College’s J1s returned to Fortress Dangan to take on Buccaneers in a dominant display that saw two tries within four minutes of the start of the second half. A well rounded-display from an increasingly cohesive College squad held Buccaneers to only one try for the majority of the game, with College’s backs and forwards contributing to a well-rounded display in front of a home crowd on an afternoon dominated by a cutting low sun. Despite a nervy start, the men in maroon found their way into the game and kept a well-earned lead past the 80 minute mark. College had a number of squad changes since their league opener versus Monivea, with Dan Bent returning to the team at fullback, with Sam O’Connor and Alex Hermitage moving to the wings. Experienced hooker Oscar Soden also returned to the subs bench, alongside Alex Gordon at substitute scrumhalf to complete an otherwise unchanged 5-3 split. Bucs in comparison had three players on their team who played in the AIL only a week earlier, with Abu Saka, Abel Bouwens and Dylan Bolger all coming on as replacements in a 7-59 thumping by Bective Rangers in Round 4 of the AIL 2B South. Prop Aindriu Oates and full-back Danny Reid also came into the fixture with AIL experience for Bucs, highlighting the calibre of team that College managed to win against.
Clareman Gavin Lawlor set the tone for College from the get-go with a great catch under pressure from the kick-off, while his front-row counterpart made enough metres in the following phase to enable a swift exit from the 22 for his side. Buccaneers attempted to exploit the College backfield in the early stages of the game, but were foiled by a tidy link up between Sam O’Connor and the returning Daniel Bent. Bent announced his return to Dangan with a run from 22 to 22 in the 2nd minute of the game and was unlucky to see his pass get knocked on. The first scrum of the day didn’t go College’s way, with the Men in Maroon being driven back enough to merit a Bucs penalty, despite the sever angle of the scrummaging. Bucs’ lineout on the halfway line was severely disrupted by College’s omnipotent No.7, Liam Cahill, who swallowed up the breakaway attempt from the back of the Bucs maul. In the first of many big hits for College’s playmaker, flyhalf Adam Radmall took down Bucs’ imposing No.8 Abu Saka in midfield. College’s Faelan Stuart continued his great run of form at inside centre in this game and latched on to the exposed Saka to gain College their first penalty of the day for not-releasing.
Louth’s own Larry Jones was dead-on for his first throw of the game, finding Liam Cahill in traffic in the middle of the lineout. Rapid distribution gave College their first phases in the Bucs half of the pitch, with Radmall kicking perfectly across the field to find Alex Hermitage on the right wing. Brought to ground, Hermitage offloaded into the waiting hands of College’s 13 Ross Cleary who took the ball into contact through three defenders. Mike O’Meara at No.8 was the next man to stand up, taking a big hit after coming into the line at speed. Sean Crowley at scrumhalf kept his rucks well marshalled and targeted College’s captain Peter Magliocco for his first crash ball of the day, which saw the flanker drive his side into the Bucs 22 for the first-time. Great leg drive from Magliocco brought three Bucs defenders off of their feet, freeing up space for Crowley to hit lock J.J. Day on the wrap around. Two of College’s most experienced playmakers synchronised to keep the attack going when Radmall found Dan Bent on a short line to keep College trundling over the gain-line. When a left-hand attack fizzled out, play was brought back for an off-side advantage to College.
The home side’s 7-man lineout went straight to the front with Cahill beating his man in the air. The ball missed Cahill by an inch but found its home soon-after in the arms of loosehead prop Jack O’Halloran (who has tidied up half a dozen lineouts in the space of two league games already). The New Zealander was brought down just short of the line after bursting through the Bucs line, with a subsequent drive by tighthead lock Jules Lelievre being deemed to be short by the referee. College were then infuriated to be denied an early try by the ball coming loose and into the hands of Bucs within their in-goal area. Bucs’ clearance stayed within their 22, giving College another clean attacking opportunity. Radmall started the move off well when he cut back inside the on-rushing Bucs defence. The ball burst out from the next tackle following a Bucs knock-on and was well marshalled by Sean Crowley, who eyed up Larry Jones on the wing. The seasoned Louth hooker kept the ball in-field and brought it back to his teammates with a run across the diagonal. A loose ball in the College backfield continued a somewhat nervy start for the men in maroon, but the hands of Dan Bent maintained a level of calmness in the backfield and enabled Sam O’Connor to make a darting run off his wing to return College to the gain-line. Bent would be caught behind the gain-line three phases later but was hit with a high tackle in the process.
