Malone presses claim for provincial status

DOMINIC MALONE used the presence of Munster’s assistant coach Brian Hickey to press his claims for provincial recognition at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Malone was central to Bohemian’s Division One debut against Belfast Harlequins, but was unable to spur his side to victory. However, there were indicators that the Limerick boys won’t be out of their depth in the top flight this season.

Malone, of course, hasn’t had much of an opportunity to train with his club colleagues, but the ex-Northampton No 9 was instantly taken with the spirit and determination in the squad.

“We are disappointed to lose and the only consolation is that we secured a bonus point. We had a couple of scoring opportunities that we might have taken if the conditions were a bit

better.

“There were enough positives to take out of this game to suggest we will trouble a number of sides,” said

Malone.

How often he will feature is to up to Alan Gaffney and Munster. “I don’t know what the immediate future holds with Munster. I will just have to keep the head down and continue to challenge as best I can. It’s a bit frustrating when you don’t get much time on the pitch. That’s one reason I was glad to get in a tough game for Bohemians.”

Bohemians lost the corresponding Division Two fixture by over 50 points last season and then failed by 14 in the top four play-off final at Lansdowne Road.

On Saturday, Harlequins never looking capable of a similar landslide. Indeed, the exchanges were a tad too

energetic at times and referee John Sheehan had to use his yellow and red cards on occasions. Ian Costello and Matt Porter were sin-binned and Porter, following a scuffle late in the game, was shown a red, while Neil Best was sent to cool off for the mandatory 10 minutes.

Harlequins grabbed the only try of the game from Ajay Derwin, but

Bohemians were unlucky on more than one occasion not to grab a crucial five-pointer themselves. Winger Keith Matthews was called back for a

knock-on when it seemed the ball had come off his leg. But Bohemians still managed to go 6-0 in front courtesy of an Ian Costello penalty from 45 metres and a drop goal.

However, Derwin’s try was the best backline move of the day, and his penalty seven minutes after the restart gave the visitors their two-point

winning margin.

In the end, the loss of Porter was probably the most crucial reason why they failed to rescue the game. It was just too much of an ask from 14 players.