This top of the table clash in Division 11 was a tight affair throughout with little to choose between the teams. In the end it was the superior kicking of Andy Tyndall, scorer of all of Clondalkin’s points, that was the difference between the sides.
In almost perfect rugby conditions it was Clondalkin who put the first points on the board with a well struck penalty from Andy Tyndall after 10 minutes. Just 3 minutes later, De La Salle found themselves with kick in front of the posts to level matters but skewed the kick wide. Twice more Tyndall struck penalties to leave Clondalkin 9-0 up after 25 minutes without ever seriously threatening the De La Salle try line. The away side were then put under sustained pressure and a loose pass in defence resulted in De La Salle threatening the Clondalkin line, before winning another penalty in front of the posts. Lightning struck twice as De La Salle missed their second easy chance to put points on the board and an Alan Hickey kick relieved the pressure on the visitors. However the majority of the match was being played in the Clondalkin half and further pressure by the home team yielded another relatively simple penalty chance which they once again contrived to miss and Clondalkin held out lead 9 – 0 at the break.
Determined not to play the entire match in their own half, Clondalkin started the second half brightly with Philly Byrne kicking them deep into the opposition territory and Bobby Smith making inroads with the ball in hand. Concerted pressure by the hard-working Clondalkin pack gave Andy Tyndall a drop kick chance which he converted to leave Clondalkin 12 – 0 ahead. A quarter of an hour into the second half, an ambitious long pass went astray for Clondalkin and De La Salle drove close to the Clondalkin line only to be pushed into touch. They did not have to wait too much longer however as just 5 minutes later, De La Salle scored a try and their first points of the match after a loose kick by Clondalkin. Clondalkin responded and two minutes later, Bobby Smith was again to the fore with a barging run up the middle for and after De La Salle were penalised in the tackle, Andy Tyndall had chance to stretch the away team lead with a relatively simple kick in front of the posts, which he managed to pull wide.
25 minutes into the second half a sustained period of De La Salle pressure led to a further penalty chance which on this occasion they did not miss to leave the scores 12 – 8. However their task became much more difficult when persistent infringing resulted in the first yellow card of the match and Clondalkin were able to relieve the pressure. Tyndall had 2 further penalty opportunities to extend the Clondalkin lead, but both kicks drifted wide. Clondalkin closed the match out on the attack with a series of 5 metre scrums close to the De La Salle line but were unable to add any extra points.
Despite making hard work of it at times, this was a solid performance from Clondalkin and leaves them top of Division 11 with 20 points, 4 points ahead of Kilkenny who they play this coming Saturday. Bobby Smith put Clondalkin on the front foot throughout with excellent work in the loose and credit also goes to Eamonn Stapelton who continues to defy the years with a performance full of energy and determination.
