BUCCANEERS 15 RAINEY 7
14-man BUCCANEERS put in a hugely committed and sustained effort to overcome Rainey in their Russell Brennan Keane sponsored Energia All-Ireland League Division 2B fixture played at Dubarry Park on Saturday. After a scoreless first half, Buccs suffered a huge setback when leading try scorer Dan Donovan was sent off just moments into the second period. But the Pirates dug deep, putting in an admirable shift by all the squad, to defeat the Ulster visitors and in the process climb above them in the league table.
Buccs made just one change for this game with Harry Balsiger starting on the right wing. Meanwhile the northerners made a quartet of changes, evenly divided between backs and forwards, with Calum Smyth, Jody McMurray, Tom Crozier and Nathan Overend coming in.
Conditions were dull and damp with the breeze favouring Rainey at kick-off. But Buccs dominated the early exchanges to peg the visitors inside their 22. However, a close-in lineout went awry and then a penalty failed to find touch as the Pirates did not make the most of these promising positions. An excellent poach by Dylan Bolger won another home penalty but again touch was not found and the Magherafelt men responded with an excellent 50/22 that finally gave them a decent foothold.
A pinpoint 28th minute crossfield kick by Scott McLean seemed to set Crozier up to score but Leo MacFarlane got across to put in a splendid try-saving tackle. And thus a relatively uneventful first half ended scoreless.
With the influential breeze to their backs, Buccs looked in a good position to kick on but less than two minutes following the change of ends Donovan suffered a debatable sending off. The flanker appeared to be trying to get his leg released and when his knee seemingly making contact with an opponent and referee Brian Bennett deemed it worthy of the red card.
However, Buccs rose to the challenge and looked like the team with the extra player for most of the second half as they pinned Rainey deep in their half for long spells. Although Gearoid McDonald’s 45th minute penalty rebounded off an upright after Tom Hutchinson was yellow carded, the midlanders began to turn the screw.
A clever Corey Reid chip over the cover forced the visitors back over their line and, from the resulting 5-metre scrum, MacFarlane provided swift ball to Orrin Burgess and the powerful centre was not going to be stopped. McDonald duly converted this 53rd minute try as the floodlights came on.
Buccs continued to dictate and another spell of fierce pressure was finished by the impressive MacFarlane for a 61st minute unconverted try on the left. Four minutes later, the Athlone side prudently opted to kick a penalty with McDonald’s strike putting them 15-0 ahead.
Patrick Egan made a key rob when Rainey did threaten and MacFarlane found a super touch in a composed display by the hosts until Sean Glennon did not retreat ten metres following a penalty award to the visitors moments after his introduction. The young hooker was promptly sin-binned and Rainey regained momentum against the homesters now down to 13 players. They finally breached the Pirates defence when Hutchinson broke through to dot down at the posts with McLean added the extras to complete the 15-7 scoreline.
This was an uplifting performance by Buccaneers. A lot of hard graft was put in against the elements in the opening half when they sorted out some shortcomings and then a massively sustained effort followed the change of ends. MacFarlane and David Colgan excelled in the backline while Egan and the full front row were to the fore in a magnificent contribution by the pack as Buccaneers enjoyed back to back wins and, remarkably, a first home win since November 2023.
One minute’s silence was observed prior to kick-off as a mark of respect for the late Patrick Cooney.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Colgan; H.Balsiger, O.Burgess, C.Reid (captain), R.Murphy-Sweeney; G.McDonald, L.MacFarlane; A.Cooper, D.Bolger, R.O’Meara; C.Sheehan, S.Meecham; P.Egan, D.Donovan and L.Balsiger. Replacements:- A.Bouwens (for Burgess, 66 mins), C.Byrne (for Sheehan, 70 mins), J.Kelly (for Cooper, 73 mins), S.Glennon (for Bolger, 73 mins) and J.Crampton (for Colgan, inj. 73 mins).
RAINEY:- J.McCartney; T.Crozier, K.Thornton, A.Brown, N.Overend; S.McLean, A.Donaghy; A.Nevin, D.O’Neill, C.Smyth; R.McCusker, T.Hutchinson; A.Montgomery, M.McCusker (captain) and J.McMurray. Replacements used:- M.Nevin, K.Donaghy, E.Bolton, J.Bell and J.Lloyd-Evans.
Referee:- Brian Bennett (IRFU).
