Even if our electric start flattered us a little, this game was a great contest from the outset, but the hosts’ superior set pieces and a handful of errors on our side, proved decisive.

Right from the kickoff, our crisp passes through the phases left the Railway Union flat footed and outhalf JJ Walsh alternated between swift delivery wide and pinging the ball into the corner. Lansdowne piled on the pressure as Railway Union conceded a second penalty in as many minutes. From a five meter scrum, the ball comes out of our back-peddling scrum and scrum half Paul Kinney (PK) does well to shovel it out to JJ. The Railway defence is very close in and JJ sees a gap in the corner and deftly kicks another ball wide for Rory Boyle to gather and saunter in over the line. We miss the conversion, but an excellent start 0-5 in five minutes.

The game resumes and the Railway scrum proves very powerful but our backs look more mobile, with JJ especially keeping control of proceedings at 10. We work back into their 22 but the scrum that follows is another mismatch. They exit and force us back in our own 22 and now it’s Lansdowne’s turn to defend. It seems their forwards aren’t the only good players on the Railway Union team as their backs, particularly their outhalf, centre and left wing, open us up with confident and clever attacks.

As feared, their backs worked their mischief from a solid scrum platform inside our half. The ball comes out the blindside and their 10 counters our rush defence with a clever chip through on the ground. Their powerful running centre kicks it through a second time and the bounce favours him so he scoops up the ball and sprints under our post. 
7-5 on the half hour mark

Now brimming with confidence from their solid set pieces, the Railway Union backs stretch our defence to its limit with hard running direct lines and dinky kicks into space. Seems JJ isn't the only maestro on the pitch. Eventually their work pays off and that centre of theirs scores again under the posts. 14-5 as the half time whistle blows.

The hosts resume this pressure in the second half just as they ended the first. Their centre chips over our defenders’ heads and gathers it himself, with only a heroic effort in scrambling defence from flanker Will Sadlier saving Lansdowne from a bigger gap. We win a penalty and breathe a sigh of relief as JJ puts it back inside their 22.
Now comes a passage exhilarating play for the spectator, though exhausting for both sides. The attack ebbs and flows between the two 22 meter lines as both teams set up and repel attack, defence and then attack. Eventually a scrum is called and some players on both sides call the physio while all the others heave massive gulps of air back into their aching lungs. Steam rises off the two packs like racehorses after a dawn work out. A cracking competition.

Inevitably perhaps, Railway work back into our 22 and though we are awarded a scrum, they win it back against the head, releasing it to their lethal backs, their left winger being the one to plunge the sword this time, adding a little twist by running under the posts. 21-5

By now our set pieces in general were not quite masterful, and fatigue and frustration were starting to show, but as we entered the final quarter, anyone that knew this Lansdowne group of players knew the story was far from over.

Back inside our own half again, old campaigners like Rory Cunningham, made some blistering runs, and we win a penalty. Afonso who has replaced PK at Nine, takes a quick one, and passes it wide to Jacques (“The Hat”) Chapeau. To gasps of approval from all over the ground, Jacques shimmies and cuts inside a tackler, setting up centre David Clark on his inside. He presses the turbo button and slices and weaves through their defence like a hot knife through butter. A ruck is formed inside their 22 and, our blood now up, it’s whipped out quickly. JJ skip passes to back row Niall O’Shea and from him to Rory C, who in turn skips Ethan Lynch to reach “ Wolfie” Lenihan on the wing. Who knew he too had a turbocharger and he scorched down the touchline for 15 meters to touch down in the corner. 21-10 … Dare we hope? Inside the last five minutes, yes we dare!  

Right from the restart we resumed our attack. Another quick maul and the ball is moved out wide again. This time, either through accident or design - let’s go with design - the ball goes to ground in the centre and is chipped through into the corner.  Now Wolfie has turned into an Exocet missile and he breaks the sound barrier reaching the ball to touch down just before it bounces over the dead ball.  Again, the touchline is just out of range for our kicker and it’s three tries each at 21- 5, as we approach injury time. But that’s the way it stays. Full time.

A good win from a deceptively sharp Railway Union side, but a commendable performance from our boys too in a very entertaining encounter.

Match Report - Brian Whelan