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Fortitude of the Goats wins the day
Skerries vs Connemara All Blacks, 13th Dec, 2003, Monastery Field Connemara All Blacks 6 A pale winter sun filtering through the window of the King’s licensed premises picked out the presidential paunch as the pre-match post-prandial speech began. And in that throaty voice that adds an extra dollop of sincerity to all his declarations Roscoe informed his hosts that “we love it down here”. A few hours later he was loving it even more. In a short space of time Clifden has earned a particular niche in Fingal affections. And the novelty of winning a match on the western seaboard was enough to consummate the affair. Ultimate victory was a highly improbable scenario at the break. Even a loser’s bonus point seemed chimerical at that stage. The Atlantic had worn old gold cerise and blue in the opening half belting great rain-laden gusts into the solar plexus of the locals. But by the time the changeover arrived the picturesquely sited scoreboard was registering a mere seven-point differential. Soon afterwards Connemara reduced the deficit with a penalty and Sisyphus, condemned to push his outsize stone up a steep hill, would not have envied Lord Holmpatrick’s men. So how did they survive? Well, statisticians working at full throttle recorded 297 random acts of heroism in that second period. And that’s how the Skerries line remained intact. Simple really. Denied consistent possession by an All Black side that slipped straight away into executive mode, Skerries never harnessed the wind effectively when it was in their favour. And their ground occupation plans were seriously hampered by lack of a left-footed kicker. (As is so often the case, Beggs is only properly appreciated when he is absent). On one of the rare occasions when the home side kicked away possession TANNER, the carbohydrate-laden prop, taking the ball deep in defence, was given an inordinate amount of time to contemplate his riposte. But the act of cerebration appeared to unhinge him and he was readily devoured by the advancing phalanx. Every so often the sky turned biliously black and when rain then sheeted across the ground the umbrellas went up like so many spinnakers, leaving their owners in a desperate wrestle with the boom. Included in the Fingal support group was a select band of festive fundamentalists from Rush, resplendent in Santa Clause hats complete with flashing lights. These lights took on a definite surge in voltage early in the second quarter as the Skerries pack frogmarched their Connemara counterparts a full 30 metres to the try-line where O’Neill was credited with the score and then given the task of converting it. On a day when easy kicks didn’t exist he coolly added the two points. He did miss – forgivably – two penalty attempts in this half and seven points was decidedly anorexic total to take into the break. After the oranges came the predictable role reversals. Skerries were now into the business of chronic ball retention while Connemara invested their energy in a search for space. The blacks 46th minute penalty kicked by out-half SWANEPOOL (a name not often heard in Gaeltacht areas) was the prelude to a prolonged period of trench warfare which saw the visiting line under constant threat. KELLEHER, notably, showed that he is still offering a nice line in disintegrating tackles and ENNIS, over his years of exile, has not lost his relish for resistance. SHEERANS attempted clearance was charged down and when the bounce favoured the attacker a try seemed inevitable. But the Kiwi’s redemptive smother defied the laws of physics and the citadel remained intact. SWANEPOOL, nonetheless, edged his side closer with a second penalty. Skerries were in acute need of occasional distressing and BUTLER was often the one to carry the ball clear of his own twenty-two. One of his sorties found prompt support and the resultant pressure gave O”NEILL the opportunity to kick a goal from in front of the posts. EARLY made one luminous run and his liaison with WHERITY presaged a try but the winger’s inside pass was misguided. Ten frenetic minutes remained. The valiant O”NEILL was binned without the courtesy of a previous caveat and DUFF proposed himself as an auxiliary forward at scrum. Connemara’s impatience undid them once or twice when an extra pass might have paid dividends. But ultimately it was the fortitude of the Goats, which won the day. Four wins out of seven will have given them a certain measure of emancipation. The All-Blacks, by contrast, existing on a Spartan diet of bonus points, are fraught with anxiety. But they have far too much rugby in them to remain for long in the nether regions of the table.
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