Bonus point home win over Bruff sets Clonmel up well for visit to Belfast Instonians

ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE DIVISION 2C

CLONMEL 23 BRUFF 10

Playing rugby is not for the faint-hearted but spare a thought for those of us who have to sit on seat edges, hold our breath for long periods and bite our finger nails to the quick as we watch the ebbing and flowing of our warriors’ efforts.

Last Saturday provided the perfect situation in Ardgeeha – the usual strong, influential breeze, a huge crowd and a raucous soundtrack provided by the kids from Bruff and Clonmel who had stood in a guard of honour for the emerging teams. Let’s have more kids at matches!

Scoreboards don’t lie but they can certainly give the wrong impression – a bonus-point victory might suggest a stroll in the park but it was nothing of the sort. Bruff, still smarting from a home defeat inflicted by Clonmel before Christmas, had a score to settle and that set the tone for the game.

While it was confrontational and nobody took a backward step, the game was played in the best sporting spirit and it was a credit to both sides.

Clonmel kicked off with the wind behind them. Having the wind can be a mixed blessing – points are needed on the board before facing into it in the second half.

The home side hit their stride quickly with a few incursions into the Bruff half and were soon rewarded with a penalty. But the tricky wind saw Cadogan’s kick going wide of the posts. A good drive by Clonmel on their right wing finally punched through the Bruff defence and Dean Slattery went over to open the home account. Again, the wind prevented the conversion to leave Clonmel 5 -0 ahead.

Clonmel continued to play some nice rugby and put good phases together but they elected to carry the ball a lot, almost ignoring the wind on their backs. Despite playing some attractive rugby, Clonmel were not getting the rewards and we got the feeling that they were not firing on all cylinders, as the first half moved on without any change on the scoreboard.

Bruff did mount some attacks but, noticeably, their pack was not the force it had been in the previous game – indeed they conceded some scrum penalties to a vigorous Clonmel unit. Clonmel’s defence was as stout as ever, with centres Noonan and Hogan cutting down any threats – but Bruff got their reward on 37 minutes when, on one of their rare visits to the home territory, they got a penalty and defied to elements to score. It was 5-3 to Clonmel with half-time beckoning. Just the sort of situation we didn’t want.

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Bruff would have been the happier team at half-time, very much in touch having withstood waves of Clonmel attacks. The home side needed the break to recalibrate.

True to form, Bruff used the wind from the off to push Clonmel back but the home side stuck to their patterns and mounted courageous defence, with Tony Cantwell and Niall Campion putting in serious shifts. The break had transformed Clonmel, who surged upfield and a great move down their left wing saw Andrew Daly touch down in the corner. The wind again prevented the conversion to leave Clonmel 10-3 ahead.

Bruff came straight back and a fierce contest for every metre ensued – team captain Diarmuid Devaney led by example by being involved in everything while Rob Wynne, not the biggest man on the pitch, put in a giant performance.

Bruff now exerted some pressure of their own and after 60 minutes were rewarded with a try under the posts, which was converted to draw the game at 10-10. There were groans of disbelief from the stand – this was not looking good. But this Clonmel side don’t do panic – they gathered themselves and got a foothold in the Bruff 22, where they were rewarded with a penalty to put them ahead again at 13- 10. We craved full-time but the clock was crawling.

Clonmel again fought their way into the Bruff 22 where they won a penalty and kicked into the right corner – the subsequent lineout and maul took Clonmel over the line to make it 18-10. We began to relax – but the team didn’t.

The defining difference now was Clonmel’s superior fitness and they took full advantage. With only minutes remaining, a huge surge by Clonmel saw the ball worked left and Dan Hosek, who put in a man-of- the-match, barnstorming display throughout, deservedly scored the try to give the home side the bonus point at 23-10. Bonus point! We could hardly believe it.

This win keeps Clonmel in fourth place in the league, six points ahead of fifth place so they can afford to play with freedom when they travel to Belfast this Saturday to meet league leaders Instonians. But Clonmel will not fear any team at this stage.