College could not get the rub of the green in the first ten minutes, with Adam Radmall’s touchfinder curving back in to fall behind the dead-ball line. This time the referee was more aware of the angling in the scrum, and blew against the Midlanders for not driving straight, returning the penalty to College on the edge of 10 minutes. The College engine continued to need time to warm up, with Sean Crowley’s quick tap culminating in a low off-load that almost found the hands of Peter Magliocco but ended in a knock-on instead. College was camped in the Bucs 22 but had yet to see any points from their efforts. College’s pack did everything they could to rectify this, forcing two restarts on the resulting scrum. The scrum wheeled again but the ball came out for Bucs nevertheless. Lawlor and Day were almost in on the turnover, while the rest of the College defence left Bucs with no other choice than to send up a speculative effort into the air. Hermitage safely gathered the effort and handed he ball over to Bent, who changed the direction of the whole attack by sending the ball through to Ross Cleary on the left wing. A man well used to long marches, Cleary tore through the Bucs line of defence and offloaded at the last possible moment to an eager Sam O’Connor. O’Connor was millimetres from making the move stick after his footwork carried him to the Bucs 22 and almost got the ball to Crowley running a support line. It wasn’t to be again, and the ball bobbled into the hands of the pursuing Bucs backline. Crowley made his mark however and was aided by Ross Cleary, whose counter-ruck was powerful enough to turn the ball over again (to much acclaim from the crowd).
With the cavalry arriving, Jack O’Halloran made metres from a standing start, freeing up space for a quick move to the leftwing, aided by a silky bounce pass from Mike O’Meara to get the ball to O’Connor. The entire front row then engaged in a series of pick-and-goes, with Jones and O’Halloran making critical metres 10m out from the line. Peter Magliocco brought his team back towards the posts, stretching the Bucs line and making their big men work harder to fight each ruck. Bucs got hands onto the ball in mid-air and knocked on the ball, to fervours appeals for a yellow card. Ball stayed in College hands, nonetheless. Adam Radmall then got hands on, kept the defence guessing as to whether he’d kick to the threatening Alex Hermitage on the right wing and used the moment of indecisiveness from Bucs to rush a gap in the stretched defence, mirroring his try in the same circumstances in Round One versus Monivea. The tryline was finally passed after 15 minutes of play, the sun came out, and Radmall converted his own try to put his side 7 points to the good with 25 minutes to play in the first half.
The game continued to be a physical affair as both sides fronted up following the first try; Jack O’Halloran was pinged for a high tackle just after the restart, bringing Bucs to the College 15m. O’Meara caused enough disruption in the air for the ball to be deflected away from the Bucs scrumhalf Abel Bouwens. Bucs’ casualness in the next phase left Bouwens with no one to pass to, leaving the scrumhalf to be mauled by the combined force of Jones and O’Halloran right beside the ruck. With 1 and 2 tackling, College’s 3 Gavin Lawlor completed the front-row riot and went over the exposed ball-carrier, giving College their third turnover penalty of the afternoon. Lawlor had “great craic” during the game and delivered field-mobility and firepower during his 44 minutes on the field. J.J. Day had his first reception of the afternoon in the lineout, steadying the ball and popping it back to Crowley. The Red Sea would’ve parted for a second time if they saw Peter Magliocco coming, as Crowley placed the perfect pass to the hard-line running Captain who bisected the backline at pace on the stroke of 20 minutes. Great footwork left Bucs’ fullback Danny Reid tasting the flora of Dangan, with il Capitano only being brought down by two men after making almost 30m for his team. Radmall let his wingers give chase to a grubber kick while the backfield was still open country, with the ball bouncing perfectly on the tryline. Bucs’ backtracking winger was then dragged over the tryline line for a College 5m scrum. In two plays, College went from their own 22 to Bucs’ tryline, highlighting the potency of College’s dynamic attack once opportunities are made. One big shove from the College pack gave Mike O’Meara all of the space he could ask for, with the big man crashing down on the lefthand side of the posts to give his team a 14-point lead once Radmall converted the extras.
