Dolphin deliver but coach still cautious

Dolphin 15 St Mary’s College 10

The win means they ended the weekend in second position on points differential from leaders Cork Con but head coach Steve Ford said his side need to be more clinical.

“We had some chances to put them away but didn’t take them. We allowed them to stay in the game and could have paid for that in the end because they never gave up,” he said.

Dolphin struck the first blow with a ninth minute penalty from out half Rory Scannell but the visitors struck back quickly, Scannell’s opposite number Cathal Marsh manufacturing a brilliant individual try three minutes later with Gavin Dunne tacking on the conversion for a 7-3 lead.

It lasted just eight minutes before Killian O’Keeffe and Cian Bohane created a try for Steve Hansel, with Scannell turning a one-point lead to three with the conversion, although the visitors struck back before half-time with a Dunne penalty to bring the score back to 10-10.

Former Cork hurler Darren Sweetnam then provided the spark Dolphin needed as they struggled to utilise a territorial advantage against a St Mary’s side adopting an aggressive defence.

His 52nd minute try with a bit of help from substitute Barry Keeshan and full back Eamon Mills gave the home side a 15-10 lead and put it up to the visitors yet again. Dave O’Callaghan’s brilliant 40-metre run a few minutes later merely served to highlight their growing dominance.

But the champions from two years ago refused to be bullied and always looked capable of producing something special from deep.

Dolphin hardly helped themselves with a few crucial handling errors and a couple of wayward kicks and had to sweat to hold their lead as the minutes ticked on.

As St Mary’s went on the attack, Dolphin prop Paddy Ryan received much of the credit for lifting the siege with a powerful scrum effort that yielded a defensive penalty. It bought his side time and it mattered little that Keeshan failed to convert a straight forward 76th minute penalty.

The home side finished on the offensive however, after the same player atoned with a remarkable 50-yard punt to touch that set up a series of goal line assaults.

And they could have crowned the victory but knocked on with the line at their mercy after 14 phases.

DOLPHIN: E Mills, D Sweetnam, S Hansel, C Bohane, J Kiernan, R Scannell, K O’Keeffe, B Scott, N Scannell, P Ryan, P O Se, J Madigan, D O’Callaghan, J Fitzgerald, M Cronin.

Replacements used: W Foley, J Leahy, R Murphy, C Bannon, B Keeshan.

ST MARY’S COLLEGE: G Dunne, C Lilly, R Hudson, M Sexton, M O’Loughlin, C Marsh, M D’Arcy, K Carroll, D Fawsitt, C McMahon, D Frawley, C Ruddock, G Austin, M Fallon, B O’Flanagan.

Replacements used: T O’Reilly, M Donnellan, R O’Donovan, I O Neill, C Donohoe.

Referee: S Gaffikin (IRFU).