In an entertaining match which saw the lead exchange hands on 5 occasions, Clondalkin took home the spoils of this hard fought Leinster League 1A fixture against Ashbourne, held in Gordon Park on Saturday 27th September.
On a balmy September afternoon, Chris Jebb put the first points on the board for Clondalkin with a long range penalty after 9 minutes. Having dominated at scrum time against Enniscortly last weekend, Clondalkin’s set piece was exposed as their weak point against Ashbourne and it was from a scrum attack that the away team responded with their busy number 9 scoring a converted try. Clondalkin returned with another successful penalty kick after a ruck infringement before Ashbourne landed two of their own penalty kicks to lead the scoreboard 6 – 13 after 26 minutes. The home side attempted to use the pace in their back line and from a chip ahead, Karl Jebb was unlucky to be beaten to the touchdown. However, there was little respite for Ashbourne as moments later, Karl Jebb made good use of some quick hands to break the cover defense and score in the right hand corner for Clondalkin’s first try, but the conversion drifted wide. Some intelligent running by Barry Mulloy and Niall Nolan threatened the Ashbourne defense and they were temporally reduced to 14 men just before half-time after a dangerous tackle. Chris Jebb landed the ensuing penalty and a further 3 pointer before time to go into the break 17 -13 ahead.
The half -time team talk brought fresh impetus to Clondalkin and they started much the brighter of the two sides in the second half. Chris Jebb was adjudged to have been held up over the line before Niall Nolan used his speed to win a foot race after a through kick to score in the left corner. This converted try put some day-light between the sides with a 24-13 lead but Ashbourne then scored off a quick-tap penalty from their first foray into the Clondalkin half to close the gap to six points. Clondalkin were guilty of sitting back and further Ashbourne pressure saw Clondalkin captain Simon King yellow carded. This blow was compounded when Ashbourne scored another try off a dominant scrum to take a 1 point lead, 24 – 25. The prospect of losing their first league home game refocused Clondalkin’s minds and Nolan once again crossed the whitewash in the 28th minute to score a try which went unconverted. Having a lead of just 4 points, Clondalkin went into defense mode and some resolute tackling kept Ashbourne at bay. With just 4 minutes left on the clock, Karl Jebb took man and ball in midfield before offloading to his brother David who had a 50 yard run for the line, only to be denied the bonus point try by a last ditch cover tackle. The game closed out with an important win for Clondalkin 29 points to 25.
Clondalkin 1st XV: Brian Doyle, James Kenny, Ciaran Cullen, Sean Brennan, Simon King (Capt), Luke Sweetman, Neil Finlay, John Walshe, Mikey Russell, Chris Jebb, Niall Nolan, Karl Jebb, David Jebb, Eoin Delaney, Barry Mulloy. Subs: Conor Maloney, Kevin Kelly, Jesús Perez Gonzales, Mark Molloy, Ross Fitzgerald
A special note of thanks to John “Sid” Stapleton who laboured long into Friday evening to erect the pitch-side fence in time for Saturdays game. Also a mention to Kevin Laide and Jim Bateman for having the pitch in tip-top condition.
