26/02/2023

Lansdowne J1s 28 – 7 UCD

Metropolitan Cup

Quarter Final

Anyone who has been following the weekly reports will know that I keep mentioning the strength of this J1 pack, and once again it was shown to be beneficial in this quarter final win! Not only are they difficult to get the ball off but when they do not have it they go hunting in packs to reclaim it.

The front row of Sean Dunne, Jamie Kavanagh and Teddy Boland are a dynamic, technical scrummaging unit who are all good in the loose and are supported off the bench by players such as Evan Downey, Conan Dunne and Richie Allen making the unit very strong for the entirety of any particular game. In the second row Sean Walsh rules the air and Daniel Murphy brings physicality and a high tackle count. In the back row, Luke Thompson as captain is a go forward worker, and turns over heaps of the opposition ball. Darragh Murphy is a big physical ball carrier who is the line out option and Matt Healy also provides a line out option, as well as having a habit of breaking through tackles and causing endless problems for defending teams. Their togetherness especially in the first half of the above fixture won the game, and with the result achieved you can sense from them that they are buzzing for the next challenge, which further increases confidence and makes them an exceedingly difficult team to beat.

This game as I have said was won by Lansdowne in the first half and the game opened with a penalty from out half Billy Foley who for me was excellent this week. This guy is a good footballer both from the ground and from hand, as well as being a clever player in picking the right option of when to kick and when to go wide.
His outside backs were also efficient and functional. Special mention must go to Bill McNamara who came up from the J2’s and slotted has perfectly into position at inside center. He has a strong and effective performance in that position. Also, Sam Burns continued his consistent form and was responsible for several mazy run counterattacks and seems to be growing in confidence and going from strength to strength as the season moves on. The other backs, Mike Walsh, Shane Hourihane, Alex Kinahan and Matt Grogan all did their jobs to advantageous effect in what was a fine team performance.

Leading by 3 – nil from Foley’s early penalty, some fine attacking play involving both forwards and backs led to Dan Murphy adding to his try total from last week. This increased the score line with the extras added by Foley made it 10-0. The coaching staff had called for a fast start from this team, and that is what they got as play continued during the first half with Foley adding another penalty stretching the lead to 13-0.
Once again from the restart, the visitors were pushed back and repelled from gaining any good field position, with the Lansdowne forwards foraging for the ball leading to pressure being applied. This resulted in Teddy Boland scoring again this week, this increased the score to 18-0. In fairness to UCD they rallied and probably had their best period of the game with the first half coming to a close. It was after some particularly decent work from their forwards that their Hooker touched down under the post, with conversion this left the score line at 18-7. However, this was not the end of the scoring as literally from the kick-off, College had the ball and attempted a clearance kick. This was blocked down and allowed Matt Healy to gather the ball and run in for a try to add to the one from the bench he scored last week. With extras added, and the score moved out to 25 – 7 which was to be the halftime score.

The playing conditions for both teams were good and the second half began with the students chasing the game but as you know this J1 outfit has a well-organized and resolute defense. It was not long before the pattern of the first half was to continue with the forwards exerting a lot of pressure inside the UCD ‘22. There were attacks from Lansdowne which ended up with the ball over the line but adjudged held up and a goal line dropout resulting. In fairness to UCD, they scrapped and tried very hard but each time they broke out they were met with some long reply searching kicks both from Foley and Burns, which took a lot of momentum out of their play. The second half itself was a bit stop start and with personnel changes both due to injury and replacement the game went through quiet periods with the score line remaining unchanged. The result was never really in doubt as this J1 outfit had full control over the game and were not letting the opposition any chance to spark a revival. The only score of the second half was a penalty by Foley which increased the score line to 28-7 and the game meandered to a close with the students on the attack. This team pride themselves on their defense and the fact that they have conceded less points than any other team at this level throughout the season, their willingness to stop the opposition from scoring was shown.
The game petered out and the win had been achieved and the run goes on. This side advances to the semi-final of the metropolitan cup which is fixed for the end of March, and they also now know that their opponent is Clontarf who beat Terenure in their quarter-final in a topsy turvy high scoring affair.

Focus now turns back to the league and the final regular fixture of the league is a home one against Clontarf which makes this fixture remarkably interesting given that we will clash again in the semi-final of the cup. Clontarf have a mathematical chance of still making the league final, but they would very much need to win against this team with a bonus point and hope that other results go their way. For the home side they will be looking to make a statement about the fact that they are the division leaders and so it promises to be an interesting game which you should try to support in headquarters on Sunday afternoon next at 3pm.
The season is very much now at the business end and for this team the pressure is on, but they seem to be coping so far with that taking it in their stride with one game at a time. There are no doubt difficult challenges lie ahead and the hope is that they can extend their winning run for a few more matches as the finale approaches, they deserve it. They are a great bunch of lads.

Match Report – John Kilroy