Match Report: Monkstown vs 1XV
So on a sunny day on a good pitch at Park Ave, Sandymount, Referee Chris Elliot blew the whistle and Monkstown kicked off towards the Wilfield Rd. end and immediately were camped in the Bective 22. Bective started well with a great throw by Scottie Barron finding his man. Immediately another lineout on halfway for Bective taken by Tiernan McCloskey, the ball was moved quickly and after a short chip over the Monkstown defence by Matthew Gilsenan, nearly yielded a great try by Shane O’Mara, just tackled at the death by the Monkstown 7 Boyd. Bective kept up the pressure and a loose pass was pounced on by Bobby Holland to chip ahead and touch down underneath the posts for the opening try and with Mikey O’Hare converting, Bective had hit the front 0-7 after 5 min, but taking the shine off the try was the departure through injury of centre Adam Levy, replaced by Ben Garrett.
For the next 10 min it was nip and tuck with both teams threatening to score. After a harsh penalty on the Bective 10 metre line. The ever busy Monkstown No. 9 Tristan Brady tapped quickly and was off and with some brilliant carries ex Terenure prop Murphy was over in the corner with Stapleton adding the points 7 -7 after 16 min.
The scrums were starting to favour the big Monkstown pack with both props Murphy and Springbok Jooste proving a handful. From another set piece inside the 22 the ball was moved wide for winger Harte to touch down, converted by Stapleton, Monkstown were in front 14 – 7 after 21 mins.
Within minutes Bective hit back, penalty into the 22 and another great lineout, then through the phases for a brilliant flat pass from Conor Halpenny to put Ben Garrett through under the posts for the touchdown and Mikey adding the points. 14 – 14 after 23 min.
Into the second quarter the attacks kept coming and from their own half, Monkstown full back O’Carroll ran a great line and from the chip ahead along the touchline, which just stayed in for Harte to score in the corner. With the conversion missed 19 – 14 to Monkstown after 27 min.
The Bective lineout was working well nonetheless and after a good build up in the Monkstown 22 and a penalty tap and go which carved an opening for Tim Carroll to touch down in the corner for a great try, with the difficult conversion missed, 19 – 19 with 35 min on the clock.
Bective were now having a good phase buoyed by the score and after a Bective scrum on halfway were denied a potential score when a pass to Mikey O’Hare was deliberately knocked on, without a penalty or a yellow card. Luck was not on Bective’s side now , with No. 8 Jamie Lawless leaving the pitch through injury, replaced by Ryan Callanan.
Coming towards the end of the half with Monkstown camped in the Bective 22, Bective were to suffer another blow with prop Connie Campher retiring injured, replaced by Tom Dever. Unfortunately, a harsh referee decision on our scrum gave Monkstown the penalty. The inevitable Monkstown lineout, then a good maul which prop Murphy duly scored from with the difficult conversion missed, so unlucky on Bective to go in on half-time behind.
Half Time: Monkstown 24 – Bective 19
Monkstown, tails up now, continued where they had left off taking the game to Bective and after a scrum near the Bective line went through the phases for Captain McGuinness to barge over at the posts for the converted try to make the score 31- 19 with 7 mins in. Unfortunately, injuries continued to mount for Bective with Ben Garrett retiring, replaced by Titapu Pairama-Lewington.
Bective suffered an immediate blow as centre Cormac Brennan broke a few tackles out wide and put O‘Carroll away for the try in the corner. Unfortunately, the ref didn’t call this one back for the obvious forward pass from Brennan, not to be Bective’s day. 20 min. 36 – 19.
Entering the last quarter, a mountain to climb now for Bective, where could they find a score? With the Bective lineout still performing with Scotty Barron throwing well, and the players giving their all a couple of scores and who knows.
The players got stuck in and after a few close calls finally a lifeline with Titapu Pairama- Lewington touching down out wide with the difficult conversion missed 36 - 24 with 28mins gone and no more than Bective deserved. With Bective now taking the game to Monkstown and yellow cards to 2 Monkstown players, maybe a ray of light, another score for Bective , touching distance maybe, backs to the wall. So it nearly came to pass as tireless Bobby Holland broke through and kicked ahead to reach and get the touch down, but referee Chris Elliot was unsighted, no try given. Scrums were now not Bective’s friend either, so the ball was kept in hand, and but for a dropped pass Bective were nearly in for that elusive score, but there was no further way through what was to be fair an excellent Monkstown defence throughout and it was left to that man Brennan to have the final say with a fortuitous try on full time to break Bective’s will and end an absorbing contest. Injuries to key players hampered our challenge, but it was a fine performance by all the Bective squad and with two remaining fixtures to go, we must keep our focus as upsets can happen in this most competitive Leinster League.
Referee: Chris Elliott URAIRFU from Grosvenor HS
Bective Rangers FC – 1XV 15 Tim Carroll, 14 Mikey O'Hare, 13 Adam Leavy, 12 Bobby Holland, 11 Shane O'Meara, 10 Matthew Gilsenan, 9 Conor Halpenny, 1 Shane Ryan, 2 Scott Barron, 3 Connie Campher, 4 Tadhg O’Dwyer, 5 Ronan Cregan, 6 Mark Bennett, 7 Tiarnan McCloskey, 8 Jamie Lawless.
Replacements: 16 Dan Byrne, 17 Tom Dever, 18 Ryan Callanan, 19 Ben Garrett, 20 Titapu Pairama-Lewington.
Bective Rangers FV vs Monkstown FC @ 1XV – P 6 W 3 D 0 L 3 – Try (F) 19 – (A) 21
