Clondalkin’s 3-year tenure in Division 1A of the Leinster League was ended with a loss to Wicklow by 21 points to 16 in a regulation/promotion playoff held in Monkstown RFC on Sunday 13th March.
With fine sunny weather and a dry pitch, the conditions were perfect for running rugby, but with so much at stake, the nerves from both sides were evident early on. Clondalkin were first to get off the mark with Chris Jebb landing a penalty after 5 minutes and he doubled the lead with an excellent kick from a tight angle just 4 minutes later. However Wicklow pulled the deficit back to 3 points with a successful kick of their own on the 14th minute mark. In the pack Neil Finlay was leading the charge for Clondalkin and turned over a number of key balls at the breakdown while Barry Mulloy was the pick of the backs and looked dangerous with ball in hand. Nevertheless, it was Wicklow who were first to cross the whitewash and touched down on the 18th minute only for play to be called back and the try disallowed. With the Clon scrum the dominant platform, the Dublin side gained a foothold in the Wicklow 22 and forced another breakdown penalty with the addition of a yellow card for the Wicklow player. Jebb converted to bring Clon to 9-3 ahead but they failed to further capatilize on their extra player and on the 34th minute conceded 3 points back to Wicklow after they were pinged for hands in the ruck. Worse was to come as the referee incorrectly adjudged Paul Nolan to be preventing Wicklow ball to come back out of a ruck and Clondalkin were reduced to 14 men with the ensuing yellow card.
9-6 at half time and all still to play for but Wicklow were the side that started the second period with greater intent. Clon tried running the ball from deep but without any real penetration and with Wicklow counterattacking, only a last ditch tackle from Thomas Ankers saved a certain try on the 10 minute mark. Both sides resorted to kicking the ball long but it Wicklow had the superior chase game and Clon struggled to get any kind of territorial advantage. On the 13 minute, Wicklow leveled the score with their third successful penalty – Jebb had a chance to edge Clon back out in front on the 20th minute but the kick drifted right and wide. With Clon unable to get out of their own half for any extended period of time, they were guilty of a number of handing errors and from one of these dropped passes, Wicklow hacked through to the Clon line and the subsequent pick and drive saw them go over for their first try which went unconverted. That was on the 24th minute and on the half hour mark, Wicklow scored again after a backs move exposed an overlap on the Clondalkin flank. The conversion was landed from out wide and they now had a 12 point advantage, 9-21. With time running out, Clon upped the urgency levels and forced a scrum close to the Wicklow posts. The referee had no option but to award a penalty try after the Wicklow scrum disintegrated – the drop kicked conversion made it a once score game, 16-21. However, any chance of a last-minute reprieve was banished after a number of dropped passes gifted possession back to Wicklow and the game closed out 16-21. Clon will ply their trade next season in Leinster League Division 1B while Wicklow will have to wait to see if any Leinster team gets relegated from the AIL before taking a place in Division 1A.
A disappointing end to a very challenging league season for Clondalkin but they still have the Town’s Cup Quarter Final against Roscrea to look forward to on Sunday next 20th March, 3pm. Please get up and give the lads your full support for this crucial game.
