Semi Final Heartbreak for Clon in Carlow

Clondalkin fought hard but were ultimately undone by a free-scoring Kilkenny backline as their Towns Cup campaign came to an end at the semi-final stage in the Carlow sunshine on Sunday 5th April.

The early pressure was all Kilkenny’s as Clon gave away a scrum penalty after 3 minutes but the attempted kick drifted wide. Just 3 minutes later, a clearance from Clon was fielded by the Kilkenny No. 11 and he jinked his way past several attempted tackles before touching down – play was however called back for an earlier offense from the Kilkenny scrum half who received a yellow card and ten minutes in the bin. Despite having the man advantage Clon were unable to get out of their own half and on the quarter hour mark the constant Kilkenny pressure paid off when their winger went over for the first score of the game, which was unconverted. Just 2 minutes later, this lead was extended by a successful penalty kick when Clon were adjudged offside at a ruck. From the restart, Clon generated their first bit of momentum in the match as first James Kenny and then Neil Finlay carried strongly to gain ground in the opposition half. It was Kilkenny’s turn to give away a ruck penalty and Matt Stapleton landed a 3 pointer to get Clon’s first score of the game. Just a minute later Kilkenny reestablished their 8 point advantage from a penalty kick on the Clon 22. The scoreboard read 11  points to 3 and the Kilkenny backs were looking dangerous as they sought to spread the ball wide at every opportunity and Clon were affording them the space to do so. Ali Collier made an important interception on the half hour point from a Kilkenny attack and he made ground before offloading to Finlay before the move broke down.  Clon did have an edge at scrum time but Kilkenny were able to get the ball out quickly and on the 40 minute mark, their Canadian lock skipped past a number of despairing tackles to score Kilkenny’s second try, which was converted to leave the half time score 18 points to 3.

The second half brought fresh impetus from Clon and after 5 minutes, Mikey Russell and Niall Nolan combined well on the blind side to send Paul Nolan over for a try. Despite the wide angle, Stapleton’s aim was true and the deficit was again reduced to just 8 points. Unfortunately, this was as good as it got for the Dublin men, as Kilkenny’s back division started to create serious problems for Clon with their lines of running –  on 8 minutes their centre was sent down the left wing to score his sides third try, which left the scores at 25 points to 10 after the conversion. On 13 minutes, the Kilkenny pack rumbled over for their 4th try after a lineout catch and drive on the Clon 5 metre line. Just 3 minutes later, the lead was further extended by a 5th try after Kilkenny’s centre pairing had created another opening in Clon’s defense. Clon’s response was being led by Mikey Russell with Simon King, Paul Nolan and Niall Nolan all prominent and this lead to Barry Mulloy being put over in the corner which Stapleton was unable to convert. Simon King was particularly unlucky after getting over the line after some aggressive running only for the ball to go forward as he attempted to ground it. On thirty minutes with the match increasingly getting looser, Kilkenny’s impressive No. 5 scored his second try of the game after out sprinting the Clon defense on the right wing. The result was not in doubt with Kilkenny having amassed 40 points but Clon did not let their heads drop and Neil Finlay forced his way over the line on the full time whistle, converted by Stapleton, which left the final score 40 points to 22. It was a disappointing end to the campaign for Clondalkin but they can look back with pride on a season which has seen them achieve a highest ever placing in Leinster League Division 1A while retaining the Hosie Cup and qualifying for next year’s All Ireland Junior Cup.

Clondalkin 1st XV: Brian Doyle, James Kenny, Ciaran Cullen, Marcus Doyle, Sean Brennan, Simon King (Capt.), Neil Finlay, Derek Glennon, Mark Molloy, Ben Foran,  Ali Collier, Andy Dixon, Matt Stapleton, Niall Nolan, Barry Mulloy. Subs: Conor McCrea, Kevin Kelly, Paul Nolan, Mikey Russell, David Gaule.