Third straight win for pitch-perfect Athy
A perfect box kick from scrum half Eoin Farrell clears Athy's lines.
The top two sides in Division 1A of the Leinster League faced off on Saturday afternoon at The Showgrounds, with Athy hosting Dublin side, Seapoint.
Dominant wins at home to Tullow and away to Dundalk meant Athy began the weekend top of the table, and they remain at the summit with a third consecutive bonus-point victory that leaves the Kildare men as the only side in Division 1A with a perfect record.
Prop, Aaron Rowan led Athy onto the field on the occasion of his 100th senior appearance for the club; a physical encounter from start to finish.
Both sides tested the opposition's defence in a scoreless and evenly-matched opening ten minutes.
Tom Brady and Tom Sheedy made inroads into the Seapoint 22 before Athy went to their always-impressive scrum. The walked Seapoint back towards their own line before going wide, wide to Daniel Henry on the wing. The hosts recycled from there and finally forced their way over for a try from captain, Craig Miller. Younger brother, Josh, then landed an excellent conversion from wide on the left to make it 7-0 after quarter of an hour.
Conan Dunne charged forward from the restart and set Athy on the front foot once more, with Seapoint barely managing to stop Daniel and Aidan Henry from crossing in either corner. The visitors were penalised 30 metres from their posts, with Josh Miller punishing from the tee to make it 10-0.
Athy kept their foot down and won a scrum penalty in the 25th minute. Scrum half Eoin Farrell went quick and was stopped just short of the line, but Craig Miller was there to pick up the pieces and cross under the posts for his and Athy's second try. Josh Miller made it three from three off the tee to put the home side up 17-0.
Some big clean-outs were needed to get Seapoint on the front foot, taking Athy through several phases before releasing Gareth Hughes for a try in the corner with half an hour gone.
Athy looked to respond immediately, winning a penalty and kicking to the corner. They won the lineout, mauled their way to the line, where three players tried to burrow over before hooker, Niall O'Hanlon eventually dotted the ball down. Miller converted again to put 19 points between the sides approaching half time.
The hosts worked their way back into the Seapoint 22 before the end, but they could not add to their tally, leaving the field with a 24-5 lead at the interval.
Things went from bad to worse for the Dublin side shortly after the restart when replacement lock, Christopher O'Toole was sent to the sin bin. Athy went to the corner from the resulting penalty, but Seapoint managed to clear their lines.
The visitors had the better of things for those ten minutes, despite being a man down, but neither side were able to trouble the scoreboard.
Athy lost Craig Miller to the sin bin midway the second half after repeated infringements from the hosts, with Seapoint tapping the penalty before sending Matt McKenna over for a try. Fly half James Brindley added the extras to make it a 12-point game with less than 20 minutes left on the clock.
The visitors wasted no time in getting back down the field, where a lovely offload from scrum half Malachy Brown to his partner, Brindley allowed the fly half to go over for a try. 24-17 with 15 minutes left.
Athy needed a score to stem the Seapoint tide, and it came courtesy of a relentless attack, finished off by Eoin Farrell when the scrum half took a clever line through the middle before going over beside the post. Another Miller conversion put 14 between the sides, with the bonus point now in the bag.
Seapoint knew that another converted try would give them the consolation of leaving The Showgrounds with two bonus points and they bombarded the Athy line throughout the end of the game. Brindley eventually went over for his team's fourth try two minutes from full time to secure the try bonus point. But the fly half again missed his kick, leaving the visitors with just the one point to take home to Killiney.
Athy are back home in Round 4 on October 10th, when Wicklow make the trip to The Showgrounds.
Aidan Henry; Shane Fata, Tom Sheedy, Josh Miller (1 pen, 4 cons), Daniel Henry; Craig Miller (2 tries), Eoin Farrell (1 try); Aaron Rowan, Niall O'Hanlon (1 try), Conan Dunne; Kevin Downey, Sean Donohoe; Jack Sheedy, Jack Henry, Tom Brady.
Richard Moloney, Matthew Henry, Liam Lynch, Joe Cole, Harry Bradbury.
Matthew Jungmann; Oisín McKenna, Gareth Hughes (1 try), Matt McKenna (1 try), Mark Newman; James Brindley (2 tries, 1 con), Malachy Brown; Conan Brady, Conor Anderson, Callum Kavanagh; Daniel Montayne, Hugh Ross; Dan O'Donovan, Jack Campbell, Donal McMahon.
Luan Moloney, Christopher O'Toole, David Murphy, Milo Quinn, Tommaso Viel.
John Carvill.
