Old Wesley V Lansdowne - Abandoned, Ballycorus Rd. 10/01/2009

Rain but no Rainbow!

Hobby
n., pl. -bies.
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

Rugby is my hobby. It’s one of those great pleasures in life. To stand shoulder to shoulder with ones teammates in battle as you take on a mighty opponent. But some days I question why I don’t prefer to pursue something a little more civilised, like Crochet. Today was one of those very days. Upon reading the weather forecast, whilst munching away at my bowl of muesli, I realised that I better prepare for a storm. Met Eireann had a gale warning in effect. With up to 80mph winds and heavy showers, it was going to be bad. So I fetched my ski gear and put on my thermal underpants.
Of course in interest of avoiding a €5 late fine I took a lift with Adam “it’s not me, it’s the car” Kavanagh. I’m glad that I gave myself a few hours to digest my breakfast. Throttle...Break...Throttle! We arrived early. But we weren’t the first. It had seemed the moral boosting McGoldrick rants had hit a nerve. This was a big match!
The changing rooms had a clear sense of focus. Jeff spent a little longer taping down every inch of clothing, whilst Matt Allen contemplated his new role in the back row. Smithy’s constant mutter and concern for his match balls was gone unheard whilst the mighty Mr. Reid searched for his lucky No3 jersey (the only one that fits). I had a feeling something epic was in store.
Upon the referees dressing room stud check, the Killer Bees headed out to battle. It was clear to see on the player’s faces that this was a do or die match.
I won’t lie to you, it was ugly out there. My first concern was, will my DIY bin bag waterproofing on my Nikon hold up. This was very quickly followed by a cold inner dribble of cold water down my back. It was too late, Jeff was out of tape. The referee sounded the opening whistle. Game on.
Wind and rain was a major factor. Who would play the elements better, Lansdowne or Old Wesley? Opening exchanges saw mistakes from both sides. Lansdowne played with the wind. The wise head of Eoin ‘I ate ALL the chocolate cake’ Gantly made some telling kicks which gave Lansdowne great field position. But the weather and some good defence kept the Killer Bees out.
Both Chris ‘uncontested’ Reid and Adam ‘top scorer’ Kavanagh were tremendous in stopping the Wesley maul from making ground. Although I think the Coaching staff may need to teach Kav the best way to pull it down. Our overseas culinary front row/back row Gabriel Portier showed that the French can play rugby, with an outstanding man of the match performance. As usual our tackle machine Nick Jones hid from no man. He was clearly enjoying bringing down the gigantic Wesley back row.
As the titanic struggle pursued, the weather became more biblical. The substitutes looked sodden and cold. Whilst on the pitch, incidents of clumsiness were happening far too regularly. The ref took both teams into a huddle to discuss care in rucks. Maybe again Lansdowne had heard the waffle of big Phil’s aggression speech.
Lansdowne again put pressure on Old Wesley’s defence. The Munster ball worked tirelessly, whilst the backs tried to string passes together in the horrendous winds. Poor Tommy ‘I wish I was in bed’ Malone stood shivering on the wing counting the minutes to half time.
Nil all as the whistle sounds. A warming huddle was quickly formed. But before Coach Smithy could play out his strategies, the huddle less referee called for the start of the second half.
At this stage in the afternoon I knew I’d been fleeced. My waterproof ski gear was not. My DIY bin bag camera case was leaking. This was not good.
Puddles had formed into ponds, and players looked less eager to dive into tackles knowing an icy cold mud bath waited them. Little Conor ‘Spud’ O’Sullivan was ready to test his 25m swimming badge capabilities whilst Captain Keith readied his men. The second half was underway, and more injuries soon followed. Peter ‘skin ’n’ bone’ Geoghegan still looked shook from an earlier boot to the face which left him dribbling red.
Wesley mounted an attack. Lansdowne for the first time all match looked leaky. And soon space was made for an easy 5 points. There was some comedy in the conversion attempt, as the Wesley kicker had no tee. His drop kick attempt in a foot of muddy water was laughable to even himself.
A pause in play happened whilst the referee consulted his J2 refereeing buddy. He had called an early end to the J2 match on the lower pitch, and his influence was quickly followed by the cry of match abandoned.
So there it was. We will be playing this one again folks. I certainly hope in better weather. Lansdowne showed Wesley that the season’s first encounter was a blip in our learning curve. The question is will they be more ready for us the next time we meet.
Highlights of today’s match were hard to find. The weather made it a forwards match, and our lads showed us that the Killer Bees are a tough nut to crack. We must bring this strong game to St. Marys next week. A win is a must!

Man of the Match: Gabriel Portier

written by Ed Bruce

Team

1: Chris Reid 2: Gabriel Portier 3: Peter Geoghegan 4: Paul Harvey 5: Robert Moore 6: Adam Kavanagh 7: Matt Allen 8: Nick Jones 9: Conor O'Sullivan 10: Eoin Gantly 11: Will Sparks 12: Ross Bloomfield 13: Justin Comer 14: Tommy Malone 15: Keith Herman (c) Subs: Enda Kilcullen, Tomas Keys, Ronan Gibney, Jan Falko, Millan Alonso, Jeff Iszeham and Rory Gavin.

match photos taken by Ed Bruce