A rock solid defense laid the foundations for an excellent home win for Clondalkin against Cill Dara in Leinster League Division 1A on Saturday 2nd November. With winds which gusted to gale force together with thundery showers, ball handling was always going to be tricky and indeed from the kick off, a dropped catch gave Cill Dara a foothold in the Clondalkin 22. Intense Cill Dara pressure yielded a relatively easy penalty kick for the visitors after 5 minutes but it was driven wide of the posts. Ali Collier relieved the pressure for Clondalkin with a break up the right wing and after a series of solid scrums from the hosts, Cill Dara conceded successive penalties, both of which were converted by Chris Jebb, kicking into the strong wind. Cill Dara responded with a penalty of their own which they converted to leave the score 6 – 3, midway through the first half. The wind dictated that much of the first half would be played at the Clubhouse end in the Clondalkin 22 and despite Cill Dara putting plenty of width on the ball, superb tackling by both fowards and backs meant that Cill Dara were unable to add to their solitary penalty. The siege was once again lifted after Brian ‘Bruiser’ Doyle picked off a Cill Dara lineout and his 30 yard charge was followed by some excellent interplay with forwards and backs and after a number of phases Stevie Cunningham went over in the corner, only for the try to be ruled out for a forward pass. Nevertheless, Clondalkin had demonstrated their ability to cause Cill Dara damage on the break and the Clondalkin pack had established their superiority at scrum time.
Having gained a foothold once again in the Clondalkin 22, Cill Dara once again missed a straightforward penalty. Eoin Delaney, who looked dangerous every time he got the ball, went on a 50 yard run but this promising attack was swiftly repelled and Clondalkin once again found themselves embedded deep within their own half. Following a number of warnings, the referee eventually lost patience with some persistent infringing from Clondalkin at the breakdown and Mark Molloy was the unfortunate who got sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Cill Dara decided not to kick for posts from this penalty and they were left to rue that decision after Clondalkin turned over possession and ended the first half 6-3 up.
Such was the ferocity of the rain at half time that CIll Dara chose to seek shelter under a tree, but there was no hiding place from Clondalkin intensity early in the second half and Chris Jebb slotted two further penalties to double the score and leave Clondalkin 12-3 up. Cill Dara regrouped but tenacious tacking from Clondalkin gave them few opportunities to seriously threaten the Clondalkin line. With 10 minutes to play, Cill Dara narrowed the gap to just 6 points with a penalty after Clondalkin were penalised in the tackle. A strong break from the back of a scrum by replacement number 8, Kark Jebb drove Clondalkin into the Cill Dara half and after an intelligent kick ahead by John Nolan behind the Cill Dara defence, Clondalkin pressure yielded a scrum just 5 metres form the Cill Dara line. Another unstoppable charge by Karl Jebb resulted in a try for him at the base of the posts which was easily converted by his brother Chris to leave the final score 19-6.
This was very satisfying win for Clondalkin which leaves them 3rd in Leinster League Division 1A with 3 wins out of 5. Next up on Saturday 9th November is the visit of table topping Wanderers who have yet to taste defeat this season. Kick off in Gordon Park is 2:30pm.
Clondalkin 1st XV: Conor Moloney, Brian Doyle, Kevin Kelly, Simon King, Sean Brennan, Derek Glennon, Neil Finlay, Paul Nolan (Capt.), Mark Molloy, Chris Jebb, Eoin Delaney, Ali Collier, Andy Dickson, Ross Fitzgerald, Stephen Cunningham. Subs: James Kenny, Michael Moynihan, Karl Jebb, Mickey Russell, John Nolan.
Elsewhere, in a dramatic finale, a Paul Hickey try after some excellent approach work by Barry Mulloy, was converted by Ben Foran for Clondalkin 2nds to beat Cill Dara 19-17 and leave themselves 2nd in the table of Leinster Seconds 1A League.
