Athy dragged into relegation battle after letting early lead slip
Culann Carbery for Athy Photo: Aisling Hyland
Athy let a 17-0 lead slip, having impressed against Tullow in the opening 20 minutes. Having been in charge early, Tullow came back fighting as they tried to avoid the relegation play-off. A win here was crucial for Athy to try and avoid getting potentially getting dragged into the relegation play-off fight. As it was, they lost the match and couldn't even secure the losing bonus point. Their final day fixture is slightly easier than Carlow and Tullow's as they travel to Ashbourne who are already relegated and have struggled this season with only one win, whereas Tullow host newly crowned league champions, Bective and Carlow travel to Suttonians, but this will still be a disappointing result for the Kildare side who would have hoped to seal their safety this week and avoid having to go to the final game.
Tullow were in trouble early as they gave away a penalty after five minutes. Tom Sheedy sent over the conversion from slightly to the right. Two minutes later, Tullow were pushing towards the Athy try line and Athy overturned the ball and Darragh Farrell broke up the pitch and handed off to Aidan Henry to his right who went in behind the Tullow defence and scored the first try of the match as he went down under the posts. Sheedy hit the conversion over easily. Midway through the half, Athy made it 17-0 as Cathal Fennessey went over in the right hand corner. Sheedy hit over the conversion from a tough angle on the right hand side. You’d be forgiven for thinking that it was going to be a long afternoon for Tullow. However, the visitors refused to be beaten and three minutes later, Stephen Smith went over to the left of the posts to minimal reaction from the crowd who seemed to be predominantly Athy supporters. Peter Burgess hit over the conversion to bring Tullow back into the game. On the half hour mark, Sheedy hit over a penalty to just keep Tullow at arms length. Three minutes later, Tullow won a penalty and kicked into the right hand corner. They won the lineout and mauled towards the line with Scott Caldbeck getting the ball down in the right hand corner. Burgess hit over the conversion from a tricky angle on the right hand side to reduce the game to a one score game at the break.
Three minutes into the second half, a Tullow lineout from 20 meters out was recycled into the middle where Caldbeck went over next to the posts. Burgess converted as Tullow took the lead for the first time. You could sense the game changing. Two minutes later, Tullow broke down the left and the ball was handed off to Burgess to go over in the left hand corner. He missed the conversion. Sean O’Brien came in at outside centre for the final half an hour. With 17 minutes gone in the second half, a Tullow scrum was mauled over by Smith down the left. Burgess pulled the conversion wide down the left. Athy refused to give up and fought back with 12 minutes to go as Farrell broke down the right hand side, running from his own half to go down in the right hand corner. The conversion was missed by Sheedy, something which cost them the losing bonus point in the match. Tullow were under pressure to get another score to give themselves a safety net, and they won a penalty right on the end of the clock. Burgess’ effort from 20 meters out was chased down too soon by Athy, leading to a retake ten meters closer to the posts and Burgess hit his effort over. With almost the last kick of the game, Athy won a penalty and elected to kick it with no time left on the clock, as they tried to secure the losing bonus point, but Sheedy’s effort fell just short and Tullow kicked the ball out to get the win.
Elsewhere, Carlow beat bottom of the table Ashbourne 33-0 and it means things are very tight with three teams trying to avoid finishing seventh in the table and dropping into a relegation play-off.
Athy are on 29 points, Carlow on 28 and Tullow on 26 and it's to play for in the final game
