Brave Boynesiders don’t get their just desserts

Longford Boyne 31 22

BOYNE came up just short of securing two losing bonus points and returned home from nothing after an impressive display against promotion hopefuls Longford in horrendous conditions on Sunday afternoon.

The Drogheda men made the journey to the midlands safe in the knowledge that they would still be plying their wares in Division 1B of the Leinster League again next season.

Storm Dennis proved the main opposition to the style of rugby which suits the Ballymakenny outfit, but still they opened impressively enough and for long spells of this game gave as good as they got.

Despite Boyne’s bright opening, against the run of play Longford drew first blood in the 11th minute when they crossed for a try. This came following sustained pressure from the visitors, when the home side broke away and in their first incursion into danger territory their forwards forced Boyne into desperate defence before touching down for the first score.

Longford settled down after that, but the visitors’ defence repelled the onslaught and early in the second quarter Boyne entered a purple patch.

Joe Sweeney notching a penalty awarded to Vic Ball’s team for not rolling away to put three points on the board and during this spell they defied the dreadful conditions when a series of transfers saw Adam Brodigan make another of his now trademark breaks. The centre sprinted deep into the Longford 22 before offloading a delightful pass to full back Graeme McQuillan who crossed for a fine try. Sweeney had little bother with the conversion and Boyne led 10-5 at that stage.

Soon after, though, a crucial crooked throw-in from a lineout gave Longford the impetus to attack Boyne from the resulting scrum. The Drogheda side were subsequently awarded a penalty to clear their lines but failed to find touch. That cost them dearly and eventually led to Longford getting back on terms with an unconverted try. This time the score came from their winger following good work by the forwards and the sides turned out level at 10-10.

Longford posted their very serious intentions early in the second half when, from the Boyne kick-off, they immediately went on the offensive, with their forwards picking and driving to gain territorial advantage.

They were rewarded with a converted try in the 48th minute after more Boyne errors gave them attacking advantages from another lineout and a kick direct to touch. They followed up with another try shortly after, which they converted to bring the score to 24-10.

Longford had victory in their nostrils and maximum league points gained at this stage to enhance their promotion chances. But despite the mudbath conditions Boyne were unrelenting and they put themselves right back in the frame on the hour mark when their valiant forwards forced a series of drives before number 8 Smith broke off a maul and crashed over. This time Sweeney was off target with the relatively simple conversion.

At this stage of the match recognition of players was something of a lottery, with mud-covered jerseys making it hard to identify the respective players on each side. Credit has to be accorded to both sides and the referee for persevering throughout the 80 minutes in the terrible conditions.

Boyne’s main threat this season has come from a fleet-footed backline who contributed greatly to their success in maintaining safety in this league. Perhaps at times they tried to be too adventurous during this game, though, and in the final minutes they tried to run the ball out of defence and got turned over, resulting in Longford scoring their fifth try.

But the never-say die-attitude of this Boyne side prevailed to the end of this energy-soaking game and they finished off with a fine try of their own. Sadly there wasn’t time to go in search of one further score which would have seen them pick up at least one bonus point.

Boyne are scheduled to complete their league programme on Sunday March 8th at Shamrock Lodge against Carlow, with a 3pm kick-off, while on Sunday week - the 1st - they travel to Mullingar in the first round of the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup.

Table

Monkstown Longford Tullow

Co Carlow Boyne Clondalkin

Cill Dara

De La Salle Palm

P 12 12 12 13 13 12 13 13

W 12 8 7 7 6 5 3 1

D 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

L F A Pts 0 391 173 55 3 282 188 43 4 314 225 38 6 236 245 35 7 292 296 31 7 247 298 27 10 218 306 18 12 177 426 6