Stillorgan 22 - Old Belvedere 13
J3 League - Jan 09, 2005
After winning the toss we elected to take the pressure for the first half giving OB the wind and hill. They pinned us back into our own 22 for much of the first 40 minutes however we had one very good attack in the first half and recycled the ball four or five times but a bad pass from Hops resulted in some scrappy ball and the ref gave a penalty against us for holding. (Not for the last time in the match)
OB spread it wide very quickly and every Stillorgan player defended valiantly during the first 20 minutes however their backs broke our line and Hops' opposite man went over for a try. These things happen and it is a sign of good side that lift their heads and get back to the task at hand, which in this case was to suck up even more pressure. The OB backs kept spreading it wide and we changed to a drift defensive to counteract it. The Stillorgan pack tackled everything that moved and showed real grit and this combined with the fact that OB didn't take advantage of some points meant we went in at the break only 10 points down. Highlights included the scrum underneath the posts were we turned around possession - a complete pack effort, the tackling of Richie, Alans kicking to touch under pressure, the work rate of Fabien and Donnacha, Danny's mark off the upright and the experience of our centres for being able to react and change our defensive strategy. This was probably the half that won us the match.
The second half started with a great run and try by Nigel. Its was like watching a big rock rolling down a hill, gathering speed as it went. This put us back in touch but it was far from over and OB regrouped straight away and took back 3 of the 5 points, leaving it 5 and 10. Then the clock started ticking and the minutes went by but we knew if we got ourselves into their 22 we would find a score. However the possession didn't come mainly due to poor lineouts, a part of our game we have worked on but we need something??? (we will discuss Tuesday night) and the clock kept ticking.
We added or I should say Paul added 3 points with a great penalty kick which meant we were in striking distance but the break finally came when Donnacha made a break which made its way to Bull, who went on a wide arcing running and straightened up 15 yards from the touch line and continued parallel to the line for another 25 yards before he ran out of puff and gave it to Paul Fadden who went over as close to the posts as he could. Funny how you make the extra bit of effort when you are the kicker. Straight away we started to celebrate which may have been bit premature but this probably reflected how much this match meant to a lot of us.
OB were 2 points down and they had no intention of giving us the win but we kept fighting. We brought on Rossy and Dave Keegan for Noel and Johnny but Noel was back on a couple of minutes later after Conor had to go off after giving everything in the front row. We were not letting it go, the tackles are too numerous to mention but Dave K, Gus, Garrett, Ken are a couple I can remember.
Finally thanks to a great individual effort by Ken following up a kick and putting OB under pressure and flying kicking down the pitch and scoring we were able to put the game out of reach. Another great kick by Paul followed sealing the win.
Well done all, a proud day for the club. There were many contenders for man of the match Donnacha for his work rate, Paul for his kicking and try, all the back row for commitment, Ken and Gus for covering tackles. But I was told I had to make decision and get off the fence so ?.drum roll please?..Richie for having the heart of a lion. His shoulders must be sore today after all that tackling.
Match report by Hops