BUCCANEERS 25 DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 17
BUCCANEERS U-20’s continue to shine a beacon of light for the future with another J.P.Fanagan Leinster League Premier 2 Group 1 victory, this time accounting for Dublin University 25-17 at Dubarry Park on Sunday.
Considering the recent weather and that two matches had been played there the previous day, the main pitch was in remarkably good condition as the two teams served up a committed contest. Buccs have had to reshuffle this side in recent weeks for various reasons and were short a handful of regulars for the visit of Trinity. Jack Clarke, Evan McMickan an
d Leon Cassidy got starts on this occasion and Patrick Egan returned after injury while Charlie O’Carroll switched from 9 to 10.
A cold breeze assisted the Students but Buccs made the early running. O’Carroll made a snipe and Tom Sheehan was unable to retain the ball close to the College line before the visitors settled. Buccs then showed defensive resilience when Trinity attacked but suffered a setback when skipper Conor Sheehan was yellow-carded for an untidy tackle after a quarter of an hour.
Buccs were dominating and McMickan and Egan both went close to getting over the opposition line before the deadlock was broken when Dylan Duffy slotted over a 23rd minute penalty following a spell of pressure. But three minutes later a home clearance was blocked down and defenders were sluggish in getting back, enabling Federico McGuckian take advantage to snatch a try which he also converted for a 7-3 lead against the run of play.
Both sides had chips over the cover that proved too strong to capitalise on before Buccs scored their opening try. Niall Tallon smartly tapped a close-in penalty to dive over the Dublin University line for a 36th minute unconverted try that gave the Athlone side a slender 8-7 half-time lead.
The smaller home pack had now got to grips with their opposing unit and, following a 45th minute scrum, O’Carroll shifted the ball to Tom Sheehan and the centre powered through a number of tacklers for an unconverted try. Two minutes later, Buccs aggressive closing down caused mayhem in the Trinity rearguard and Egan made the most of it for a try. O’Carroll took over place-kicking duties to slot over the conversion for a 20-7 advantage.
The exchanges threatened to boil over for a spell and Trinity’s Olan Storey saw yellow for a high tackle on Cassidy. Buccs were then slow getting the ball from their own put in at a scrum and Freddie Bracken-Smith snaffled possession to send Trinity on the offensive and their captain Benjamin Dyar was soon driven over the home line for a 74th minute try.
Buccs responded and went through a number of phases from side to side before Tom Sheehan surged through wide on the right for his second try to secure a deserved bonus point for the hosts. This score arrived with the 80 minutes up on my stopwatch, having allowed for stoppages, yet a further 7 minutes were played at the end of which Josh Perrem weaved his way through for a fine Trinity try to complete the 25-17 scoreline.
Tom Sheehan was the class player on show with O’Carroll another back to catch the eye. Tallon and Egan were prominent in the forwards exchanges where a small front row trio put in a commendable shift with McMickan busy tackling and harrying throughout. Five of these Buccs young players were key part of the Marist College team that won the Connacht Schools League earlier in the week.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Duffy; L.Cassidy, T.Cotton, T.Sheehan, C.Kelly; J.Clarke, C.O’Carroll; S.Doyle, E.McMickan, B.Foxe; C.Sheehan (captain), J.Dillon; A.Saka, P.Egan and N.Tallon. Replacements:- G.Racca (for Dillon), L.Giles (for C.Sheehan), D.Martin (for Tallon), M.O’Sullivan (for Saka), M.Fallon (for Cassidy, inj.).
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY:- T.Burgos Garces; C.Murphy, M.Kennedy, J.Bridge, E.Nicholson; F.McGuckian, F.Bracken-Smith; O.Storey, J.Corr, A.Walsh; B.Dyar (captain), S.Mochnacz; J.Perrem, M.Lavelle and O.Scott. Replacements:- F.Russell (for Walsh), S.Connolly (for Corr), J.Corr (for Connolly, inj), J.Walsh (for A.Walsh), M.Russell (for Dyar), P.Forde (for McGuckian), T.Begley and J.Gordon.
