UL Bohs go so close to upsetting Blackrock

UL Bohs 20 Blackrock 20

The UL Bohs amalgamation is a route other smaller clubs are seriously considering and it cannot be long before the like of Sunday's Well or Highfield see UCC as a possible partner.

They'll look at UL Bohs and how someone like Munster's Barry Murphy became a product of this system.

As well as Murphy, Martin McPhail, Keith Mathews and Jodie Danagher have represented Munster in the past.

Perhaps the success is down to UL's ultra-modern facilities, which Eddie O'Sullivan's Ireland squad regularly use indoor sprint and jogging track, elite weights room area, cardio-vascular studio, sport science lab, Rekotan athletics track and, of course, a €50m pool.

Blackrock College arrived with good back-up too an army of coaches and a sprinkling of some fine underage talent brought through their U20 system.

There were some familiar surnames with sound lineage lining out in the famous blue and white hoops, but it was the Kiwi duo Dave Dillon and Eddie Manawaitu that ultimately tested a UL Bohs side that was slow to start but finished strongly.

After 10 minutes it seemed UL Bohemian's second home, Annacotty, was unsettling them as Blackrock raced into a 10-0 lead.

With their first choice home occupied by the red hordes of Munster, the die-hard club supporters warmed up for the Big One across town later with excellent game of rugby.

Although the Rock's antipodean duo stole the show, all eyes again were on a Munster star in the making, Ben Martin. Starting in the centre, the Sydney-born Martin moved to out-half in the second half and provided a sound base to counter the Rock's strong first half play.

"Ben is a great talent," acknowledged UL Bohs coach Mike Tewkesbury afterwards. "He works hard and if he can stay free of injury there is every chance he'll move onto a higher level."

Martin was used by Declan Kidney in his first warm-up game against Northampton and, although without a contract, the Munster's manager's fondness of southern hemisphere players and Super 14 rugby could see the out-half figure for the province in the coming years.

There was a real willingness by both sides to move the ball wide Martin an obvious example with his range of passes.

Inside 10 minutes the good work of the Rock's highly-regarded coaches Dave Dillon (player/coach), Barry Gibney and Emmett Farrell was paying dividends.

Manawaitu was at the centre of the first try, breaking up the centre before feeding Dave Dillon, who popped up on his shoulder for the opening try.

The conversion was missed but kicker Paddy O'Toole atoned with a penalty minutes later.

Former Munster prop Mike Storey used some of the lessons from his former team-mates when instigating a maul in the 15th minute from 22 yards to touch down. And, after Fergal Lawlor added a huge penalty kick, Martin made an excellent break to set up Cathal Garvey for a try.

Rock had their third try when an O'Toole break set up Karl Gilligan and the out-half converted. And O'Toole added a penalty before the break to leave to 20-15 to the Dublin 4 side.

There was a lull on the turnover, both sides adopting a more conservative approach. With 10 minutes remaining, UL Bohs levelled through a Mark Butler try. Martin tried to convert from the touchline but missed and the Rock earned a deserved draw.

Added Tewkesbury: "When they went ahead 10-0, we got stuck into them straight away and came back and I thought once we scored the next try, we would be okay.

"In the second half they did seem to be visibly wilting but if anything I think we might have overdone the kicking option. However I was delighted with the way we played, getting stronger as the game went on."

UL BOHEMIAN: C Garvey; M McPhail, B Martin, c Finn (A rees 48), I Hanly; F Lawlor (m Butler 57), C Delooze: M Harty, G Ryan, M Storey; B Madigan, A Hartigan, R Hartigan, A Gorman (K Barry 13), J O'Neill.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: A Henry; A Pinto, F Carr, S Morrissey, C Gilligan; P O'Toole, R Molloy; C Murphy (S Byrne 69), C Gee (D Gavin 69), M Cuffe, M Legge (A Brannigan 74), O Cullen; D Dillon, E Manawaitu, D Lassa.

Referee: P Haycock (IRFU).