Festive cheer as Clonmel return to winning ways in All-Ireland Rugby League

Clonmel 28 Bruff 22

There was plenty of prematch festive cheer in Ard Gaoithe on Saturday, as the clubhouse was packed with former players who enjoyed a warm welcome on a bitterly cold day.

The club choir sang a rousing rendition of the great Munster anthem, Stand Up and Fight, before the Under 12s added to the occasion with an enthusiastic guard of honour for both teams.

Clonmel were out to end a three-match run of narrow losses against an improving Bruff side. The halfway point in the season may be a little early for games to be “must win” but this game had that feel to it, as Clonmel have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory a little too frequently in recent games.

There was an intensity to the warm-up, as Clonmel welcomed back some key players and Bobby Doherty set the tone early with a great take from the Bruff kick off.

Clonmel immediately developed strong forward momentum featuring carries from Jason Monua and winger Luke Hogan, with both keeping the ball alive very well. Gerrit Husiamen had his first start for Clonmel in the AIL and did a passable RG Snyman impression with a neat offload in contact. But the early momentum was lost with a penalty for Bruff as the ball carrier got isolated.

From the resultant attack, Bruff were awarded another penalty for a high tackle just inside the 10 metre line. The goal was expertly converted by returning out half Paul Collins to give Bruff a 3-0 lead after just two minutes.

From the restart an attempted clearance kick was charged down by the outstanding Tom O’Dea, who showed great pace and athleticism to follow up and cross the line for an excellent try and an immediate response to Bruff’s early score.

The conversion from Joey O’Connor went in off the post and with just four minutes on the clock, the score was 7 points to 3.
Dylan Cadogan did very well to win a penalty to bring play back into the Bruff half. The gash in the head sustained by winger Freddie Davies in Midleton the previousweek did not affect his tackling and he made a number of important hits in succession.

After the first scrum of the game was awarded to Clonmel, a slick backs move ended up in the capable hands of Davies, who made almost 50 metres in a thrilling run. After leaving a trail of flailing defenders in his wake, he was finally felled by the last man.

Fortunately for Clonmel, they didn’t have to wait too long for Freddie to again show his pace after a set-piece scrum, scoring a fine try in the corner. The move featured some terrific passing and offloads between forwards and backs, with both second rows and Jason Monua handling very well. The difficult conversion was expertly kicked by Joe O’Connor to leave to score 14 - 3 after 20 minutes.

As Bruff attacked down the right wing, Tom O’Dea showed tremendous pace to cover back after the Bruff winger put in a tricky kick.

Bruff made no mistake from this lineout and mauled over to leave the score 14 - 8.

This Clonmel team has great character and went back on the attack. This time the ball travelled from left to right and back again before captain Henry Buttimer spotted a gap in the Bruff defence and took full advantage to sprint clear and score under the posts. Joe O’Connor was never going to miss the conversion, leaving the score 21 points to 8.

After terrific defence by Clonmel forcing the winger into touch, Andrew Daly was shown a yellow card for some indiscipline and a penalty to the visitors. From the next attack, Bruff were about to score in the corner when Luke Hogan arrived at pace but went a little high in the tackle. The referee awarded a penalty try and brandished a yellow card to Hogan.

Clonmel were down to 13 men now and the score was a fairly nervous 21 points to 15.

The home team showed tremendous character and the 13 men worked exceptionally hard and put some strong attacking phases together, despite the numerical disadvantage. A highlight was Henry Buttimer’s relieving kick down the middle.

Andrew Daly made an immediate impact on his return after his 10-minute rest. Some slick handling by forwards and backs found Tom O’Dea in space and he galloped clear to the line to score his second try, which was also converted by Joe O’Connor, leaving the score 28 points to 15 at half-time.

However, the second half was an entirely different affair, with Bruff dominating and Clonmel failing to score at all. Perhaps conscious of recent results, Clonmel introduced fresh legs and used many of the permitted changes from the bench.

Liam Ryan joined the game fresh from his man of the match performance for the seconds the previous weekend and Brian O’Dea made a welcome appearance. All contributed to a fine, mostly defensive effort, with Diarmuid Devaney making a particular impression.

Bruff enjoyed superiority for most of the second half and threatened time and again. After a lineout that appeared to be Clonmel’s was awarded to Bruff, the visitors put together phase after phase of attacking play. They looked certain to score in the corner and then again under the posts but terrific and committed home defence forced a knock-on and a relieving five metre scrum.

When Clonmel were very slow to remove the ball from the scrum, Bruff got a nudge on and won a penalty, which they kicked to the corner.

The resultant maul was strong again and just as it looked like Bruff would cross the whitewash, they conceded a penalty for obstruction - a good old-fashioned truck and trailer.

The Clonmel faithful could breathe a sigh of relief but many were wondering if the 13-point lead would be enough at this stage, given the misfortune and poor finishes of recent weeks.

Jason, Gerrit and captain Henry all returned to the fray and all put in solid defensive shifts, as did their teammates. But constant defence is draining and Clonmel started to leak penalties.

From one such penalty, Bruff appeared to have kicked the ball dead but were awarded a five metre lineout. They made no mistake this time and crossed the Clonmel line from their maul. Paul Collins kicked the difficult conversion, leaving the score 28-22 with 18 minutes remaining.

It was all Bruff at this stage but a thunderous hit by Bobby Doherty turned the ball over and took back some momentum for Clonmel, who were then were awarded a relieving penalty after a high tackle.

As Bruff attacked again Albert Fronek, who had a great game, and Henry Buttimer worked really hard to get back to tackle a Bruff forward to the ground.

Some terrific pressure forced Bruff to knock the ball on on their 22 metre line and just as Brian O’Dea picked up the loose ball and seemed to have a clear run for the line the ref called play back for a scrum and Clonmel’s first attacking position of note in the second half.

The highlights of the second half were few for Clonmel but included a kick ahead by Alex Sheehan, which was fielded majestically by Freddie Davies, who worked tirelessly all afternoon.

The ball was moved quickly from left to right and into the hands of the evergreen Luke Hogan but the move broke down after the ball went forward, just as Hogan looked certain to beat his man on the outside. A shame, as it would have been a contender for the try of the season.

The final highlight was the final whistle.

It was truly a game of two halves, with Clonmel doing enough in the first half to secure a winning position, with a bonus point for good measure. While the performance was not as convincing in the second half, holding a dominant Bruff team to one score was an achievement.

Clonmel are now up to sixth position in the league and only three points off a top four position. This is a very competitive league, with all teams capable of taking points off each other. It’s all to play for as we look forward to 2025.

Clonmel: Tim Nugent, Jason Monua, Ben Everard, Diarmuid Brannock, Gerrit Huisamen, Tom O’Dea, Bobby Doherty, Andrew Daly, Dylan Cadogan, Drew Musa, Freddie Davies, Joe O’Connor, Henry Buttimer, Luke Hogan, Albert Fronek.

Subs: Liam Ryan, Tomas Stransky, Diarmuid Devaney, Brian O’Dea, Alex Sheehan.

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