Clondalkin’s 2nds team reached the Leinster 2nds Towns Cup Final after a 28 vs 14 result against Athboy in this match played in Ashbourne on Sunday 13th April.
From the first whistle Clondalkin looked dangerous and set the tone with some excellent passing and movement from the back line, despite playing into a strong breeze. Indeed, only a knock-on from Stevie Cunningham prevented the Dublin side from scoring the first try of the match. However, a missed tackle saw Athboy take the lead with a converted try, much against the run of play. Clondalkin did not waste time in responding and Karl Horan went over in the corner for the first of his two tries in the first half, neither of which was converted. Athboy’s main attacking threat in this period came in the form of their strong-running 1st centre who required more than one Clondalkin tackler to stop his momentum whenever he got the ball. Dave Gaule managed to get on the scoresheet with a successful penalty kick which took Clondalkin into half time 13 points to 7 ahead.
The second half saw Clondalkin up the tempo and their increasingly dominant pack began to grind out the yards against the Meath outfit with Neil Finlay and John Walsh to the fore. Despite having the wind advantage, the Clondalkin backline kept the ball to hand and with the quick service from Josh Dunne at scrum-half, they had plenty of opportunity to press home their advantage. It was however the Clondalkin forwards who had the first say in this half when Neil Finlay powered over for a 5 pointer which Gaule failed to convert. A brief lifeline was thrown to Athboy when Andy Tyndall’s cross kick was picked off by the Athboy winger who ran in to score under the posts to leave just 4 points between the sides. Any doubt as to the final result was dispelled minutes later when Dave Gaule capped off an excellent performance with a try followed by a successful penalty to close out the game 28 points to 14.
Although Clondalkin left about 20 points behind them through a combination of poor and unlucky finishing, the result was never truly in doubt and the newly awarded Leinster Club of the Year now have a Leinster final against Ashbourne to look forward to on Sunday April 27th. The venue will be confirmed in due course.
Clondalkin 2nds XV: T McGrath, J Kenny, C McCrea, K Cullen, C O’Connor, C Tighe, N Finlay, J Dunne, J Murphy, K Horan, R Fitzgerald, D Gaule, C Kelly, S Cunningham. Subs: K McMahon, T McGratten, L Sweetman, A Tyndall, L Beresford.
