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 Shades of Willie Duggan Skerries 18 O'Sullivan try, Brady try, con, 2 pens After all the hullabaloo over television rights the cultural event took place, not at Twickenham, but at Rockalyoke. Senator Glennon, pacing up and down the dead-ball line as if waiting for the result of the first count in Dublin North, was not deprived of his viewing. Cultural events, after all, don't have anything as vulgar as winners or losers. And this game against Banbridge had neither. The state of equality was decreed by the fickleness of the goal-posts as much as by the equilibrium of the two sides - Skerries second penalty attempt was repelled by an upright, Banbridge's first was helped over by a crossbar. The turbulence of Skerries season was reflected in the choice of fifteen for this game. At a stage when most teams are settled, for better or worse, the Goats are still trawling in the experimental mode. Of the backs, for example, only Quirke occupied the jersey he wore in the last AIL outing in Sydney Parade. The stakes were high on Saturday but Skerries great merit was that they refused to be tyrannised by the context. The willingness to use the width of the pitch was always in evidence and when on 23 minutes, two long passes put O'Sullivan in possession with a half-sight of the line, spectators were about to be rewarded for the boycotting of the bar. The Connaught under 21 player used his trade-mark side-step to confound the first defender, then briefly floated his brake-flaps before effacing the second tackle with a smooth return to full throttle. Pay-per-view finds its justification in moments like this. Brady missed the conversion but he had already struck an excellent penalty. The out-half left a deep imprint on this first-half. Kicking intelligently and accurately from play, sparking any number of attacks, and when 10 minutes from the break, he supported sharply on the outside to reach the corner and then thumped a consummate conversion his team had the cushion of a 15-point lead. It could have been considerably more. A percussive drive from O'Neill went deep into the visiting rearguard but the link with Duff was flawed. Quirke made a venomous counter-attack but baulked at outstripping the ultimate defender. And Caragher danced mesmerically to within spitting distance of paradise but one pasodoble too many undid him. O'Shea pere, Head of Mythology in the Archive Section at Holmpatrick, had led a fact finding mission to Banbridge some weeks ago and on his return, with typical terseness he produced a 65-page strategy document. Not only that - to implement the proposals he offered his own staff. When the No. 8 McDonnell limped off before the break, Son of O'Shea was conscripted and he went on to make a thoroughly worthwhile contribution. Any kind of a lead has tended to unhinge the Goats this season and it was feared that looking down from a height of 15-points might bring on a severe attack of vertigo. And so it came to pass. When the Skerries jury return with their verdict on this game there may be a brisk trade in black caps. The second-half wasn't long underway when the technically virtuous Caragher, exhilarated by his return to first team duty, had an ambitious chip blocked down and the gruyere-style security system of the home team failed to pick up the kick through. Once winger Waugh was accorded a favourable bounce the score was on. Minutes later Waugh was on the end of a seemingly innocuous diagonal grubber and defensive depopulation allowed him to breach the line again. Soper converted. Skerries reaction was to cancel all leave for defenders. An assiduous pack, prompted by the exemplary benefaction of old boys Mulcahy and Higgins won back controlling interest. Brady and Soper traded penalties to leave the Skerries advantage at 3 as the clock wound down. With time almost up the award of a penalty in the opposition half seemed to herald a home win. Beggs, in the unaccustomed role of scrum-half had played admirably all afternoon and his composure was such that only one isolated and half-hearted eyeballing ever threatened to undermine the peace process. So did he misread the scoreboard? Taking a quick tap penalty with the urgency required of a losing team he was quickly swallowed up. Banbridge worked their way back to touch at the corner flag. Whereupon Farrell opted to take his revenge on a ball that had repeatedly tantalised him. The kick at goal was awarded for time wasting was the last kick of the game. But it was as nothing compared to the kick that the Banbridge pack got from sharing a cigarette butt as they filed off. Shades of Willy Duggan… and ample proof of the cultural status of the afternoon. Scoring: 3-0 / 8-0 / 15-0 / H.T 15-5 / 15-12 / 18-12 / 18-15 / 18-18 |
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