When reporting on this game the first thing to note was it was played in very difficult squally weather conditions in Donnybrook and the weather gods seemed to affect the performance of the J1 team who had a bad day at the office and in so doing succumbed to their first loss of the season against a well-motivated and effective Old Wesley who performed much the better in the conditions and deserved their win.

The toss was a key factor in this game, and it was won by Wesley who chose to play into the wind which proved an incredibly good decision giving the J1 team use of the elements in the first half. After five minutes, there was a setback for Lansdowne with wing and Captain Daniel McEvoy, following a cross kick recovered the ball. In his effort to go forward towards the try line, a tackle went wrong, and he struck his head, leading to concussion and him having to go off. This guy is everything that a team wants to have on it, and throughout his long and successful career he has done much for Lansdowne. We are hoping for a speedy recovery and that he will come back soon following this! 

Lansdowne pressed Wesley very much during this period but did not convert this attacking play into scores until the 14th minute, following persistent pressure from the Lansdowne forwards it was left to Donough Lawlor to score from close into the left of the posts with the conversion added by Stephen McMahon to take the lead at 0-7. Lansdowne continued from the restart to attack with the wind conditions and driving rain in their favour. They were getting into good position, but the ferocity and good level of defence of the home side meant that the scoreline remained the same. However, a couple of minutes later, following a charge down kick, the ball was gathered by a Wesley winger, who broke clear, touching down in the left-hand corner reducing the lead to 5-7. This seemed to give the home team confidence, and it was they who very much controlled possession and as a result gained territory even though they were playing into the prevailing conditions. They entered the Lansdowne ‘22 only to botch a penalty kick to the corner which would have given them a very good situation to score further. The Wesley pack were very much working together, and it took some very good defensive play from Lansdowne to keep them out.
 This pattern continued and again Wesley came close to scoring on the far-right hand side, only for a player who was clean through to fumble the ball close to the try line.

The elements which had been very much in Lansdowne’s favour were starting to mean less and less in that Wesley continued to dominate possession. After a fine break from their number 8, who offloaded the ball out of the tackle to their flanker (the pass may have been slightly forward,) who then ran in and scored close to the right-hand posts to make the score 12-7.
 Amazingly, the conversion from under the posts was blocked down and with only a couple of minutes to go to half time. Lansdowne awoke out from their slumber and scored a fine try by Matthew Hodgkins on the right wing which was converted brilliantly by Stephen McMahon meaning that at half time they were ahead 12-14.

The second half began with the home side assuming their dominance. The J1 team did break out into the Wesley half, and managed to gain very good field position within the ‘22 and after several phases of possession, it looked likely that they would score. Only for a long pass to be thrown out wide which was intercepted by the Wesley winger who ran the length of the field to score under the posts with the conversion added and one sensed that this was a huge turning point moment in the game meaning they regained the lead 19-14. 
There was still plenty of time, but it was the home side Wesley who completely dominated possession. Their clever halfbacks they were able to manage the game and gain good field position with long raking kicks. Their forwards assumed complete control in the scrum, and this meant that they were going forward during this period. To their credit the J1s defended resolutely and there were some very good hits made to prevent certain scoring opportunities that arose. But with all this pressure from Wesley, it led to penalty after penalty and a yellow card, as they continued to hammer away at the line without crossing it. From one of the penalties, they decided to take the points and extend their lead out to more than a one score game to 22-14.

The J1s were having an off day but did show a little bit of fight towards the end of the game. The last play of the game, in fact, produced some of the best rugby they had shown throughout the game , a back movement which entered into the Wesley ‘22 for winger and replacement Toby Ennis to score a good try right at the end, which meant a crucial point taken out of the game, and leaving the final score at 22 - 19. 

To Wesley, you must applaud them and say well done as they thoroughly deserved their victory. In fact, the closeness of the score line probably flatters Lansdowne who did not really perform on the day. 

Mention this week for Todd Lawlor who is the attacking full back, who had a fine game. Every time he gained possession in the game, he was getting beyond the gain line and giving back go-forward ball to the team. Other than that, a disappointing display with much room for improvement. To sum up the day it was one where the weather gods took complete control of the game, and it is the team that wanted it more that achieved the result.