Old Gold, Cerise and Blue Still Fluttering

Skerries 27
Naas 15

If this Skerries team was a Rover there would be a serious consideration for a factory recall. A number of serious flaws have shown up during its brief time on the market - sluggish drive-shaft, timing out of synch, overheating in traffic. Not to mention the thunderous backfire at Pearsonstown. But the model has been allowed to remain in the road because of it continues to fulfil its primary function - that of overtaking the Micras and making good ground to its destination. It was business as usual on Saturday. The first-half performance was littered with error and omission - penalties missed, passes mistimed and, again, the fruitless fixation with the attritional try. But subsequently, on the open roads, the high-velocity job materialised and Nass were over-run. After a weekend that culled the contenders to three - the bombastic students met some straight talk in Ballina - the old gold, cerise and blue is still fluttering.

The art of the coach in rugby is assuredly a delicate one. Attention must be given not just to the team but to the individuals who form part of it. Players differ sharply in the things they will respond to. Some relish, if not the ti, at least a bit of mothering. Some like gentle persuasion and encouragement, some prefer thinly disguised bullying. It seems that DEMPSEY needs the out-and-out, high voltage, devil-take-the-hindmost squabble. It is tempting to see a link between the invective that flowed liberally on the training ground during the week and the adrenalin that drove the out-half to a high-calibre performance at Fournaughts. DEMPSEY'S display was, by a long way, his best of the season. His opening tackle, when he dumped his opposite number back over the gain line, set the tone. His kicking across the wind in the first-half was a model of timing. It was his try 12 minutes after the break that reversed the morale of the game. He thumped tan exquisite drop goal in the wake of the first Naas try. And his conversions were impeccable. An admirable all-round recital. Is DEMPSEY, therefore, a graduate of the same school of volatility as McEnroe? In other words, would regular dispute result in consistent brilliance? And how long would the coaching tandem at Roackalyoke be prepared to act as absorbents in the way that umpires and line-judges were for McEnroe?

But back to Faunaughts, conditions there were good but a strong wind blew diagonally away from the clubhouse and the visitors were given first use of it. Skerries declined the courtesy and instead allowed the home-side to dictate. Naas benefited substantially from arbitrational largesse but their out-half, despite near-hypnotic focus on the ball prior to run-up, was successful with only one kick out of four. LAWLESS too was finding the wind a fickle ally and it was only with the ultimate act of the first half that he put the teams on level terms.

CONNOLLY J, one-time clown-prince of Lakelands now aspires to the title of Grand Master of the provocative statement. His attempts to unhinge the referee had been raising the ire of the local aspirants and the half-time provided the opportunity for some repartee at the eye-ball level, shades of what was to follow on the pitch. When DEMPSEY, supporting assiduously, took O'SULLIVAN'S inside pass near the line he was unstoppable but after he had grounded the ball he was in receipt of a whally unwarranted challenge. P.C.DENNY who was patrolling in the area confronted the culprit and might well have received a yellow card for his part in the subsequent fracas. After the successful conversion the game restarted with a penalty to Skerries from the half-way.

O'SULLIVAN is an interesting case. The latest colt to emerge from the famed Dublin Road stable he looks poised to make a seamless transition from under-age ranks to senior level. He might even pioneer a return of the sidestep to its rightful place in the rugby arsenal! GREY was becoming increasingly prominent off the back of the scrum and now, off a wheel, BUTLER took up the running with an incisive thrust. QUIRKE fielded well under pressure and BUTLER exploded off the ruck. EARLY, the Meteor Man, was supporting at pace and the irrepressible MULCAHY galloped down the touchline to score. By way of riposte Naas steamrolled a try through the medium of their pack but DEMPSEY coolly struck his dropped goal from all of 40 yards.

A blatant error on the part of the touch judge - did he, by any chance, officiate at the English Cup Final at Twickenham this year? - gave the home team the throw at a line-out in the corner and when their pack rumbled over again and the out-half converted the gap was down to five points. But nobody amongst the huge crowd that had come to lift the Goats had any fear of a caprine capitulation. Skerries dominated the remaining quarter-hour with a form of rugby that found its logical sequel in a four-man overlap. When the ultimate defender resorted to the deliberate knock-on a penalty try was awarded. The bonus point, though merited, proved elusive but to inflict a first home defeat in three seasons on the locals represented a good day's work. The bandwagon moves on to Waterford this week and, again, the goats are not looking any further than that.