a cross-field wind, began this match attacking the Ailesbury Grove end, and threw down the gauntlet in the opening minutes when left wing Peter Maher, juggling a long, high pass out wide, broke infield and cut deep into the Old Belvedere 22, only for the visitors to be penalised for a knock-on at the ensuing ruck.
A good carry by Old Belvedere No. 8 Will Mc Donald from the halfway line on 9 minutes earned the hosts a penalty kick. Old Belvedere playmaker Sam Wisniewski took out his pitching wedge and chipped the ball high and true, giving the hosts the early lead: 3-0.
After good build-up play in the Clontarf half, initially from Old Belvedere’s No. 8 Will Mc Donald, then lock Gerry Hill and captain Jayden (‘Doddsie’) Beckett, off a lineout to the front on the clubhouse side (a feature of the hosts’ lineout ploys), Clontarf’s tighthead prop Charlie Ward was penalised on 23 mins for not rolling away in the tackle. Sam Wisniewski landed the penalty kick from some 20 metres out in front of the posts: 6-0.
Clontarf found their way into the Old Belvedere half on 25 mins when Old Belvedere’s all-action hooker Callum Dowling was penalised for ‘not going through the gate’ at a ruck just inside the Old Belvedere half, RDS side. Clontarf’s Con Kelly kicked deep into the Old Belvedere 22, far side, for a launch play off the set piece. With the lineout take at four from lock Daragh Doyle to scrum-half Sam Owens, Clontarf punched it up with No. 8 Sean Lavin carrying hard. Some phases later, after close-quarters pick-and-goes by the Parish Club pack, prolific ‘Tarf try scorer and hooker Dylan Donnellan squeezed through the mass of bodies to score to the right of the posts. Out-half Con Kelly landed the convert with a nice left-peg strike to put Clontarf ahead: 6-7.
On 33 mins, referee Jonathan Erskine penalised the hosts at a scrum on the halfway line, pavilion side, for ‘bringing it down’. The resulting Clontarf throw-in inside the Old Belvedere 22 was claimed by the hosts’ Gerry Hill, who was then pulled to the deck, taking a heavy fall and requiring attention from physio James Allen. Referee Jonathan Erskine awarded Old Belvedere a penalty, allowing them to clear their lines with a relieving kick upfield. The Bulls were giving the Old Belvedere front row a torrid time of it, again winning a scrum penalty on 36 minutes.
However, it was Old Belvedere who came closest to scoring in this second quarter when, some minutes later, off an Old Belvedere lineout claimed by Fionn Mc Wey, the ball was spun out along the three-quarter line and Centaur Jayden (‘Doddsie’) Beckett broke through the Clontarf defensive line, bustling his way deep into the Clontarf 22 before being hauled to the canvas metres shy of the try line. Andre Ryan went close in the right-hand corner, only to be tackled into touch by some excellent Clontarf scramble defence.
Half-time: Old Belvedere 6, Clontarf 7
Playing conditions deteriorated for the second half, with Storm Boleo bringing squally showers across Ollie Campbell Park and with it a capricious diagonal wind from Anglesea Road across the first pitch, favouring Old Belvedere.
The third quarter was played out largely between the respective 22-metre lines. Kick tennis and box kicks featured, without great territorial advantage to either team. For two teams that like to swing from the hip, clean line breaks were at a premium as strong defences and equally strong winds prevailed. Clontarf were, however, gaining the ascendancy at scrum time, winning penalties at the set piece on 42 mins and again on 53 mins, and their rolling maul was bringing them places.
The pivotal point in this second half came on 58 mins, when Clontarf were penalised at a scrum just inside their half and then marched back 10 metres for backchat to referee Jonathan Erskine from Clontarf prop Ivan Soroca. Sam Wisniewski found touch inside the Clontarf 22, far side. The lineout take from Jhy Legg at No. 4 launched a maul infield, where Old Belvedere inside centre Justin (‘Justy’) Leonard trucked it up midfield. Going through the phases, some big carries close in from the Old Belvedere heavy hitters Fionn Mc Wey, Ryan (‘Rhino’) Mc Mahon and Ed Byrne put the Clontarf defence on the back foot. On 61 mins, ultimately off a pick ‘n’ jam on the try line, replacement prop George Hadden, aided and abetted by a Callum Dowling latch, beavered over the try line out wide on the left. The vicious wind pushed Sam Wisniewski’s conversion attempt wide of the left upright at the last second, leaving the score at 11-7 going into the final quarter.
Adam (‘Head’) Howard, the veteran Old Belvedere prop in his 17th season with the club, was introduced to the fray on 62 mins. Trotting onto the paddock, the Old Bull looked primed for a piece of the action!
Clontarf responded to going behind just as you would expect of this proud club and perennial AIL finalists. A Paul Deeny lineout take on 63 mins, just inside the hosts’ 10-metre line on the far side, resulted in an excellent Clontarf maul crabbing its way deep into the Old Belvedere half. The retreating Old Belvedere pack were literally at sixes and sevens, and were penalised, allowing Con Kelly to find the right-hand corner, RDS side, with his penalty kick. Old Belvedere’s Jhy Legg stole the Clontarf lineout throw to the middle, and Old Belvedere scrum-half Peter O’Beirne relieved the pressure with a kick to touch. But this was only a temporary reprieve for the hosts, as Clontarf came banging on the door again, winning a scrum against the ‘Head’ on 68 mins and thereafter laying siege to the Old Belvedere try line with a series of pick-and-goes, scrums and lineouts.
On 70 mins, off a 5-metre Dylan Donnellan tap-and-go penalty, Old Belvedere put out the sandbags as the Clontarf tsunami was getting very close to shore, only for the northsiders to knock the ball on over the try line when they looked odds-on to score. Clontarf were penalised for early engagement at the ensuing scrum, allowing Sam Wisniewski to kick the ball to just inside the Clontarf half and giving the hosts a well-earned exit from their own half.
This was, it has to be said, a huge defensive set from the hosts, who were under the pump for a crucial eight-to-nine-minute period of this final quarter and showed admirable grit and determination to keep the visitors out, absorbing wave after wave from the Clontarf Bulls and Storm Boleo!
On 75 mins, Clontarf came calling again off their lineout in the Old Belvedere half, launching a play which was halted when Old Belvedere’s Gerry Hill won a crucial turnover for the hosts.
Old Belvedere regained the initiative in an exciting end game, holding on to the ball in the tight exchanges and winning vital territory and possession to take play deep into Clontarf’s 22, where they remained until a few minutes into overtime. To the credit of the Clontarf Bulls, they never threw in the towel: they won a vital turnover close to their line and kicked to the Old Belvedere 10-metre line, causing a surge in the blood pressure of the Old Belvedere faithful, only to be penalised for a Dylan Donnellan throw-in deemed ‘not straight’ by referee Jonathan Erskine. Old Belvedere’s No. 8 Will Mc Donald picked from the base of the Old Belvedere scrum and kicked the ball out of play for the full-time whistle.
‘Lordie’
