BUCCANEERS 10 UL BOHEMIAN 14
BUCCANEERS were decidedly unlucky when going down 14-10 to UL Bohemian in a physical Energia All-Ireland League Division 2B encounter played in near ideal conditions at Dubarry Park on Saturday. Buccs really put it up to one of the joint pacesetters who only took the lead in the dying minutes of a very keenly contested battle.
The Pirates made one change for this game with fit again Patrick Egan coming in for Niel Botes. The visitors had a trio of changes with Liam O’Shanahan starting on the right wing and Jack Ryan and John Coleman getting the nod in the pack.
The opening ten minutes were helter skelter, a prelude to an absorbing joust despite the relative low scoring with Orrin Burgess halting a threatening break by Oisin Fagan. This period was capped by a brilliant break by Luke Balsiger who committed the opposition fullback before off-loading to Corey Reid, who ran in for a 10th minute try converted by Dylan Duffy.
A high tackle by Shane Buckley on Burgess presented Duffy with a straight-forward penalty on 18 minutes but the usually reliable placekicker was surprisingly off-target. UL Bohs clearance in this incident was also poor but Buccs did not capitalise and were to rue a clear missed opportunity within three minutes when Jordan Mills powered in for a try for the Red Robins. Fagan’s conversion levelled the scores 7-7.
Egan and Leo MacFarlane retrieved situations for the midlanders as the Limerick side finished the half on the offensive with Tom Cotton holding up Donnchadh O’Callaghan over the home line. The feisty exchanges got a bit heated up at this stage and Burgess and Mills were singled out for yellow cards as half-time arrived with the teams deadlocked 7-7.
Cotton made a promising break early in the second half after Buccs turned over ball but Burgess just could not hold on to his pass. The Pirates were now on the front foot for a spell with one magnificent maul taking them close to the visitors’ line. UL Bohs conceded a number of penalties under pressure where they received a warning by the referee, yet they did not incur any further sanction despite a couple more infringements.
Patience in this period would surely have resulted in a try for Buccs before another indiscretion by the Red Robins earned a 60th minute kickable penalty for the hosts. Duffy’s radar was again off-target but three minutes later he finally found the range with a more difficult penalty that put Buccs 10-7 ahead. It was due reward for the homesters endeavour and workrate but they could not seal out a long-coveted win.
In the closing minutes UL Bohs regained possession from a loose clearance and some phases later Darren Ferrar escaped the clutches of a despairing tackle to run in for a try which Fagan converted to claim a fortunate 14-10 victory.
This was a painful and frustrating experience for Buccaneers for this had been their best display for a long time and was truly worthy of more than a losing bonus point. Small margins cost them dearly but their improvement is noticeable with this being a very honest all-round team performance. Their pack was the dominant unit, an area where the referee’s penalty count against the hosts was unfathomable while the Munster side’s lineouts were not straight on far more occasions than the one pinged in the final minute!
Buckley was the standout contributor for the Red Robins who were cute in slowing Buccs momentum in the final quarter with stoppages.
Adam Cooper, Balsiger and Sam Meecham were outstanding in a terrific effort by the forwards. Reid had another strong showing in the backline where Tom Shine was busy and Cotton caught the eye. If Buccaneers continue to improve (and eliminate some basic errors) positive results will come their way soon.
One minute’s silence was respectfully observed prior to kick-off in memory of Annette Carroll.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Duffy; T.Shine, T.Cotton, C.Reid (captain), O.Burgess; A.Bouwens, L.MacFarlane; A.Cooper, O.Dolan, C.Byrne; C.Sheehan, S.Meecham; P.Egan, D.Donovan and L.Balsiger. Replacements:- R.O’Meara (for Byrne, 45 mins), C.Byrne (for O’Meara, 69 mins), D.Connolly (for MacFarlane, 72 mins, J.Kelly, S.Glennon and H.Balsiger.
UL BOHEMIAN:- G.Fitzgerald; L.O’Shanahan, K.Dineen (captain), P.Clancy, Z.O’Loughlin; O.Fagan, D.O’Callaghan; K.Sheehy, D.Ferrar, J.Ryan; S.Buckley, L.Neilan; S.Quirke, J.Coleman and J.Mills. Replacements:- C.McNamara (for Quirke, 28 mins), C.Casey (for O’Shanahan, h/t), J.Considine (for Ryan, 52 mins), M.Mgoldela (for McNamara, 56 mins) and S.Lynch.
Referee:- Ross Shaughnessy (IRFU).
