BUCCANEERS 26 MU-BARNHALL 69
A blistering start and strong finish earned MU-Barnhall a 69-26 Energia All-Ireland League Division 2A victory over Buccaneers in this Russell Brennan Keane sponsored fixture played at Dubarry Park, Athlone, on Saturday. Their high-scoring bonus point win keeps just a single point behind Cashel in the battle for the promotion play-off berth. Meanwhile, Buccs picked up only their second point of a difficult campaign, their first for scoring four tries in a game.
The Athlone side made four changes for this their final home AIL fixture of the season. The Balsiger brothers started with Harry on the left wing and Luke at No.8. Orrin Burgess returned, this time in the centre, with Robbie Byrne (an U-20 last season) making his first start this term. MU-Barnhall had just one change, the vastly experienced Adam Chester reinstated in at fly-half.
Despite playing against the influential wind and drizzle, the midlanders made a promising start with a penalty to the left giving them territory following which Burgess and James Kelly made ground before Matthew Victory sliced in for an unconverted 3rd minute try wide on the left.
But the visitors struck back swiftly, applying pressure following a penalty to the left corner with the ball eventually moved to Nick Doggett for an 8th minute try converted by Chester. The Blue Bulls secured their try bonus point in a blistering seven minutes spell with Keith Farrell finishing off some sparkling interplay on 11 minutes for their second try. Two minutes later Buccs defending was too casual in dealing with a lofted chip to the left and Greg Edogun darted in to touch down. Then the Pirates lost possession cheaply just inside their own half and Sean Sexton raced in for their fourth try with just a quarter of an hour played at which stage they led 26-5.
Buccs were overwhelmed by the intensity and pace of their opponents in these early exchanges and a landslide margin looked very likely. But the Shannonsiders dug deep and battled commendably for the mid-half of the game. A 25th minute high tackle by Ciaran Enright on Harry Balsiger earned the visiting lock ten minutes in the sin bin. The resultant penalty yielded promising territory for the Pirates and, after a spell of pressure, Luke Balsiger dived over the cover between the uprights for a 27th minute try converted by Gearoid McDonald. This left Buccs trailing 26-12 at halftime.
MU-Barnhall, in search of a big points tally as they hunt down Cashel, started the second half almost as emphatically as the first. Slick handling from right to left led to Edogun’s second try just four minutes after the change of ends. A further four minutes on, the explosive pace of Sexton proved too hot for Jenson Nagle, himself no slouch, with the Blue Bulls winger winning the race to a chip ahead.
Now trailing 38-12, Buccaneers continued to give it their all and a well-worked move following a penalty to the left touch saw Frankie Hopkins scampering in for a 57th minute try. Five minutes later in almost similar circumstances the ball reached Burgess and he ploughed his way through a handful of tacklers to secure a bonus point try for Buccs. McDonald converted both tries to narrow the arrears to 38-26 and MU-Barnhall were now rattled.
But they regrouped, Doggett getting past a soft tackle much too easily for a 68th minute try. Moments later Nagle put in a try-saving tackle on Farrell and incurred a harsh yellow card in the process. The wind was now being taken out of the Pirates sails and MU-Barnhall blitzed the tiring hosts with a quartet of tries in the final eight minutes as Buccs finished with 13 players, Lucca d’Ambola Riera incurring a yellow card. Eoin Kelly, Josh Boyce Donohue and Conor Duggan all touched down as did Sexton who completed his hat-trick. Chester converted seven tries in total to give his side a 69-26 margin that did not do justice to Buccaneers efforts.
BUCCANEERS:- J.Nagle; H.Hughes, R.Murphy-Sweeney, O.Burgess, H.Balsiger; G.McDonald, F.Hopkins (captain); J.Kelly, M.Victory, R.O’Meara; L.d’Ambola Riera, F.McDonnell; R.Byrne, C.Walsh and L.Balsiger. Replacements:- D.Colgan (for Hughes, 30 mins), O.Dolan (for L.Balsiger, inj. 35 mins), R.Henderson (for Kelly, h/t), A.Flanagan (for Hopkins, 66 mins), S.Fogarty (for Victory, 66 mins) and J.Kelly (for O’Meara, 69 mins).
MU-BARNHALL:- C.Duggan; S.Sexton, N.Doggett, M.Grogan, G.Edogun; A.Chester, D.Kelly; K.Farrell, C.Duff (captain), D.Bellanova; D.Murphy, C.Enright; S.Stokes, A.Olasosebikan and L.Callinan. Replacements:- J.Boyce Donohue (for Duff, h/t), J.Castles (for Bellanova, h/t), R.Holt (for D.Kelly, 46 mins), E.Kelly (for Enright, 46 mins), C.Enright (for Stokes, 59 mins), D.McCormack (for Grogan, 61 mins) and D.Bellanova (for Castles, 61 mins).
Referee:- Rob McGreer (IRFU).