J.J. Day cleared the way off of the next restart with a monstrous bounce against Bucs’ winger Cameron Rooney-Digan. Rooney-Digan was also deemed to have hit Day high in his unsuccessful contact, giving College another penalty. From the same starting position as the Magliocco break, the ball went to Faelan Stuart off the lineout, who then released Jules Lelievre into space with a one-handed offload. Back on halfway, Faelan Stuart was almost away again before his pass was swatted backwards by returning Bucs defenders. Liam Cahill continued to be a terror at the ruck, piling up pressure on two occasions when the ball came out of the ruck early. Bucs were relieved to be given an offside penalty in their favour soon-after, which College almost kept in on the 40m line. Cahill returned to haunt Bucs, this time intercepting their lineout with a perfectly timed jump followed by a break into space. Larry Jones showcased soft hands to gain an extra metre of space for Adam Radmall, who then unleashed Stuart in the midfield again. The Corkonian 12 dodged one man on a hard line and avoided being dragged down by another to capitalise on College’s lineout steal. Back to halfway, a little bit of joue from the backs gave College another 10m and a stable base to attack across the length of the field. Kick tennis ensued, with Peter Magliocco’s position in the backfield leaving him ideally placed to support Dan Bent on his return to the Bucs 22. Mike O’Meara was pivotal to unlocking the next phases for College, with the imposing No.8 throwing a beautifully lobbed pass to Sam O’Connor to bring College back within scoring distance again. Bucs lost their shape in this period, and were left wanting numbers when Crowley swapped the direction of play. O’Halloran fed Cahill, who was unlucky to be stripped in contact as he want to ground. With the numbers advantage now reversed, keen hands from Bent blocked a kick that could have lost valuable metres for College. Bent went to ground in a mess of maroon and black jerseys, with Bucs ultimately being penalised for not rolling away.
A rare lineout mistake gave possession back to Bucs via their tail-gunner, enabling a backline drive to the College 40m. Momentum was soon lost when Bucs threw a wayward pass, but the ball still ended up with loosehead lock for Bucs, Hugo (there was something in the air that night) Hernando. The prop on the loose was closed down by Crowley, before Hermitage got his teeth into his opposite number when Bucs tried to drive via their winger. Hernando ended up with the ball on the wing in the ensuing mêlée, leaving Bucs light in the centre. Lelievre then appeared to stop a prospective attack down the midfield, with the Galway lock making another massive hit in the following phase. A lucky pass from the deck and an even more fortunate bounce of the ball in the hands of Bucs 8 Abu Saka gave Bucs their opening score with 31 minutes on the clock. With the try converted, the score then sat at 14-7. Things got more complicated for College soon after when Jack O’Halloran was pinged for a second high-tackle after the restart and was sent to the sin-bin. Down to 14, College had 8 minutes until the end of the half to work with.
High octane was the mood of the day, as Bucs failed to find touch and the ball stayed in College hands. Radmall chipped and chased, being bumped while in pursuit and slide on his knees into tackle against the ball carrier. This was technically a tackle off-feet and the ref blew for a penalty, which was taken as a quick tap. Play then went wing-to-wing where College safely carolled the attack over the touchline. As if things couldn’t get more exciting and dynamic, Radmall then eyed up the exposed Bucs backfield and nailed a 50:22 on the lefthand side as the clock entered the last four minutes of the half. After a successful maul off the lineout, College went through seven phases of crash ball and drives before a beautiful skip pass from Adam Radmall landed in the hands of Sam O’Connor who was rewarded for his efforts all game with a try in the left-hand corner. Radmall was audibly denied by the left upright, leaving the score at 19-7 as the ref blew for half-time.
