Buccaneers 35
Old Wesley 7
Putting in a magnificent all-round squad performance, Buccaneers scored a superb 35-7 bonus point victory over fancied Old Wesley in their Energia All-Ireland League Division 1B encounter at Dubarry Park on Saturday.
The homesters made three personnel changes from the side that lost narrowly away to City of Armagh in the opening round. In the pack Ciaran Booth came in at No.8 with Darragh Murray switching to blindside flanker while Steveni Lombard debuted at hooker. Shane Jennings got the preference at fullback against the visitors whose only change from their 37-7 win over Naas saw James O’Donovan and Eoin Deegan swop positions in the centre.
On a mild afternoon, an early solid Josh O’Connor tackle set the tone, winning a penalty which Michael Hanley stroked over after just 4 minutes. Shane Layden followed that up with another thumping tackle and a break by Oisin McCormack engineered a spell of promising pressure. A high tackle on Layden earned another home penalty which Hanley slotted for a 6-0 lead after 9 minutes.
Buccs were dominant in the opening quarter and unlucky not to add to their tally. Old Wesley made their first real venture into the home half on 23 minutes, Ian Cassidy drilling the ball downfield to relieve intense pressure. Jennings possibly had too much time to deal with it and erred badly in endeavouring to secure possession. The chasers swooped to move the ball to Alex Molloy and the fullback burst through for a try totally against the run of play. Cassidy’s conversion put the metropolitans in the lead.
But this setback did not upset the Pirates as they quickly attacked again and, following further good home pressure, Jennings atoned for his earlier mishap to power over for a 28th minute try which Hanley converted. The metropolitans then gained some ground through penalties but found the Athlone side relentless in defence.
The midlanders finished the half as they had spent the majority of it, on the offensive, and Hanley landed his third penalty to give Buccaneers a 16-7 halftime lead.
A high tackle on the impressive Hanley, missed by the officials, five minutes after the change of ends forced his withdrawal with Ruaidhri Fallon slotting in seamlessly at fly-half. Three minutes later Jennings made a second swash-buckling foray forward from deep in quick succession. This time the flame-haired fullback weaved and bobbed from his own
22 to the opposition 22 where he released fellow Ballinasloe McCormack to romp over for a splendid try on the right. Stephen Mannion added a terrific conversion making it a trio of Ballinasloe buddies contributing to this seven pointer.
As they had done following Buccs opening try, Old Wesley responded with a good period on the front foot but again found the home defence in a most unaccommodating mood as the disciplined and committed Pirates held their line intact. When the Shannonsiders regained the impetus, the visitors’ penalty count again mounted resulting in Sam Pim being yellow-carded on 68 minutes.
Darren Browne and Lombard had been trading places at hooker during the game and the former swiftly announced his second return to the fray when adding further discomfort to the visitors. Buccs punted a penalty to the left and followed it up with a smashing maul from which Browne grounded the ball for a 70th minute unconverted try.
The hosts now sensed a bonus point try was a real possibility and they applied fierce pressure in the closing stages, winning a number of close-in penalties as Old Wesley had a series of scrum wobbles. Eventually, referee Stuart Douglas despatched Harry Noonan to the sin bin. Buccs opted for yet another scrum and, in the final move of the game, Will Reilly spotted a gap of Red Sea proportions in the opponents defence to sail in for his side’s fourth try. Mannion’s conversion was the final act as he completed the 35-7 scoreline.
This performance possibly even bettered the promotion winning display at Queen’s and every player from 1 to 21 contributed. Jennings was a worthy winner of the AUDI ATHLONE Man of the Match award for which he had keen competition from Matthew Burke, who already looks a considerable asset, and the marauding Murray. Apart from their fortuitous try, Old Wesley (who topped this division last season ) did not or rather were not allowed to play to their expected levels in front of former IRFU President and Ireland U-20’s manager Phil Orr in what was a quick-moving and very entertaining match played before a fair attendance.
BUCCANEERS:- S.Jennings; J.O’Connor, S.Layden, S.Mannion, S.O’Carroll; M.Hanley, F.Hopkins; M.Burke, S.Lombard, M.Staunton (captain ); R.Byrne, F.Galvin; D.Murray, O.McCormack and C.Booth. Replacments:- D.Browne (for Lombard, 30 mins ), R.Fallon (for Hanley, inj. 45 mins ), W.Reilly (for Hopkins, 50 mins ), S.Lombard (for Browne, 53 mins ), S.O’Connell (for McCormack, 54 mins ), J.Kelly (for Staunton, 60 mins ), D.Browne (for Lombard, 68 mins ) and F.Hopkins (for Layden, 72 mins ).
BUCCS AWAY TO HIGHFIELD
Buccaneers head to the real capital on Saturday where they square up to Highfield in round three of this season’s Energia All-Ireland League. Kick-off for this Division 1B encounter at Woodleigh Park, just off Cork’s Model Farm Road, is 2.30pm.
Buccs sit in fourth place at this early juncture and will have self-belief and confidence following their clearcut win last Saturday. However, Old Wesley may have taken their collective eye off the ball following their emphatic win over Naas and Buccs must guard about a similar fate. Buccs sustained a number of injuries in their win, Michael Hanley’s being the most worrying. But if the Athlone side is close to full strength they can be counted on to perform.
