A powerful afternoon of rugby played out at Spafield earlier in brilliant sunshine as Cashel and Barnhall went head to head in the narrowing gap for promotion where credit must be given to both sides for a thrilling tie in the AIL Division 1B/2A Promotion playoff semi-final.
Tense and dogged doesn't come close to describing the gasps and cheers of the huge crowd as the game ebbed and flowed to a conclusion but as full time approached it was Barnhall the pendulum had swung in favour of, and they made hay with a late penalty sealing victory and breaking Cashel hearts.
After recent games being tight between these two teams, the crowd arrived early so they wouldn't miss a minute of action and, from the off Cashel attacked with quality play from Jack Evenden and Ben Twomey.
Cashel went into a 7-0 lead before Barnhall responded with a try following a break from a scrum. Shane Stokes found the gap in the Cashel defence and touched down however the conversion was missed, leaving it Cashel 7 Barnhall 5.
By the quarter mark Cashel had extended their lead as the smart Australian Jack Evenden gathered from a lineout, sidestepped and eventually touched down much to the delight of the home supporters before the conversion was added by Ben Twomey leaving it 14-5.
Ed Kelly and Brendan Crosse were on top for Cashel as the front row held firm with Philly Ryan putting his shoulder to the wheel; however when Barnhall attacked, gaps were found in the Cashel defence.
The speedy Abdul Olaosebikan made a break for the line and Barnhall secured a second try very similar to their first.
James Gorham was kicking well and he added the conversion for the visitors bringing it back to a two point game on a 14-12 scoreline. Approaching half time he struck again, with a penalty this time, pushing the Leinster side 15-14 up as they took the lead for the first time.
Just before half time they had another penalty, this time in front of the posts, but Gorham opted to kick to the corner.
Cashel gathered possession and made a break but, like happened so much in this game, Barnhall fingertips tipped it away and when the whistle went, the players got some much needed downtime in the intense sun.
The second had started with the home side driving forward and they very nearly had a try only for a knock on. A collision thwarted another possible try scoring opportunity in the second half but the home side were in the driving seat.
Ben Twomey on the restart struck a penalty to put Cashel back ahead after Ciaran Ryan had driven forward with the decibel level ringing high at Spafield. A yellow ensued for Barnhall. As the clock rolled on, the pressure was kept on, and Twomey struck another penalty to put the home side 20-15 up.
Another penalty and another yellow for Barnhall for a high tackle by Luke Callinan meant that Ben Twomey had a chance to extend the Cashel lead and he duly put them 23-15 clear however disaster struck for Cashel when they lost their captain Mickey Wilson to a red card.
The referee had plenty to keep him busy with players frustrated by the constant whistling rather than enjoying a free flowing game. The red card meant that gaps appeared and as Cashel tired, Barnhall stormed back into the game.
Both sides rang the changes in the heat and it was substitute Nicholas Doggett who found a gap in the Cashel defence to touch down with minutes remaining.
All of a sudden the game was turned on its head and it was a one point game when James Gorham added the conversion just after the try for Barnhall.
Cashel attacked but were pushed back and on a counter attack, another penalty was conceded which James Gorham struck to break Cashel hearts as Barnhall went back ahead and won on a 25-23 scoreline.
After the game Cashel boss Ray Moloney said his side fought to the very last ball: "It got away from us in the end. We had lots of chances to score in the second half. We had three line breaks, then we maybe forced it a little bit so those three calls we are talking about would have made a difference if we had put away one of those scores.
"We were eight points up and could have kicked on to make it thirteen. It would have been a different game and they would have been chasing it a lot more but unfortunately sport is sport, isn't it," he said at full time.
Barnhall now play in the final next weekend while Cashel will take stock and look to go a step further next season.