Second Half
With the low sun still dominating Dangan’s riverside grounds, College completed a coup de grâce right from the kick off to secure their victory within 5 minutes. Mike O’Meara collected the College kick-off to start College’s first drive for the line and brought his team to the margins of the Bucs 22. Ross Cleary put his body on the line when he took a big hit in the next phase in midfield, but stayed on his feet and spun a pass out to Hermitage on the right-wing. A smart chip through by Hermitage was almost collected by Dan Bent, but the combined pressure from Bent and Hermitage forced Bucs to concede their second 5m scrum of the game from bringing the ball into their own in-goal. Alan Bane and Sean Lelievre continued their successes in this game, with Jimmy Maunsell coming on for Sam O’Connor to flesh out the front-row in O’Halloran’s absence. This time Mike O’Meara stayed at the base of his scrum, with Crowley instead going wide to feed Radmall who then picked out Ross Cleary running hard off his shoulder. Cleary’s pace and choice of line sealed the deal from 10m out, with the tough 13 touching down under the posts to give his side the bonus point and Radmall an easy shot on the posts. 42mins, 26-7 to College.
College wasted no time in driving home their advantage, with Jules Lelievre collecting the Bucs restart and going to ground immediately, giving his teammates the chance to exploit a four on two overlap that appeared on the blindside of the ruck. J.J. Day made his mark on the game with a bursting break from his own 22 to the hallway-line, before his joue offload went straight back into the hands of a Bucs defender. However, the fellow in black and yellow let the ball slip from his hands, giving possession back to College who fed J.J. on the blindside again. Day expressed delight at the opportunity post-match saying he didn’t get opportunities to go on line-breaks often. Few men get line-breaks, even fewer try offloads off two line-breaks in 10 seconds. And that is what J.J. did, dummying the first man and attempting another offload as he went down after 10 metres again. Unfortunately, this time the ball stayed in Bucs’ hands, seemingly ending an exciting piece of attacking play for College. That was not the case however, as a stampeding Jules Lelievre appeared on the scene to wrap up Bucs’ opportunistic fullback. Rapid reactions from Jimmy Maunsell gifted the experienced College substitute a textbook jackal deep in Bucs territory. College changed up their lineout on the Bucs’ 5m, bringing on Jack O’Halloran for Gavin Lawlor at prop after his return from the sinbin. Crucially, College captain Peter Magliocco slotted in at 9 and was at the tail of the maul once Liam Cahill brought the ball to ground. Magliocco then successfully broke off from the back of the lineout to keep his hunt for the all-time try-scoring record going with a run from 10 metres out to the edge of the uprights. The touch judges’ flags stayed low but College still came away with 12 points in the space of five minutes, coming into the last 35mins with a scoreline of 31-7.
The latter half of the game turned into a matter of minutes management and defensive efficiency for College, with Larry Jones and Sean Crowley coming off after great shifts to be replaced by Oscar Soden and Alex Gordon respectively. Bucs won a scrum off of a restart knock-on, which they converted into a scrum penalty. College almost won control of the ball after it was fumbled in the air, but Bucs held on, sweeping the ball across the field and back under the posts in five phases, with the fifth being a strong carry by Portuguese flanker Gonçalo Catarino. Catarino was brought to ground but was not held and regained enough momentum to cross the line (with whether he kept control of the ball in the process being a matter of debate. With the scoreline at 21-14 after 48 minutes, Mike O’Meara was subbed off to be replaced by Leo Layden to see out the end of the physical contest.
