Match Report - Garryowen v. Old Belvedere on 6 March 2011
BELVO WELL BEATEN BY GARRYOWEN
GARRYOWEN 13 OLD BELVEDERE 3
26TH MARCH 2011
There was a touch of Spring in Dooradoyle on a bright and sunny day and a large crowd of Belvo supporters descended on Limerick in anticipation of an intriguing clash between the top and bottom teams in Division 1A – Belvo seeking to secure a home draw in the play-offs and Garyowen seeking to avoid a relegation play-off game. In the end, it was a thoroughly disappointing day for the travelling supporters as Belvo were comprehensively outplayed and beaten by a charged up Garryowen side that applied pressure for the full 80 plus minutes of the game. The score-line does not reflect the decisiveness of the defeat as Garryowen missed four penalty kicks at goal in a first half in which Belvo rarely saw the ball and we could scarcely believe our luck in getting to half-rime only 3-7 down with the chance to make amends and turn it around in the second half.
However, at the re-start, we immediately conceded a penalty for obstruction and the Garryowen outhalf Cusack was not so generous on this occasion and slotted the kick for a 10-3 lead. Belvo did improve their performance after that but could never achieve anything remotely like fluency. We managed to create a good try scoring opportunity after 50 minutes but Kennedy failed to release the ball to Riordan and the opportunity was lost. Garryowen resumed business and scored the decisive penalty after 66 minutes. There was no way that we were going to win the match from that point, needing at least two scores and with a malfunctioning line-out and scrum. However, one penalty or a goal would have yielded a vital bonus point and there was consternation among the travelling supporters as place kicker Conal Keane was substituted and Belvo eschewed two kickable opportunities in the last 12 minutes in favour of going for a try.
Belvo kicked off with the benefit of a light wind behind them but we were soon back in our own 22 where we conceded a penalty wide out after 3 minutes which Cusack failed to kick. The first scrum after 6 minutes was an ominous portent of things to come as the promising Garryowen Under 21 prop J.P. Cooney popped Stewart Maguire out of the scrum and earned another penalty for his side which was again missed by Cusack. A sustained Garryowen attack on the Belvo line in the 10th minute was relieved with a penalty award to Belvo.. Garryowen continued to dominate at scrum and lineout. However, Belvo got a foothold for the first time in the Garryowen 22 in the eighteenth minute and Conal Keane converted a penalty given for off-side to put Belvo into the lead against the run of play. Garryowen immediately went on the attack and earned two more kickable penalties for a high tackle and at the scrum but once again, the attempted penalty goals were missed. Garryowen out-half Cusack finally scored a try in the 34th minute when the ball deflected off a Belvo player into his hands and he broke through the cover defence to score under the posts and he converted his own try for a 7-3 lead. Garryowen mounted a series of attacks thereafter in the period before half time and Danny Riordan brought off a magnificent try saving tackle at the corner flag to prevent a try after a good passing movement. This allowed us go in at half-time with a minimal deficit that was scarcely deserved on the run of play.
All the resolve gained in the half-time pep talk dissolved immediately with a penalty conceded for obstruction and converted for 10-3 straight after the re-start followed by a line-out loss. Sloppy passing by Garryowen averted a further try and we were given some hope when Garryowen missed a further penalty kick conceded for a touch-line offence. We did get into the game for a short period after, creating the try scoring chance. A further good move was spoiled after the ball was lost in mid-field after a series of passing movements. A promising break by Simon Keogh came to nothing. David Mongan finally got a pass but was isolated and penalised for not releasing. There followed a series of mishaps as our game got ragged with direct kicks to touch, fumbled passes and failures at scrum and line-out. We were never going to turn this game around. The penalty count was 13-11 in our favour. It was immensely disappointing that despite our poor performance, we still had the opportunity to gain a losing bonus point and failed to do so.
Luckily, the results from the other games went our way and we still have a strong opportunity to gain 2nd place in the league and home advantage for the play offs with a win at home in the last game against St Mary’s who will also be suffering a hangover after a comprehensive 22-0 home defeat to league leading Cork Constitution. We have not played well in the last four league games. Perhaps, like Ireland, we can find the resolve in the final match against arch rivals, St. Mary’s and put together an uninhibited display of forceful attacking rugby that will bring us to the promised land and provide the confidence for an assault on the league title itself.
Team:
Danny Riordan, Eddie Devitt, John Kennedy, Conal Leane (Ben Woods), Andy Dunne, Simon Keogh, Vinny Soden (Kevin Buckley), David Gilchrist(Mark Cooney), Stewart Maguire, Eric Jackman, Alan Trennier(Dean Moore), Richie Leydon, Jason Risdon, Leo Auva’a.
Posted on 29 March 2011.
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