Saturday 11th January 2025
St. Mary's RFC 32 - 26 Lansdowne FC

Metro League Premier 1
Templeville Road

This game followed immediately after the conclusion of the AIL senior game in which Lansdowne secured a very important away win. However, for the j1’s they could not repeat this victory and lost out in a close encounter against a much-improved unrecognizable St. Mary's team from the reverse fixture before Christmas. 
On balance certainly in the second-half, St. Mary's were the better team and deserved their victory in showing a greater desire to prevail. In their number 10 and captain Aaron O’Neill they had the best player on either team. It was he who would make the difference, landing a couple of crucial penalties at very important times. 

However, there was a twist right at the end with an unexpected bonus for the J1’s. Their final try secured a bonus point for scoring four tries as well as a losing bonus point which meant that they were able to take two points and something out of this game.

The game itself began under the lights with both teams having their moments but by and large cancelling each other out. It was not until midway through the first half that the deadlock was broken. This was courtesy of Clive Ross who drove over from close into the right-hand posts and with the conversion from Tom Bohan the lead was 7-0.
Restarts are an important part of the game and proper alignment in receiving them is very much required. This aspect of the game was at times hopeless from both teams. Following the opening try, Lansdowne coughed up the ball from the kickoff giving good field position to Saint Mary's. They secured through subsequent penalty advantage possession within the ’22. There followed a well marshalled line out and rolling maul from which the equalizing score was achieved by the Mary’s Hooker. The conversion from near the touchline by the out half left the scoreline at 7 points each.

Off the restart again a mistake this time by the home team. It was from this that the J1’s were able to secure good field position within the St Mary's ‘22 and the forward power showed. This allowed lock Conor McMenamin to score from close in 12-7.

Again, you guessed it after another mistake from the restart coughing the ball up. St. Mary's gained possession and attacked. A number of phases later their right winger gathered a pass to run in from the 22 and level the scores at 12-12 each at half time.
The second half began with St. Mary's upping the pace and looking very much like the side in the ascendency in terms of control. There was ill-discipline from the j1’s leading to a high penalty count during this portion of the game which went very much in favor of the home team. It was from one of these penalties that their out half landed a kick to push Mary's in front at 15 -12.
They were beginning to enjoy good periods of possession and territory and were applying pressure to the J1’s. This pressure after ten minutes would result in a score for them by way of a well taken try which was converted 22 – 12 and they deserved to be in front as they were taking the game by the scruff of the neck.

The J1’s team had to hit back and this they did through a Paul Wilson try with the conversion from Bohan closing the scoreline to 22-19. However, the pattern of conceding penalties continued, and the penalty count was now looking ugly from the j1’s point of view. It was from one of these penalties that the excellent out half extended Mary's lead with a well taken penalty making the score line 25-19. In fact, he had a further chance to increase that from a long range effort which fell tantalizingly short of the uprights.
The home side had the upper hand, and their forwards retained possession leading to line breaks and good positions being achieved by them. They continued to probe and use tactical kicks to gain territory. There was a sense that this game may be slipping away from the J1’s as Mary's went hunting a fourth try. 

There was mounting pressure and following a flowing back move the ball found its way to the Saint Mary's winger who cut back inside and with deft footwork evaded the defenders in so doing skipping through to touchdown near the left-hand posts. The inevitable conversion followed and there was daylight now between the teams at 32-19.

There was 10 minutes on the clock and the J1 team had to react and to their credit they continued to show a lot of fight in trying to gain territory. They persisted and as the clock was almost up they got their reward with the ball moving through hands left and right before it was gathered by center Harry O’ Riordan who broke through to score. Jack Connolly converted and the final whistle sounded 32-26.

St. Mary's had avenged their heavy defeat to the same opposition before Christmas with an unrecognizable team from what they had fielded. In so doing they earned an important win keeping them in contention in this division and pushing them into second place for the moment behind Lansdowne who with their two points in this game continued to lead the division.

What can you take out of this game well certainly the knowledge that on the road the decisions do not always go your way which was the case here. Also, this game emphasized how close the teams are in this division with any team on their day being able to beat one of the top teams in the division.

This was a disappointing loss for the J1 team but on balance the better team won on the night with St. Mary's dominating the second-half and the J1 team living off scraps. It could well be that these two teams will meet each other again later in the season and we will have to wait and see

There are now four games to go in this division for the J1 team and their focus now turns to their next fixture which is against the present league holders Clontarf and a win in this game now becomes hugely significant. They will have to improve on their performance in this match and no doubt they will.

Match Report - John Kilroy