Leo Layden was straight into battle, almost getting over the ball in his first involvement following a spirited tackle from Sam O’Connor off of the restart. Bucs were given a penalty for a ruck infringement soon after, which College was doubly punished for due to not going 10. Nevertheless, Alex Gordon made his entrance to the game known with a tidy tackle on Abu Saka in the time between the whistle and penalty advantage. College continued to face off against an increasingly hungry Buccaneers side, with unforced errors giving Bucs a scrum on the College 22 just after 50 minutes. Every College man stood up to keep the game going their way, with Radmall in particular adding crucial tackles every couple of minutes to sure up the College line while Sam O’Connor made tackles on men much larger than himself to ward off danger on the wingers from marauding loose forwards. Despite penalties coming against them, College found ways to wrestle back control from lineouts, turning the ball over spectacularly off of a dangerous 10m lineout in the 55th minute. Radmall almost found Sam O’Connor on the counter attack with a well-placed kick, but play fizzled out with a high-tackle call against Alex Gordon (who then got a fair rattle in return but bounced back quickly).
Bucs’ frustration was obvious in the next couple of plays, as their 5m lineout was denied by an overthrow and turned over by Oscar Soden diving on the ball. Faelan Stuart found space with an across the line run, before Radmall and Bent gave College ground in two rounds of kick tennis. College turned over another fumbled lineout via the quick-thinking of Oscar Soden at the end of the line, allowing Faelan to go on another quality run. Jimmy Maunsell was the next man to make a run for College, offloading with one arm to a waiting Liam Cahill in midfield. In the next couple of phases, set-piece chaos reigned supreme, with Bucs losing their lineout advantage when their quick-throw didn’t go 5m. A later attack ended in a Bucs scrum, which saw Liam Cahill spring up from his flank to nail the loitering scrumhalf. There was great confusion in the grounds when this was penalised by the referee. This intervention was all in vain, as Oscar Soden caught yet another overthrow to bring his tally to three in the space of ten minutes. Radmall’s subsequent kick to space didn’t yield its desired result, but it did create a stop in play to allow the entire Bucs’ bench to start whistling to demand their bomb squad be let on in the 61st minute. The four man pack change did little to change the game, and couldn’t match the TNT of UCG for the next twenty minutes.
The last twenty minutes see College come close again, with a quality lineout drive being disarmed by a not releasing penalty on the Bucs’ 7m. Alex Hermitage and J.J. were subbed off, with College stalwarts Eoghan Cullen and Shane McDonnell coming on to replace them in the 63rd minute. College were still finding space in the Bucs line despite their tired legs, with Dan Bent keeping a Bucs’ kick from a tap-and-go in play and bringing it back into the opposition 22. Peter Magliocco in particular did well to play a full 80mins, bringing the heat in carry after carry in the midfield. A high-hit in a maul on midway gave Bucs another chance to bring themselves into the game, with the resulting quick tap penalty being fumbled badly by Abu Saka in an immediate knock-on in the 66th minute which was promptly ignored by the referee. Bucs ill-discipline stopped them from making a competition of the game, with a blatant in at the side penalty degrading their momentum as the clock ticked down. Jack O’Halloran was withdrawn at the 69th minute to be replaced by an eager Liam Melia, while the fastest man in the Corrib Valley Cillian Cawley also made his cameo in the place of try-scorer Sam O’Connor. There was a somewhat deflated end to the game for both sides, with Faelan Stuart being given a yellow card for a tackle offence. Bucs lost faith in their lineout and began to stick to tap and goes, while Peter Magliocco used soft hands to release Ross Cleary on the last great break of the game for a 20m gain. One penalty went against College for off-feet, while another one went for them for a high-tackle in the 76th minute. Radmall was unlucky to see his kick drift slightly to the right and stay in play, with Bucs advancing to half way in four phases off the kick, gaining an offside penalty for their trouble. Cillian Cawley still laid a bit of the hit-stick on Bucs’ replacement front-row in the mean-time. Bucs intentionally overthrew to avoid Liam “Anti-Air” Cahill at their lineout, but found him anyway two phases late when he folded a midfield hard-line in half. Nevertheless, 5 phases after their lineout on the College 40m, Bucs finally found a gap on the wings and used Danny Reid in his only major intervention of the game to score a consolation try on the strike of full-time.
The game ended 31-21, leaving College 2nd in the league table, just behind Sligo 2nds. Bucs were given their first defeat of the league, while College march on to play Ballinrobe away in the third round of the league.