Athy's good run of form ended by slick Bective outfit
James Sheedy crosses the Bective line for an Athy try Photo: Aisling Hyland
Athy came up short after a valiant effort against table-topping Bective Rangers at the Showgrounds on Saturday. Roared on by an impressive travelling crowd from Dublin 4, Bective threatened to brutalise the home side in the first half, but the local men improved as the game went on and had their supporters roaring them on to a potential comeback in the second-half. Alas, it wasn’t to be, but the Kildare side should take some satisfaction from such a resolute performance against the league leaders.
There was an apparent gulf in class from the get go as Bective lived up to their reputation and played some crisp, free-flowing rugby. A patient yet incisive move in the seventh minute involving full-back Tim Carroll, winger Mikey O’Hare and others ended with out-half Oliver Foote dashing brilliantly over the try-line. O’Hare failed to convert but a statement of intent had been made. Athy actually responded against the run of play with a try not long after the restart. They worked the ball to James Sheedy after an attacking lineout, and as the Bective defence parted like the red sea in front of him, he raced into the gap and finished brilliantly. Dara Farrell converted and the home side were 7-5 up after ten minutes. The visitors ran riot after that though, making Athy’s try seem like a trick of the mind. They ran in four more tries (two from Gavin Kelly and one apiece for Jamie Lawless and Mattie Keane) in fifteen minutes to make it 29-7 by the half-hour mark it looked like it could be a dark day for the men in blue and white. A sin bin reduced them to ten men and the away side scored with pretty much every attack for a spell, but they managed to regroup and stabilise before half-time, with no scores coming for either side in the final ten minutes.
The second half was a completely different affair, with the game becoming more attritional and scrappy – archetpyal winter rugby played out in blustery conditions on a challenging pitch. This suited Athy though and they made a real go of claiming at least a losing bonus point. Bective flanker Keane was sin binned for a high tackle at the start of the half, and Athy capitalised on the man advantage by utilising the immense ball-carrying ability of Tadgh Foley and then working the ball out to Aidan Henry for a quality winger’s finish. Unfortunately Farrell missed the conversion, and O’Hare of Bective landed a penalty not long after, which meant that Athy only reduced the deficit by two points in that spell when Bective had fourteen men. They kept pushing though and managed to close the gap further on the sixty two minute mark, after a linebreak from centre Tom Sheedy allowed his brother James Sheedy to crash over for his second try. Farrell converted to make it 19-32, which unfortunately for Athy was the final score. The reduced gap with more than fifteen minutes left galvanized the home crowd, especially as Bective had two more players sin binned in the last fifteen minutes. However, they just didn’t have enough quality when it mattered in the final quarter of the game.
This was a clash that really distracted from the January gloom, with the combination of Bective’s sublime rugby in the first half and Athy’s determined, never-say-die attitude in the second-half meaning it was an absorbing clash throughout. Bective were defensively vulnerable and ill-disciplined at times but in an attacking sense they are a highly skilled and well coached side. Jamie Lawless, Connor Halpenny, Mikey O’Hare and Tim Carroll all showed their quality at different stages and in different ways. For Athy, mistakes – particularly handling errors – let them down at crucial times and they struggled in the line out. However, captain Tadgh Foley led by example and acted as a human wrecking ball when he built up a head of steam, whilst James Sheedy, Teodor Ciobanu and Kevin Downey also made an impact. They lie fifth in the eight team table, four points ahead of sixth place Tullow and only behind Wicklow on points difference. They have a chance to leapfrog the latter when they play them next week and should take a lot of positives into that game, after a very spirited performance here.
SCORERS:
ATHY RFC: Tries - J Sheedy (2), A Henry (1). Conversions - D Farrell (2).
BECTIVE RANGERS: Tries - O Foote, G Kelly (2), J Lawless, M Keane. Penalties - M O’Hare (1). Conversions - M O’Hare (2)
ATHY RFC: Teodor Ciobanu, Niall O’Hanlon, Karol Donohue, Kevin Downey, Niall Dunne, James Sheedy, Ross Hendy, Tadhg Foley; Eoin Farrell, Craig Miller; Aidan Henry, Dara Farrell, Tom Sheedy, Cathal Fennessy, Culann Carbery. REPLACEMENTS: Patrick Julian for Niall Dunne, 55; David Downey for Tom Sheedy, 70.
BECTIVE RANGERS: Rory Mulvihill, Scott Barron, Luke Mion, Gavin Kelly, Ger Warde, Tiarnan McCloskey, Mattie Keane, Jamie Lawless; Connor Halpenny, Oliver Foote; Craig Cantwell, Matthew Gilsenan, Bobby Holland, Mikey O’Hare, Tim Carroll. REPLACEMENTS: Rodrigo Gens for Rory Mulvihill, 35; Shane O’Meara for Craig Cantwell, 50.
