Clondalkin started brilliantly and ran in three tries in first fourteen minutes with good sharp rugby. First try was Mattie Stapleton weaving through the Edenderry defenders to score under the posts. Chris Jebb added the conversion. A few moments Chris ran in the second try and the converted it. After strong pressure from the pack, Simon King fought his way over the line and scored an excellent try which was again converted by Chris Jebb.
After that a combination of more pressure from Edenderry plus a bit of relaxing by Clon allowed the home team in for a try which was converted by their excellent out half Steve Cummins. A few minutes later a harsh yellow card saw Paul Nolan binned. From the resulting penalty the Edenderry number 10 slotted the kick to bring the score to 21-10 in favour of Clon. Another Edenderry penalty narrowed the gap to 21-13 before Niall Nolan scored a try to increase the halftime score to 26-13.
The first 22 minutes of the second half was scoreless with both sides playing good rugby but without reward at either end. A penalty by Edenderry narrowed the gap to 26-16. Another converted try by Edenderry tightened the game to 26-23 but in spite of efforts by both teams no further scoring and the game ended with Clon holding out for a narrow but deserved victory. A very sporting game worthy of the history of this Provincial Towns Cup was enjoyed by a large crowd of supporters from both clubs. The draw for the next round in due on Sunday and hopefully a home draw for Clon.
