Bandon 21

Clonakilty 3

LOOSE HEAD REPORTS

THE world is full of rivalries: South Africa and New Zealand, Ireland and England, Manchester United and Liverpool, Tom and Jerry, the list is endless.

And then there’s Bandon and Clonakilty. Clonakilty, celebrating 50 years of rebirth, versus Bandon, 100 years into theirs.

Before 1977/78 Clon players wishing to play rugby would have travelled into Bandon. Many Clonakilty youths would have learned their game in Bandon Grammar.

The re-founded club in Clonakilty would have drawn considerably from these ranks to power the new club, and the seeds were sown.

‘Intense’, ‘passionate’, ‘ferocious’ are all words used to describe these contests.

There is a healthy respect on and off the pitch between the clubs, epitomised by the sensitive resting of star back Ben Ridgeway.

A very talented player, Ridgeway, now in the Red and Green, captained Bandon with distinction.

The influence of Bandon Grammar man, ex-captain Olan Deane, will be sorely missed as he is unavailable for Clon through injury.

Clonakilty RFC's Donnacha Walsh wins this lineout against Bandon RFC. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

The highly anticipated Munster Junior League Division 1 clash meant all roads led to Old Chapel where Bandon, second in the league, hosted Clonakilty, languishing in sixth but ruing the ones that got away, which would have seen this clash carrying more significance.

Nevertheless, a large crowd gathered in anticipation. Prior to kick-off, the weather threatened to spoil the occasion but brightened considerably at the start, and for the entire game the conditions were very good.

Clonakilty started well and looked to bully the proceedings, with powerful carries from Donnacha Walsh, Abraham Tamargo Vinces, Luke McCarthy and Ben Lovell.

Dara Walsh impressed from scrum-half and Corrado Berti dealt with every high ball at full-back.

Bandon’s defence was first class and frustrated Clonakilty time and again, with Tadgh Galvin to the fore in this regard.

Eoin Downey’s spacial awareness and line-kicking was excellent for Clon, particularly one 50/22, but the ferocity of the Bandon defence negated all efforts in attack.

Clon weathered a period that saw Bandon mount attacks and the loss of James Deegan to a yellow for a deliberate knock on, but the hosts were very good value for holding the visitors to a three-point lead at half-time, Berti having kicked a penalty on 15 minutes.

That was scant reward for the possession and territory Clonakilty had enjoyed, but there would have been a confidence in their ranks that they would make the breakthrough in the second half.

The first 10 minutes of the second half saw Clonakilty again with the bulk of possession and territory and some glimpses of their expansive game, but again the home defence was up to the task.

Bandon also demonstrated confidence in not taking the three points when offered on a number of occasions, preferring to go to the corner.

An innocuous enough penalty conceded by Clon on the Bandon 10-metre line became a very dangerous one when the excellent Dan Coughlan dispatched it to the Clon five-metre line. Another uncontested lineout by Clon allowed the wayward throw to be legally collected by Bandon and efficiently mauled over for a try by Jyles Brennan. The conversion by Coughlan gave Bandon a 7-3 lead on 53 minutes.

The scrums had been equally contested but one huge Bandon drive on a Clon put-in earned a penalty and was arguably a turning point in the game.

Bandon sensed the day was theirs and despite big carries from the visitors through Matt Foster, Dane Matthew and James Deegan that were well marshalled, they stretched their lead soon afterwards.

A Clon scrum was stifled at the base with Bandon’s scrum-half, Zachary Allen, winning the battle for possession, his team winning a penalty on the ensuing front foot. The easy three points were spurned and Bandon opted for the tap.

This turned out to be the first of five as Clon closed down their forwards' drives each time, albeit at the expense of a yellow for Vinces. Their pack took it on each time and as they were getting no change from a committed Clon eight, they eventually released the ball to the backs and the numbers counted as the impressive Conor Smyth went over for a try, with Coughlan again adding the extras on 66 minutes for a 14-3 lead.

The wheels came off for Clon as they tried to chase the game and what could go wrong did indeed go wrong.

A kick ahead from Clon went straight to the breadbasket of Ryan McNulty, who had carried well throughout, and it was moved through several pairs of hands to the wing, with Bandon showing their ability to play an expansive game as well.

The ball was moved back across the line, stretching Clon until Smyth put in a beautifully judged kick to bounce kindly for Gavin O’Shea, who went in under the posts to put the game beyond Clon. Coughlan again slotted the conversion.

A surprise result perhaps as Clon undoubtedly have the players but the trademark line-breaks were not in evidence and credit for that must go to a gritty Bandon defence that really fronted up to everything the visitors could throw at them.

Bandon made fewer errors in the end and capitalised on those of the visitors in spades.

The Bandon lineout was excellent, providing a platform for their attack, with club captain Tadgh Galvin marking his 100th junior appearance leading from the front.

Bandon now sit in third place while Clon are down to ninth, but with eight games to play and 40 points on offer, both clubs will feel there are still targets.

Clon will look to return to form for the quarter-final of the All-Ireland Cup when they host Dromore RFC in The Vale on Saturday (2.30pm).

Bandon: Ronan McSweeney; Noah O’Sullivan, Ryan McNulty, Gearoid O’Leary, Gavin O’Shea; Daniel Coughlan, Zachary Allen; Padraig Galvin, Jyles Brennan, Conor Egan; Rhys Hughes, Tadgh Galvin; Joshua Brady, Ralph O’Mahony, Kain Donnellan.

Replacements: Marco Prette, Jacob Brennan, Alan O’Regan, Daniel Lane, Dylan Barr, Conor Smyth and Niall Burke.

Clonakilty: Corrado Berti; Ben Lovell, Dane Matthew, Matt Foster, Jim Twomey; Eoin Downey, Dara Walsh; Gearoid O’Donovan, Tom Doyle, Dave Jennings; Donnacha Walsh, James Deegan; Luke McCarthy, Matthew McCarthy, Abraham Tamargo Vinces.

Replacements: Jonas van der Velde, Jack Ryan, William Tyner, Ciaran McCarthy, Chris Walton, Patrick McCarthy, Niall Barrett, Derry O’Donovan.