Disappointment as 14-man Clonmel get nothing only pride from visit of Instonians

Conditions were far from benign at Ard Gaoithe as Clonmel hosted Instonians from Belfast, the clear leaders in the AIL Division 2C. In an exciting game the visitors merited their bonus point victory, however Clonmel can feel they deserved to get at least a losing bonus point. With just 14 men in the second half the home team matched their visitors with two tries each, while displaying the skill and grit that will earn points in the future.

The Belfast men played with the wind in the first half, and after some misjudged kicks used conditions to dominate territory. The visitors large pack may have expected to dominate at the scrum, however the Clonmel forwards held their own after some early reverses. Accuracy in the lineout proved challenging, with both sides opting for short throws, especially in the first half.

The early exchanges were evenly balanced. On 10 minutes a midfield move by the visitors was disrupted, and Dan Hosek capitalized on the turnover with a clean break, which however broke down in turn. Instonians passed the ball rapidly through the hands in an early show of their capability but the Clonmel defence was resolute, with Slattery driving the winger into touch.

On 16 minutes a malfunctioning Clonmel lineout, solid scrum to the visitors and fluid back play had the Belfast team work a two-on-one overlap on the left wing to score in the corner. The difficult conversion was slotted for a score of 7-0.

Clonmel responded strongly. A turnover ball was kicked long by wing Andrew Daly, with the aggressive chase driving the visiting full back into touch.

Following a couple of penalties to each side Delicato disrupted Instonians lineout with a crunching tackle on the scrum half. A period of continuity from Clonmel backs and forwards inside the visitors 22 was undone with a relieving penalty for holding on.

The visitors then regained territorial dominance with shrewd line kicking, despite a good break by centre Luke Hogan. The Instonians no. 19 Keane pierced the midfield cover to make it to the 5 yard line, where he was halted by dominant tackle from Dean Slattery. The visiting forwards retained possession and relentless pressure was rewarded on 31 minutes with a try under the posts which was converted.

Jack Lonergan joined the fray, and again Clonmel upped their game into the strong wind. Then came the game defining moments. First, after strong carries by backs & forwards Brian O’Dea crossed the visitors line only to have the effort disallowed as the referee judged she was obstructing a defender. In the resulting play the home side were penalized for holding on and Instonians attacked through their backs. When the ever dangerous 19 Keane was held in the tackle Clonmel’s centre Luke Hogan was very harshly red carded in the last play of the half.

The wind had eased significantly at start of the second half. A break by the Belfast no. 8 and exquisite off-load brought them to the home 10 m. line. The Clonmel scrum held very well, however the visitors confidence in the numbers mis-match was rewarded when they elected for a scrum over penalty points, and were rewarded by a try for the scrum half, which was converted. With the score at 21-0, and the home team down to 14 men some of the visitors may have expected the floodgates to open. However the character and collective will of this Clonmel team defied this expectation.

The fightback began with solid home scrum from the restart and a penetrating incursion by Fronek brought play into the visitors half. Instonians yielded a maul penalty, which was kicked to the line. A superb take by Hosek and forward drive was rewarded by a try for Diarmuid Devaney under the posts. The successful conversion made it 21-7 after 53 minutes. The subsequent Instonians assault was met with an excellent relieving kick from the home defence. Then following a period of play in the visitors half a penalty to Clonmel was kicked deep into their 22.

Another superb take at the back of the lineout in the tricky conditions was followed by a dominant maul and snipe by scrum half Alex Sheehan. More penetrating play was finished by Dean Slattery who scored in the corner on 63 minutes. Dylan Cadogan finished the job with a tremendous conversion from the touchline.

This is a very good Instonians team, and they responded immediately. A solid midfield scrum was the platform; and the backs, attacking with pace and accuracy, rounded the short-handed Clonmel defence for winger Davidson to score in the corner. This was also converted for a score of 28 – 14 to Instonians on 65 minutes. However a later opportunity was squandered when the same wing elected to kick with a 2 man overlap.

Clonmel introduced fresh, and returning legs with Matthew Hynes and Brandon Delicato coming on. Some intelligent kicking by Clonmel backs was countered by surging runs from the visiting forwards. A scrum penalty to Clonmel on the visitors 10m line with 5 minutes to go presented an opportunity to get within losing bonus point. The lineout was comfortably secured and the visitors line attacked through the hands, with no. 8 Dan Hosek carrying strongly.

This period of pressure finished with the ball turned over on the line, whereupon a final attacking move by the visitors went the length of the field without result.
Despite leaving empty handed the Clonmel squad can be proud of this performance. With different luck and officiating judgement the result may well have been better, but the character, cohesiveness and skill displayed by Clonmel not only earned the respect of the visitors but will surely yield results in the future.

The forwards were very solid, where Delicato, Devaney and Hosek caught the eye, getting to grips with a heavier pack at scrum and securing excellent platform ball out of touch. In difficult conditions the backs were excellent, especially in defence, despite being outnumbered for the whole second half. All merit mention, with Dean Slattery standing out.

BRUFF NEXT UP
Our next game is away to Bruff on Saturday next December 3 The Limerickmen leapfrogged us on the table this week, so why not join us for the short journey to support your team next Saturday at Kilballyowen Park?

Clonmel Squad: Niall Campion, Brandon Delicato, Jason Monua, Tony Cantwell, Diarmuid Brannock, Diarmuid Devaney, Rob Wynn, Dan Hosek, Alex Sheehan, Albert Fronek, Andrew Daly, Luke Hogan, Luke Noonan, Dean Slattery, Dylan Cadogan, Mattie O’Toole, Sean Sweetman, Brian O’Dea, Tim Nugent, Mathew Hynes, Jack Lonergan, David Leo.

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