Clonmel heed their choir's rallying cry to stand up and fight!

Clonmel 24 Bective Rangers 20

The All-Ireland Rugby League returned after the Christmas break as Clonmel welcomed their most recent opponents, Bective Rangers, to Ard Gaoithe on a cold but perfect day for rugby last Saturday.

Fresh from their exploits performing in Páirc Uí Caoimh in front of 40,000 people before Christmas, the club’s Male Voice Choir welcomed the teams with a rousing rendition of Stand Up and Fight. Their appearance added greatly to the occasion and Clonmel needed all their fighting characteristics to squeeze home in a tight game.

These teams are evenly matched and the last two games have seen 111 points and 18 tries scored, with only a net points difference of three over both fixtures. Having lost by a single point on the 4G pitch in Donnybrook, Clonmel managed to win this game on a proper pitch (grass!) by four points.

The margin of victory was narrow and a little more uncomfortable than Clonmel would have liked. This time the teams shared seven tries with the visitors scoring four – unfortunately for them, none of the four was converted.

By contrast, Clonmel ended up with three tries, three conversions and a penalty as Joe O’Connor was flawless with the boot. O’Connor only had to kick twice, as two of the seven-pointers were penalty tries but both kicks were high quality to supplement a great display that saw him win Man of the Match.

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Clonmel welcomed back key players Henry Buttimer and Jason Monua and both played a big role in the game. Conor Bowen proved an able replacement for the injured Diarmuid Brannock (another victim of an artificial surface).

From the kick-off, Bective went to their maul but a great steal by Joe O’Connor earned a relieving penalty. Captain Buttimer made an immediate impact, making fully 30 yards amid heavy traffic. Bective were back-peddling and infringed at the ruck to give Clonmel an early 3-0 lead.

The next passages of play saw big interventions from Jack Walsh, who was solid all day, and Ben Masuku, who brought his usual high-energy to proceedings, as well as tidying up an overthrow as Bective entered the red zone.

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The highlight was provided by the in-form Tomas Stransky, who made a dominant hit and then got up to earn a penalty with the jackal. Stransky is an increasingly important player for this team and is having a superb season.
There was also a let-off for Clonmel as Bective winger Rolland failed to hold onto a cross kick with the line beckoning.

The highlight of the half from a Clonmel perspective came after 20 minutes. Having suffered at the hands of the Bective maul in December, Clonmel threw down the gauntlet and earned four maul penalties in succession.
The first two achieved territory, and the third maul was heading towards the try line when brought down 10 metres out, earning a yellow card for Bective. Sensing blood, Clonmel went to the corner and the fourth maul in as many minutes was unstoppable – at least unstoppable legally.
This resulted in a penalty try, a second yellow card for Bective and a 10-0 lead for Clonmel.

However, the 13 men of Bective showed great character and threatened to score up the left-hand side when a strong tackle from Jack Walsh forced the knock- on. The defensive effort from the entire team was impressive with Henry Buttimer, Tom Ross and all the pack leading by example.

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Clonmel won a strong scrum deep in the Bective 22 on the right-hand side, and as supporters urged them to keep the ball in, Clonmel showed great ambition and went wide.

Standing at 10, Connellan passed to Musa, who executed a wonderful kick, which was gathered by Davies. He was stopped just short of the line but Tom Ross covered the width of the pitch to crash over from close range wide on the left.
The difficult kick proved no trouble to O’Connor, who made it 17-0 after half an hour. Clonmel appeared comfortable at this stage but Bective continued to apply pressure and were unlucky not to score after 34 minutes when tremendous Clonmel defence saw the ball held up over the line.

Clonmel started to leak some penalties at this point and an excellent kick to the corner by Matthew Gilsenan pinned the home team back. The visitors got the score their played deserved and powered over from an attacking lineout maul.
Freddie Davies did enough to pressure the kicker to keep Clonmel 17 points to 5 ahead as half-time approached.

Clonmel actually threatened to score before the end of the half with a couple of ambitious attacks. One such move featured soft hands by Monua and many of his colleagues but the move ended when the chasing players drifted ahead of the kicker.
Next, Connellan and Musa linked cleverly up the right-hand side, but the Bective scramble defence was up to the job. A moment of madness saw a needless penalty conceded by Clonmel, as the match ball was tossed over the fence.

Instead of having a defensive lineout to manage, Bective gratefully accepted the soft penalty and brought play right back down to within 10 metres of Clonmel’s line, as they strung some great moves together.
The Bective pack mauled over to cut the gap to 17-10 as the conversion was missed. Bective took the score well but it felt like a self-inflicted wound as the half-time whistle sounded.

Clonmel started the second half the stronger but some unforced errors gave Bective heart and encouragement. The visitors were not immune to errors of their own and conceded a penalty for crossing while threatening in the home team’s 22.

From the relieving penalty Clonmel worked their way up to the five-metre line with some great work by Andrew Daly and his forward colleagues. The final pass from Musa to Freddie Davies looked perfect to this unbiased observer, but was judged to be forward as he crashed over the line.

Clonmel’s set-piece was strong all afternoon and they put massive pressure on the resultant scrum, forcing a rushed kick. Perhaps inspired by a Bective post on social media, Clonmel formed an unstoppable rolling maul from the lineout.
For the second time this season, Brandon Delicato thought he had scored but emerged from the bottom of bodies to see the referee heading under the posts.

The penalty try put Clonmel ahead 24-10 after the hour. Clonmel really should have been comfortable but lived dangerously.
A pass to no one was hacked forward by Bective and from the resulting penalty, the Bective outhalf kicked ambitiously across the field. Unbelievably, Tomas Stransky turned up on the right wing to avert the danger. Given their reliable maul, the quick kick may not have been the right option in the first place.

Clonmel remained under massive pressure and conceded a number of penalties and two yellow cards. The second for replacement Luke Hogan looked particularly harsh.

Bective took advantage of the numerical superiority, scoring in the corner. The difficult kick was missed, leaving Clonmel 24 to 15 ahead with five minutes remaining.

The final minutes were action-packed and the crowd got value for money. A penalty for a high tackle on Conor Bowen was kicked to the corner. Clonmel looked certain to score after a series of drives, but Bective won a relieving penalty.

At the next play, great work by the Clonmel pack turned over the ball. Buttimer made a trademark break but Clonmel were sloppy at the next ruck and the ball popped out into grateful Bective hands.

Bective went the length of the pitch to score an unconverted try in the left corner to cut the gap to four points. The move featured a blatant forward pass but these things happen. Bective played some thrilling rugby at this stage and Clonmel were truly hanging on at the end.

One last Bective attack ended when the ball went forward under the pressure of the tackle. Clonmel were relieved to hear the final whistle and celebrate a 24 – 20 win.

Results elsewhere saw Clonmel slip to second place in the table. The next fixture is away to Bruff on January 24 – always a tough place to get a result and the team will need all its fighting spirit.

Clonmel: Jason Monua, Brandon Delicato, Tomas Stransky, Keith Melbourne, Tom O’Dea, Conor Bowen, Ben Masuku, Andrew Daly, Tom Ross, Drew Musa, Freddie Davies, Joe O’Connor, Henry Buttimer, Michael Connellan, Jack Walsh. Replacements: Liam Ryan, David Coyne, Luke Slattery, Zac Cahalane, Luke Hogan.