As for the 1st XV - up to 4th but conceivably get to 3rd but they have to win their last one or two of their last 3 games to be totally safe, Match Report by David Kent Competition, Venue, Date, KO Time: Leinster League Div. 1A at Milltown versus Cill Dara Saturday the 17th of January 2015 2.30pm kick-off Ashbourne 1st XV 39-7 Cill Dara Another strong second half performance meant Ashbourne 1st XV recorded a gritty bonus point victory over Cill Dara on Sunday. The win moves Ashbourne into the top four of the Leinster League for the first time, 4 points clear of Clondalkin and Cill Dara in 5th place. But with three games still to play, anything could happen. Cill Dara came out of the blocks quickly, an offload put them up to the Ashbourne 5 metre line, but strong defence forced a knock on. Three minutes later, they had a chance to open the scoring, after a penalty was given at the breakdown, but it missed the right hand post. Ashbourne lost Jake Wall early on to injury and veteran Jeff Mahon came on in the second row. Cill Dara did break through for the first try of the game after 6 minutes though, Jack Fullam finding a gap in the line and running through to touch down under the posts, with the conversion being added. Ashbourne responded immediately, getting up to the Cill Dara tryline but James McCaghy was penalized for a double movement on the line. The pressure was being ramped up, and they got their reward on 14 minutes. Donal Crotty found Simon Deevy with a pass, and Deevy held off two Cill Dara players, and offloaded to Zybnek Schutz. Ashbourne went through the phases, forcing Cill Dara further and further back, before Schutz picked from a ruck and went over in the right hand corner. From the sideline, Casey Dunne couldn’t add the extras, but Ashbourne were back in it. Neither side was able to find a way through in the next twenty minutes, with a lot of turnover ball. With 6 minutes to go in the half, Cill Dara had another chance, after Ashbourne were penalised at the breakdown, but again the Cill Dara kicker missed. They were made to rue that miss just before the whistle, after a bit of magic from Deevy. In the middle of the park with Ashbourne trying to break down the Cill Dara line, Deevy saw a gap, and that was all he needed, bursting through it and holding off three Cill Dara tackles to cross under the posts. Dunne did not miss a second time, to give Ashbourne a 12-7 half time lead. Very similar to the last time they played at home, Ashbourne dominated the second half. The home side came out of the blocks early. Crotty’s break in midfield brought them into kicking range, and after Cill Dara gave away a penalty, Dunne slotted another 3 points. Not satisfied, Crotty then took it upon himself on 48 minutes, holding the play up until the perfect moment to run through and touch down breaking from the 10meter line, with Dunne again kicking the extras. With memory of the reverse fixture in the league earlier this season, Ashbourne pushed on, looking for the 4th try for the extra bonus point. They almost got it on 51 minutes, but Crotty’s clever chip over the top just bounced out of reach of Simon Hogan. Cill Dara to their credit didn’t give up, but the Ashbourne scrum was very strong, Rory Gleeson and Alan Wall working to keep them out. Ashbourne looked like they had that 4th try with 12 minutes to go, after another break through by Deevy. His offload to Schutz was knocked forward by the scrum half though, just as he was about to score his second. Cill Dara weren’t able to clear however, and a turnover gave Ashbourne the ball back inside the Cill Dara 22. From a scrum, Schutz offloaded to Crotty, who gave a quick pass to Hogan, and Hogan was able to get the crucial try, Dunne again kicking the extras. That seemed to break the Cill Dara spirit. Another penalty was given away by the away side, and Dunne decided to kick at goal from just inside the Cill Dara half. He had no trouble, with a monster kick putting Ashbourne 32-7 ahead with a minute to go. They still weren’t finished though, as James McCaghy broke forward. Ashbourne had men on the overlap, McCaghy gave it to Conor McNally, he passed out to Dunne who capped another good display with the final try and conversion. Team : Rory Gleeson, Alan Wall, James McCaghy, Darragh Curran, Jake Wall, Jeff Mahon, Mark Rooney, James Rooney, Zybnek Schutz (1 try) , Donal Crotty (1 try) , Sean Kent, Casey Dunne (1try, 4 conversions,2 penalties) Simon Hogan (1try), Simon Deevy (1try ),? Subs used – Mahon on for Jake Wall, Cathal O’Connor on for Mark Rooney, Mitchell O’Meara for Crotty, Ciaran Roche for Mahon, Jan Tieber not used
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 19:37:14 +0000
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