Belfield Bowl is a great place to watch a game and usually great to play on, but it was a field of nightmares for the home side as, with one notable exception, they failed to breach Lansdowne’s tungsten-tough defences and conceded five tries for their trouble. Two sides at opposite ends of the table needing a big result, the similarity ended there; the outcome of this game was never really in doubt from early on.

In a frenzied opening few minutes as both teams grappled with the swirling wind and over eagerness, balls were fumbled, dropped and intercepted, but it was Lansdowne that was first to establish control with an early scrum. The dominance we showed the previous week against a bigger Terenure pack was on display straight away as props Jerry Cahir and Greg McGrath performed whatever dark arts that props do to secure a scrum penalty from their first bind. But in spite of our overall control, we struggled to escape our half as the wind and the dogged students kept us pinned down. The first quarter was nearly at an end before the stalemate was broken. Lansdowne had clawed our way into their half and won a scrum outside their 22. The platform was rock solid again, affording scrum half Jack Matthews the luxury of a relatively unrushed delivery to Stephen Madigan at 10. But when he offloaded it to Cillian Redmond joining the line at speed from full back, the pace exploded, perhaps catching the students off guard. Cillian went for a gap but jinked outside instead, finding winger Peter Sullivan charging outside him. Sully had a lot to do, but give a try scorer like him a sniff of the line and it will take more than two, yes two, undernourished students to keep him from his prize and he bounced off one and skated around the other to touch down in the corner. 0 - 5

But straight from the restart we were pinned back with a soft penalty and found ourselves defending a lineout on our 10m. They win but the maul is scrappy and the ball that comes out isn’t much better. Sensing blood, our rush defence goes in for the kill, but still not quite settled into the game perhaps, they overshoot the target and the Collidge centre, one Tom Murtagh, side steps and bursts through the gap, jinking one more time before going over for the try under the posts. Even though this worried the visitors, his great score drew applause from both sets of supporters. 7 - 5.

Among the many joys of attending matches live is the witty and sometimes even informative banter you are treated to on the sideline. On this occasion, sporting encyclopedia (and both Collidge and Lansdowne member), Fiacra Nagle shared that scorer Tom Murtagh is son of none other than champion jockey, Johnny Murtagh, and so the grandson of the legendary GAA player, coach and guru, “Barefoot” Babs Keating. “It looks like the fancy footwork is still running in the family” quipped Fiacra!  (Fiacra is also available for weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.)

Back to the game and if the Lansdowne lads were worried, they weren’t showing it. With the assurance of a team about to secure their qualification for the play offs, we slowly worked our way back into their half. However, we still struggled to maintain a lasting territorial foothold in their danger zone and so, perhaps out of frustration - or did we have a penalty advantage? - Stephen Madigan opts to kick into the corner, a risky move in this wind. But it worked. A shorter winger than Peter Sullivan might not have reached it, but he leapt skyward and in a wonderful addition to the modern game of volleyball skills, he tapped it down to oncoming fullback Cillian Redmond who went over for a score in the corner. 7 - 10.

The pattern continued for the remainder of the half. Making the most of the wind, Collidge had much of the possession and territory, but we forced them into mistakes and so their accuracy was low. Ours on the other hand, was lethal. Whenever we did make forays into their half we usually came away with some spoils. And so it was not once but twice, that rare lineouts inside their 10 meter line led to mauls and then tries, both coming from terrier hooker Jack Treanor, the second on the stroke of half time. 7 - 20 with the bonus point already in the bag.

Another legend of both clubs but wearing his Collidge tie for the moment, Willie Burns, commented at half time that the students were in big trouble, facing into the wind for the second half and a Lansdowne team that seemed to get stronger by the minute. He was only partly right. Yes, Lansdowne were in control, but he was too modest on behalf of the brave students.
Collidge redoubled their attacks from the restart with wave after wave of assaults. Only heroic tackles from Harry Van Eeden, Andy Marks, Rory Parata… hell, the whole damn team …held them back, sometimes just inches short of our line. It was undoubtedly a big help with a backing wind to be able to hoof the ball away from trouble and half backs Jack and Stephen took full advantage. The heroism of the students’ fight back is seen also in their scrum where they regained parity first and then a couple of scrum penalties. The Collidge supporters go wild and even Willie’s eye’s light up “Jesus lads, a ray of hope!”

But their hope doesn’t last long. While the students empty themselves with a Herculean effort to score, we just empty our bench and bring on fresh legs. One example of the strength and depth of our squad is seen with Donough Lawlor. How can you improve on the way Harry Van E is playing, you’d ask, but he’s only flesh and blood (really?) and needs a break, and when Donough comes on, the tempo lifts and his work in the lineout and speed off the back of the scrum add a whole new dimension. The students didn’t stand a chance.
To their credit, they held us out for most of the second half, but with the same ruthless efficiency that has characterized our play since Christmas, when we got into their half in the closing minutes, winger Rob Hedderman finished a multi-phase move in the corner.  Full time 7 - 25.

Now let’s not get carried away; things are going well, it’s true, but the hardest part of the climb is when you approach the summit. But, good grief, was that yet another commanding performance, or what?

Match Report - Brian Whelan

Scorers:
UCD: Try: Tom Murtagh; Con: Daragh Gilbourne
Lansdowne: Tries: Peter Sullivan, Cillian Redmond, Jack Treanor 2, Rob Hedderman

HT: UCD 7 Lansdowne 15


UCD: Tim Corkery; Ross Deegan, Tom Murtagh, Ben Brownlee, Eoghan Walsh; Daragh Gilbourne, Rob Gilsenan; Tom O’Riordan, Bobby Sheehan (capt), Andrew Sparrow, Matt Healy, Conor Ó Tighearnaigh, Dan Campbell, Oisin Spain, Dan Barron.
Replacements: Mikey Yarr, Hugo O’Malley, Chris Hennessy, Conor Tonge, Thomas Quinn, Evan Moynihan.

LANSDOWNE: Cillian Redmond; Peter Sullivan, Andy Marks, Rory Parata, Rob Hedderman; Stephen Madigan, Jack Matthews; Jerry Cahir, Jack Treanor, Greg McGrath, Juan Beukes, Ruairi Clarke, Jack Cooke (capt), Liam Molony, Hardus van Eeden.
Replacements: George Morris, Chris Poole, Barry Fitzpatrick, Donough Lawlor, James Kenny, Hugo McLaughlin.