BUCCANEERS 40 SEAPOINT 7
BUCCANEERS U-20s fixture against Seapoint was the club’s only surviving match at the weekend when the midlanders recorded a 40-7 victory over the visitors in bright breezy conditions at Dubarry Park on Sunday. Underfoot conditions were remarkably good and the Pirates, despite some absentees, were full value for their bonus point victory in this J.P.Fanagan Leinster League Premier Division 2B game.
The Athlone side faced the elements in the opening half yet made all the early running, but lacked the final part to unlock the Dubliners’ defence. Donnacha Connolly came closest to scoring but knocked on in a tackle with the line in reach. When Seapoint eventually got into the home 22 just before the end of the opening quarter, they were rewarded with a try by Conor Roche and Sam O’Donovan added the conversion to lead against the run of play.
Buccs regularly threatened and finally their combinations clicked on 27 minutes as Thomas Bourke finished off a smashing counter-attack to dot down in The Bounty corner. Dylan Duffy was unable to convert against the tricky breeze. However, moments later the fullback made a try-saving tackle on Seapoint’s Riley Scales and the score remained 7-5 in favour of the city side at half-time.
Niall Tallon set the tone and tempo following the change of ends, winning the restart and his forward surges put Buccs regularly on the offensive. Tom Sheehan soon finished off his own deft chip over the cover for a 43rd minute try converted by Duffy while a forward pass shortly afterwards denied the centre a second try.
Buccs were piling on the pressure now and Seapoint’s Adam Bolton was sin-binned for playing the ball on the ground inside their five-metre line. Buccs opted for a scrum from the resulting penalty and the pack set up good ball that was moved smartly to Duffy and the fullback surged in for a try which he also converted for a 19-7 lead.
Abu Saka was held up over the line and Tallon’s block went over the endline before he could touchdown. Tom Cotton then powered through following slick crossfield passing from right to left to secure the bonus point try. A great chase by Bourke yielded a turnover 30 metres out enabling Cotton to stride away for his second try. Saka and Duffy then combined to put an indecisive defender under pressure to wrestle back possession from which Cotton completed his quickfire hat-trick of tries.
Duffy converted all second half tries to complete the 40-7 scoreline which closed the gap on league leaders St. Mary’s College to the minimum. Most players had good moments with Cotton being star of the show. Tallon was immense also with Conor Sheehan having his best outing as did fellow lock James Dillon while deputy props Bobby Foxe and Sean Doyle acquitted themselves well.
Overall, this is an honest group of players whose errors on the day were mainly due to trying too hard and rushing things. The difficult breeze played a role in some of the mistakes but this squad has further potential that can be maximised with a little more composure and taking the advice of their coaches on board. They now advance to the “Super Six” from the two pools when, hopefully, their continued development and improvement will be evident. This stage commences on December 8th.
Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery are wished to Donnacha Connolly.
BUCCANEERS:- D.Duffy; C.Kelly, T.Cotton, T.Sheehan, T.Bourke; C.O’Carroll, D.Connolly; S.Doyle, S.Rohan, B.Foxe; J.Dillon, C.Sheehan (captain); N.Botes, A.Saka and N.Tallon. Replacements:- L.Cassidy (for Kelly), O.Donoghue (for Doyle), D.Martin (for Duffy), L.McCormack (for Dillon), M.Fallon (for Botes), E.McMickan (for Rohan) and L.Giles.
SEAPOINT:- S.Noone; M.Maguire, A.Fitzsimons-Nolan, M.Quinn, R.Scales; S.O’Donovan, C.Horan; C.O’Toole, L.Moloney, C.Roche; A.Bolton, T.Chadwick (captain); G.Fantini, K.Bradley and O.Glavin. Replacements:- F.Dalton, G.Hannon, B.Brophy, C.O’Connell, E.Cullen and B.Fisher.
Referee:- Mark Harrigan (Connacht).
CRUNCH FIXTURE FOR SECONDS
BUCCANEERS SECONDS face a crunch Bank of Ireland Connacht Junior 1A League fixture when they square up to University of Galway on Sunday. This basement battle at Dangan has a 2 p.m. kick-off.
