Another great advertisement for club rugby in general, and the All-Ireland League in particular, this contest had it all: seven tries, four seasons with blunders and brilliance interwoven throughout.  Lansdowne can have no complaints. While we played some fantastic ball with many great individual performances, Mary’s were overall the more composed and effective side and well deserving of the win, keeping them firmly at the top of the tree at Christmas.

Conditions were perfect when out half Charlie Tector kicked off to the cheers of the nearly 500 supporters gathered for this festive Dublin derby. But from the off, the home side looked the less settled, as the visitors found gaps in the loose and Mary’s experienced second row, Greg Jones, disrupted our lineouts at will.  When we did manage to get good ball, we were a little too urgent and let a few wild passes go. Working through the phases in a promising attacking position, one such wayward pass was intercepted by the Mary’s left winger, Leandro Rameriz who shot out of their 22-meter area and kicked the ball into ours where his team soon took up residence.  Several phases passed and our defence was commendable, but ultimately well read by the Mary’s excellent out half, Conor Dean who varied the direction and pace of proceedings in a manner worthy of his name. Eventually, he opted for a cross-field kick and found their openside flanker, Ethan Baxter who romped over in the corner for their first try.  0-5
It would be a while before things got better for Lansdowne, as our efforts to get into the game fell foul of hurried passes and wasteful kicks. “Relax,” called Lansdowne legend, Jack O’Sullivan from the commentary box. “Earn the right to go wide!”, which according to his coach Mike Ruddock OBE, means run a few balls up the middle and tie up their defences and only then send it wide.  But they didn’t hear him, and the familiar pattern was repeated: we had a ball in a promising position and kicked for territory, only to see the ball gathered and sent back to our 22 where Mary’s turned the ball over from the ruck that followed. The ball was passed to Dean from the ruck by a forward (what will these Mary’s guys think of next?) and in another flash of brilliance, he held up his pass briefly before skipping the centre to reach scrum half, Colm Reilly coming at pace. He skilfully chips over our defenders, gathers the ball and sprints over the line, this time within range of the posts making it 0-12 after just 15 minutes.

But as we entered the second quarter, it became clear that “The Travelling Mary’s Show” was coming to an end and our composure returned. Finally, we started to play with the talent and courage that makes this such a great team - potentially. After a few more phases, we seemed tantalizingly close to a breakthrough, only to make a dodgy decision, or take a big hit from fiery Mary’s defence. Eventually, we get a penalty, and Charlie puts it into the corner inside their 22. This time everything goes to plan. A perfect throw by Jack Treanor to Ruari Clarke, a quick maul to tie in their stragglers and our openside Barry Fitzpatrick breaks through a small gap. He gets it back to Ruari and another ruck is formed. With Mary’s backpedalling furiously now, scrum half Cormac Foley whips it to Charlie, and he carries 10 m then offloads to a charging full back Cathal Eddy and bang we’re back in the game. 7-12. 

Now, it was the Lansdowne lads that were on fire and straight from the restart we were back in their half with powerful and accurate runs and passes. St Mary’s haven’t got worse, it’s just that we’ve started to click … if anything, we’re moving a shade slower, but oh, so much more clinical. The rucks and mauls tie in the visitors but protect the ball, setting it up for Foley to recycle it, and with runners taking hard lines, a reward looks imminent. Sure enough, it’s the AIL’s top try scorer Andy Marks that breaks their last line of defence and makes 15 meters before passing back inside to Foley. 14-12 as the halfway mark approaches. Sweet.
But Mary’s recognized the danger and slowly and surely worked their way back into our danger zone for the closing minutes of the half.  Then, winning a penalty, they prudently took the points, and we went into the break 14-15 after an enthralling half.

The weather started to turn as the game resumed, but it didn’t deter our lads and their penchant for stylish rugby. Gaining a good position in the Mary’s end we got a scrum and, as they had done throughout the first half, props Jerry Cahir and Greg McGrath gave Foley a strong forward moving platform to work from. Cormac breaks wide, and appears to hesitate, but don’t be fooled, he slips it back inside to the charging full back Eddy running a perfect line. Cathal draws a defender before offloading to Andy Marks who stretches his scoring record with yet another beauty under the posts. Slick plays straight from the training ground. Charlie converts to make it 21-15.

Of course, nobody in the now drenched back pitch thought this was the end of it. Within minutes, Mary’s were back on the ball. Perhaps giving us a taste of our own medicine, they tie up our defenders in several phases, before moving it wide. Their powerful centre Dan Goggin just breaking the gain line and offloading to set winger Mark Fogerty free down the touchline to score in the corner. 21-20.
Now, perhaps over eager to stretch our tiny lead, we start to return to our slightly sloppy ways, our lineouts a lottery, but scrums still dominant.  Again, Mary’s work up the middle keeping the ball tight in the deteriorating conditions, before unleashing their full back Hayes and winger Fogerty who chips over our defenders (again!) and makes the best of a happy bounce to tip down.  An excellent conversion from the touchline sees control return to the league leaders 21-27 as we enter the last 15 minutes.

A period of kick tennis followed as if offering those gathered a much-needed rest from all the excitement. But it was the visitors that ended the deadlock with their fifth and final try from an excellent lineout maul. 21-32.

Now into injury time, the game was out of reach for the hosts, but courage, character and the deep desire for a second (try) bonus point, kept us at our work. Richly deserved, our fourth and final try came from a play in the centre of the pitch, as the ball came wide to Andy Marks who again burst the gain line and offloaded to sub scrumhalf Jack Matthews.

Final score 26-32 with the league leaders worthy winners, but plenty for Lansdowne to work on and to be hopeful for in the New Year and the second half of this intriguing season.

Feliz Navidad sports fans!