Clondalkin’s 4th string side made the trek down to south county Kilkenny for this Leinster Metro Division 11 tie on Saturday 22nd February but returned home with only a losing bonus point as consolation. One of the countries newest Clubs, Kilkenny Normans have been plying their trade for just 4 years and the playing field in Knocktopher is bereft of the usual facilities of changing rooms and showers. Nevertheless a warm welcome was extended to Clondalkin on arrival but unfortunately for the away side, this welcome didn’t transfer onto the playing field and when the referee blew the whistle to start the game, the home team attacked the Dublin side with vigor and aggression. Short a number of regular players, Clondalkin were a mixture of youth and experience and playing directly into a gale force gust, they found it hard to gain any territorial advantage over the Kilkenny side. Normans were content to keep the ball tight and grind the hard yards with their pack of forwards – when they did kick down field, Clondalkin full back Aidan Slane displayed a keen positional sense in the strong winds and dealt comfortably with everything that came his way.
A change of tactics from the home team saw them flash the ball wide and their hard running second centre evaded a number of tackles before being hauled down short of the line. From the resulting ruck, a pick and drive brought Normans over the whitewash and they touched down for the first score of the match. The try went unconverted and from the restart, Normans conceded a penalty which gave Clondalkin the opportunity to claw 3 points back. The strong winds blew Cian Murphy’s kick wide of the posts and the score remained 5 points to nil. A second penalty kick opportuinty for Cian Murphy drew another blank before Normans again made the most of slack defending and touched down for their second try of the match, which was converted. The final act of the first half saw Clondalkin get on the scoreboard as David Shirley’s penalty kick into the wind somehow crept over. Shirley was not so lucky with his second attempt immediately after half time as this time the ball dropped under the crossbar even with the wind being in Clondalkin’s favour. The prevailing wind dictated that the majority of the second half was going to be played in the Normans half but despite relentless pressure from the away side, they failed to seriously threaten the try line. Normans were content to concede penaltys which bar one occasion when Cian Murphy landed a second 3 pointer, Clondalkin kicked for touch, looking to use their driving line out maul to force their way over. However, injures to the evergreens Brendan Ward and Eamon Stapleton deprived Clondalkin of ballast in the driving maul and Normans were able to negate this tactic. When they did break out of their own half, only a series of last ditch tackles from Clondalkin, in particular from Conor Steed prevented Normans from extending their lead. The last 5 minutes of the match saw Clondalkin parked inside the Normans 22 and despite a number of surging runs from Will Eustace, the home defense stood firm and the final whistle saw a 12 – 6 win for the Kilkenny men. Clondalkin need to win their remaining two games at home to guarantee a top 2 finish in the league and with it a place in the Division 11 play off.
Clondalkin 4th XV: Aiden Slane, Mark Reddington, Matthew Walker, David Shirley, Stephen Bracken, Cian Murphy, Conor Steed, Thomas Duffy, Derek Noonan, John Mooney, Brendan Ward, Anthony Byrne, Eamonn Stapleton, Luke Sweetman, William Eustace
Subs: Pau Tarrats, Marcel Vanderweert, Daniel Doran-O’Reilly
