Albert O’Connell Cup (Metro J2) Semi Final
Coolmine RFC v Lansdowne FC
Monday 15 April 2024
Coolmine RFC
Coolmine 28 – 8 Lansdowne
No excuses or complaints, Coolmine were deserving winners and will hopefully go on to lift the Albert O’Connell after their final against De La Salle Palmerstown next week. But if they were giving out medals for courage and determination against the odds, captain Will McEvoy and vice-captain Aaron Daly’s entire squad (including those present and those unavailable on the night), would all be worthy recipients. Noble in victory the whole season, they were equally dignified in defeat and did themselves and the club proud. Well done lads.
Electing to play with the wind in the first half, outhalf JJ Walsh tried to pin the home side in their 22 from the get-go, but they weren’t having it. They recovered the kick-off and with their powerful scrum and lineout maul they marched us to our line and stayed there for ten minutes. Only the most heroic and disciplined defence kept them out, winger Tadhg Brennan and prop John Barry first to stand out in early encounters. A penalty against them gave us a reprieve and we worked our way back down the pitch and launched our own campaign. Things were looking hopeful as we started to move the ball fluidly, JJ and strong running centre Frank O’Grady linking smoothly and breaking the gain line. But then came our first major setback, as captain and centre Will took a heavy knock and had to finish his game and season after only ten minutes. Coaches Ed O’Keefe and Adam Curry had a strong bench and flexible players so Finn O’Loughlin moved from full back to centre while Senan O’Shea came on at 15. Though missing Will, we started to make an impact, James “Cheese” Power leading by example with powerful tackles and big hits. We got a kickable penalty in the middle of the pitch and we opted to go for the corner. Wing forward Alex McEvoy had the throwing duties and he found jumper Conor Horan sweetly in spite of the wind. Coolmine committed all their eight to the counter maul and seeing this, Alex took the ball back early, found the gap and sprinted the 15 metres go over in the corner. 0- 5
Our celebrations would be short lived as soon after the try, Aaron Daly came down awkwardly in a line out and crumpled to the deck (with two broken bones and ruptured ligaments in his foot as it turned out – too much info?). He was carried to the sideline and thus ended his game and season too. A quick mention for Daly, an extraordinary servant of the club in his five years playing, he’s off to Australia next year, no doubt to be reunited with his brother-from-another-mother Paddy Butler. We thank him for his service and wish him well in his travels – in spite of his extremely dubious choice of jersey whenever Munster are in town.
Now it was the turn of winger Max Moore to lift the team after the setback of Daly’s departure. He fielded a clearance kick well inside our 22 and hoofed it down the pitch, his expert draw causing it to bounce and go out on their 10 meter line. They were penalized in the ruck that followed and he converted the penalty kick that followed. 0 – 8
As half time approached, we knew an eight-point margin wouldn’t be enough facing into the elements for the second period. But for the last few minutes, it looked like we might be lucky to hold on to that lead with Coolmine finishing the half with another powerful attack, only barely held off the line by more great tackles from the likes of tight head Ronan Shaw and openside flanker Hugo Fitzgerald.
As feared, the second half started and would continue with the home side taking full advantage of the wind and familiar pitch, pinning us down in our own 22. As one local supporter said, “In fairness, it’s impossible to get out of that corner!” Their first points came from the boot of their outhalf less than five minutes into the second period. 3 – 8
We didn’t help our cause when the restart on halfway was buffeted back by the wind and they had a scrum. That didn’t go very well for us either and soon we were back on our own line again with the inevitable try coming with an extra sting of a yellow card for a high tackle. 10 – 8 and down to 14 men with the second half less than ten minutes old. Oh dear.
Regular readers will know how we are normally committed to forensic accuracy in these reports, but considering the bigger picture of the great season, heroic displays and magnificent spirit of the whole extended squad, coaches and management team, let’s agree just this once … why relive it??
Suffice to say, for the remainder of the second half, this Coolmine 1st team brought their commendable bulk, cohesion and home advantage to bear and dominated the rest of the game. We made occasional forays up the equivalent the north face of the Eiger to attack their line with all the style and courage we could muster – and we have an abundance of both – but full credit to their defence it was impenetrable. Through fair means and foul – they had three players yellow carded in the second half and it could easily have been twice that – they defended the sanctuary of their line and rubbed salt in our wounds with long range penalty kicks and a heart-breaking intercept in the closing moments. But let’s not dwell on all that.
A defeat on a freezing Monday night in Coolmine will not be how we remember this season. Winners of the Jack Dawson League Cup, playing outstanding rugby and showing Olympic skills in the bar … that’s what these lads are all about. And that’s Lansdowne junior rugby at its best. Bien Joué!
Full Squad
- Johnny Barry
- Brendan O’Malley
- Ronan Shaw
- Conor Horan
- Aaron Daly
- Alex McEvoy
- Hugo Fitzgerald
- James Power
- Afonso Mendonca
- JJ Walsh
- Max Moore
- William McEvoy
- Frank O’Grady
- Tadhg Brennan
- Finn O’Loughlin
- Aiden Long
- Guillaume Plé
- Angus Pigott
- Paul Kinney
- Senan O’Shea
Match Report – Brian Whelan
Great match report as always Brian; thank you for all your literary effort all season.