Derby win in Dundalk eases Boyne drop fears
POOR home form has been Dundalk’s Achilles’ heel this season and their fragility at Mill Road was laid bare again on Saturday as Louth neighbours Boyne plundered an unlikely bonus-point win.
It’s a result that deals a severe blow to Dundalk’s title ambitions, while for their opponents it eases their relegation worries and they could yet finish in the top half of the table.
Such an outcome looked extremely unlikely at the half-way point in this match as Dundalk turned around with a 17-3 lead, but they couldn’t sustain the intensity which had been so evident in the early exchanges and that came back to haunt them.
The morning’s heavy rain had thankfully abated somewhat by kick-off time, but the stiff wind continued to blow up the pitch and with the elements in their favour Dundalk camped in the opposition 22 in the early stages.
They bagged a try inside five minutes as second row Hamish Walker burst over the line from close range after strong carries by Laurence Steen and Gearoid McDonald had stretched the visitors’ defence.
Boyne were annoyed that an apparent knock-on had been missed by the referee earlier in the move, but the score stood and McDonald added the extras to extend Dundalk’s lead to 7-0.
McDonald then landed a penalty on the 15-minute mark, although this was immediately cancelled out by Karl Keogh, Boyne’s number 8, whose longer-range effort just cleared the crossbar.
That score lifted Boyne and they began to push Dundalk back in the tackle. Brian Howell made a couple of great darting runs into the Dundalk 22, but those breaks came to nothing and a towering kick by McDonald yielded a penalty as Derek Williams put opposite number Kevin McCleery under pressure from the high ball.
What followed just after the half-hour mark was disastrous from Boyne’s point of view as they gift-wrapped a second try to Dundalk. McDonald’s penalty kick came back off the upright into the hands of Boyne centre Adam Brodigan whose attempted pass back to a colleague behind his own line went to ground, allowing Steen to dive on the loose ball.
McDonald’s conversion made it 17-3, and even with the elements in their favour in the second half it was impossible to see a rather demoralised-looking Boyne mounting a comeback, especially when the wind began to abate during the interval.
However, Dundalk player coach Mike Walls - formerly of Boyne - didn’t help his side’s cause by putting two kicks out on the full in quick succession on the restart.
A well-set rolling maul from Boyne signalled their intent and they nearly got in for a score, only for Steen to intercept Brodigan’s wayward offload just short of the line.
Rory Hennessy and McCleery ran the ball back from Steen’s clearance to give Boyne field position once more, and they eventually breached the Dundalk defence in the 50th minute. The slippery ball was put through the hands of Alex Cox, Tom Francis, Alex Gregory, Keogh and Eoghan Duffy who gave the scoring pass to McCleery in the corner.
Keogh pulled the difficult conversion attempt to the left but soon landed a fine penalty to put Boyne within range at 17-11.
Even better was to follow for the Drogheda men just short of the hour mark. Poor Daragh Conroy, who had been moved to full back moments earlier as Dundalk reshuffled after a raft of substitutions, slipped as he attempted to gather Francis’ grubber kick.
The ever-alert McCleery was onto the loose ball in a flash, booting downfield and then kicking ahead twice more before touching down over the line for a great score.
Keogh then landed a superb conversion from out wide and suddenly Boyne were in front - 18-17.
Straight from the restart a flailing arm from Boyne prop Hugh Carolan caught Robert Farrell on the head, resulting in a Dundalk penalty which McDonald kicked to the corner.
From the lineout Walker was stopped short as he drove for the Boyne line, but the hosts patiently went through the phases and Walls took advantage of poor Boyne defending to dive over a ruck and touch down from close range.
McDonald missed the conversion, but Dundalk were back in the driving seat with a 22-18 lead and they extended their advantage to seven with a McDonald penalty.
It looked at that stage as if a losing bonus point was the best Boyne could hope for. However, the drama was only beginning and three scrum infringements from Dundalk in quick succession had their neighbours camped near the line, with their management team demanding a Dundalk man be sent to the sin bin.
The referee kept his cards in his pocket at that stage, but even with the full complement of forwards Dundalk couldn’t stop Keogh as he broke off a scrum and wriggled his way over the line before converting the try himself - 25-25 with five minutes of normal time left.
One more try for Boyne would secure victory and a bonus point to boot and they threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Dundalk in the latter stages.
A brilliant Francis kick to the corner had the hosts under severe pressure, resulting in Dundalk replacement Joe Marks being sent to the sin bin, and in a desperate attempt to halt a subsequent drive for the line the hosts infringed again, giving referee Holt no option but to run under the posts and signal a penalty try.
With seconds left to make up a seven-point deficit, Dundalk kicked off again hoping for a miracle, but heroic defending by Boyne kept them out and even the sending-off of Howell couldn’t put a damper on the Drogheda side’s celebrations at the final whistle. DUNDALK: Robert Williams; Derek Williams, Daragh Conroy, Laurence Steen, Owen McNally; Gearoid McDonald, Mike Walls; Jonathan Gray, Sean Arrowsmith, Robert Farrell; Hamish Walker, Enda Murphy; David Whately, Alistair McCormack, Tiernan Gonnelly. Replacements: Ciaran Brannigan, Joe Marks, Ultan Murphy, James McConnon, Jonathan Williams. BOYNE: Eoghan Duffy; Brian Howell, Adam Brodigan, Alex Gregory, Kevin McCleery; Tom Francis, Alex Cox; Pat Shuttleworth, Padraic Mongey, Hugh Carolan; Declan Moore, Richard Shuttleworth; George Cooney, Rory Hennessy, Karl Keogh. Replacements: Luke O’Callaghan, Jerry Onianwa, Conor Walsh, Kevin Prendergast, Joe Sweeney.
REFEREE: Sam Holt
•Boyne Under-16s enjoyed a superb 29-0 away win over Navan in the Leinster League.