Same score - Double the Credit

Skerries 19
Quirke try, Gray try, Brady 3 pens

Corinthians 0

Way back in the mists of the seventies, deep down in the soft underbelly of provincial rugby there lived a man called Stafford Stack. Now, Staffy believed that rugby was strictly for the things that flew around and went tweet-tweet, what really mattered was the state of the scoreboard when the fat lady began to clear her throat. Staffy was the ultimate pragmatist. In time after plotting a series of victories by that minimalist margin he became known far and wide as the patron saint of the three-nil win. The three-nil win, in fact, was a kind of shorthand for an afternoon when the ball seemed to be no more than an optional extra, the steam rose copiously from the packs and the outside backs contracted hypothermia. The present Skerries team does not subscribe to such a vapid doctrine. But, after duplicating last weeks win against Suttonians, it may now be opening a subscription to the nineteen-nil win which, after these two games, we will take to be a synonym of cast-iron defense, periodic panache and persistent prodigality.

The seal on the try-line on Saturday was genuinely hermetic - the Goats behaved like a squad of ill-disposed and over zealous bouncers who just didn't like the look of the visitors from Galway and steadfastly refused to admit them to the in-goal area. Even at the end, when a little whipper-snapper of a winger tried to break the cordon by racing round to the side door he was unceremoniously repelled by the ever vigilant Lawless. The panache produced a try in either half, one collective, one personal and the prodigality took the form of missed kicks at goal and a plethora of culpable turnovers. Corinthians too, it must be added, gift-wrapped a percentage of their own possession, particularly as the game progressed. Something to do with the season of good will presumably.

It was obvious from the outset that the game would pose considerably more problems for the home side than the previous weeks encounter with Sutton. The kick-off gave rise to a return of the classic confrontation between the irresistible force and the immovable object. Kelleher starred in the latter role and, if he didn't budge an inch against the dipped shoulder of his opposite number, he did feel the impact. He needed the half-minutes rest not so much to recover as to plot his revenge. The trade-mark tornado start of the Goats was aborted this time by a Corinthian pack which, in giving a thoroughly professional reply, complete with subtle obstructions, belied the amateur inference of its name.

Brady's penalty kick went just the right side of the upright to give Skerries some first quarter comfort. We were then treated to a try of great quality which had the tandem of Quirke and Scanlan as instigator and finisher. Quike trapped a ball, Beckham style, in his own half and swept a pass to the supporting Scanlan. The full-back made good ground before taking the tackles. The scene now moves to the 22 on the other side of the field where impetus was maintained by a brilliant piece of support handling from Dempsey and a crucial intervention on the ground by Lawless. When the ball was moved swiftly left again Scanlan's thrust occupied two defenders and gave Quirke the yard that is all he ever asks for.

Earlier Scanlan had just failed to hold on to a difficult pass at a moment when the timing and direction of his running would almost certainly have afforded Quirke another score. This piece of action would repay repeated reviewing by the thinking touchline heads. The idea of the fullback as a strike runner may have got lost somewhere in the great professional revamp but it is well worth retrieving for those who want to play rugby. Other memorable moments from the opening half were Gray's impromptu investment in the reverse pass and Duff's sublime ankle-high tackle when all seemed lost.

Skerries faced the breeze after the break and the opinion was that they would need to score again to survive. Brady had kicked a second penalty just after the half-hour and 10 minutes into the second half he extended the credit to 14 points. Horan had been called in for questioning the previous week but had been acquitted. This time his choir-boy innocence was to no avail. He was given yellow. The decisive score came soon and viewed from the distant dead-ball line it had all the elements of fantasy. The two packs took on the appearance of a bunch of kids squabbling over the ball just beyond half-way. Then, before any one could do anything about it, this big fellow just walked in, picked up the ball and ran off with it. That was Gray giving his impression of a bolting gazelle and he planted the ball over the try-line without a hand being laid on him. A gubuesque score.

Corinthians redoubled their efforts to salvage a bonus point and three times they declined penalty kicks in favour of a punt to the corner. Each time they went away empty-handed. Then Kelleher's moment arrived. As the visiting No. 8 drove across the 22 he had his legs whipped from under him by a South Strand Special and lay there, head bowed, contemplating the folly of his earlier hubris. There was considerable credit in this win which leaves Skerries in a slightly illusory tanaiste position in the 3rd division hierarchy. The goats would be well advised to forget about league tables and just continue playing rugby.