BUCCANEERS 17 NAAS 28
BUCCANEERS hosted leaders Naas in the J.P.Fanagan Leinster U-20 League Premier 2 at Dubarry Park on Sunday in crisp sunny conditions. Naas had a big pack who dominated the set-pieces which took the Pirates some time to deal with, particularly at scrum time. But despite competing bravely, a late Naas try earned the visitors a 28-17 victory that denied the Pirates even a bonus point.
Darragh Culligan opened the scoring with a 9th minute Naas try and Joshua Ward added their second on 26 minutes. Thomas Forde converted both tries to give the visitors a 14-0 lead. Buccs finally began to make inroads and Peter Bourke finished off some sustained pressure for a 35th minute try wide on the right. Kaylum Curran’s conversion dropped short so the homesters trailed 5-14 at half-time.
The elusive and pacey Tadhg Kruger caused problems for the Shannonsiders all afternoon and a fast-flowing attack yielded Naas’ third converted try 8 minutes into the second half. Buccs retorted within 5 minutes, Hugo McGowan’s snappy pass giving Paul O’Sullivan the opportunity to outpace the defence for an unconverted try at The Bounty corner.
Substitute Philip Finnan then mesmerised the Naas defence with a weaving run to score a super try on the hour mark. Curran’s conversion made it game on at 17-21. Buccs now enjoyed their best spell and really should have taken the lead 10 minutes from time but a high tackle on Ciaran West within touching distance of the Naas line incredibly went unpunished. It was one of a number of poor officiating calls that did not endear the referee to home supporters.
In the closing moments Kruger showed his class to secure a bonus point try for Naas and Forde maintained his 100% conversion rate to complete the winning 28-17 margin for Naas. The Kildare side were physically stronger and continue to top the leaderboard in a competitive league. The Buccs outfit was missing some key players but the Athlonians battled to the bitter end, despite their scrum being in serious trouble for the vast majority of the game, and their efforts warranted at least a point or two from this contest.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Kelly; M.Turner, O.Egan, E.McKeigue, P.O’Sullivan; K.Curran, H.McGowan; C.West, S.O’Connor, K.Blessing; P.Bourke, F.Galbarcyzk; E.McMickan, D.Doheny and K.Byrne. Replacements:- E.Rooney-Digan (for Blessing, 33 mins), A.Piskorski (for West, 33 mins), C.West (for Piskorski, h/t), C.Spellman (for Bourke, inj. 43 mins), E.Dunning (for McMickan, 50 mins), P.Finnan (for Turner, 50 mins), E.McMickan (for Egan, 50 mins), J.Kelly (for O’Connor, 65 mins), A.Piskorski (for Rooney-Digan, 65 mins) and J.Quinn (for McKeigue, 73 mins).
NAAS:- J.Osborne; L.Malone, T.Kruger, D.Culligan, C.Croke; T.Forde, S.McCafferty; C.O’Loughlin, H.Dunne, S.O’Loughlin; J.Smith, D.Brownen; R.Scully, J.Dempsey and J.Ward. Replacements Used:- P.Clear, S.Whelan, Z.Kennedy, J.Murphy, P.Sammon and P.Brannigan.
Referee:- George Enraght-Moony (Leinster).
