Defeat is snatched from jaws of victory
LEINSTER LEAGUE Seconds hold out for points
DUNDALK seconds bounced back from a heavy defeat against DLSP Palmerston the previous weekend to make it two wins from three starts against Ashbourne at Mill Road on Saturday.
Dundalk started the game well with great work rate against a big Ashbourne pack.
Late in the half, Dundalk played penalty advantage in the Ashbourne 22 andn Chris McGeady found the gap to score the opening try which was then converted by Andrew Williams.
Dundalk kept the pressure in the Ashbourne half of the pitch and a scrum 10 yards from the line was picked by Tiernan Gonnelly and offloaded to Ciaran Murray who stepped inside to cross over.
Ashbourne reacted with a try just before half time to bring it back to one score at the break.
Changes were made halftime with Donal Clare returning at out half and he wasn’t long finding a gap and kicking across to Paddy Duffy who ran 30 yards to score. Ciaran Murray converted again.
Later in the half, Dundalk made too many unforced errors which Ashbourne capitalised on and scored a try to bring the score back to 19-10.
Dundalk kept good possession in the middle of the pitch and won a penalty which Murray kicked.
With 15 minutes left, Ashbourne scored another unconverted try to bring the game back to one score again.
Dundalk then defended brilliantly towards the end of the game until Ashbourne eventually found a gap and won their lineout to score a try off a rolling maul.
Luckily, the conversion was missed with the last kick of the game as Dundalk clung on for the win.
DUNDALK: John Kerr, Sean McGrane, Zac Bolton, Robin McGee, Conor Kane, John McGahon, Greg Whately, Tiernan Gonnelly, Ciaran Murray, Andrew Williams, Ciaran Bellew, Chris McGeady, Robert Shields, Donatus Jonkus, Paddy Duffy. Subs: Dylan Quigley, Danny O’Hagan, Matt Lourdes, Gavin Mullen, Donal Clare. IT was a case of Lazarus coming back from the dead at Mill Road last Saturday as Ashbourne snatched victory over a stunned after trailing 32-12 with 10 minutes remaining.
In a thrilling North East derby featuring nine tries, the away side picked up maximum points as Gavin Kennedy held his nerve to convert their fifth try with two minutes remaining.
Dundalk is difficult place to go at the best of times and it did not help that Ashbourne did the double last year over them, so the home side were looking to reverse this and they were first on the scoreboard with a penalty.
However, Ashbourne responded by scoring the first try of the game. From a Dundalk lineout on half-way, an over-thrown ball was gathered in by Brendan Meehan and he set Jake Wall on a strong run up to the home 22.
Ashbourne went through the phases patiently before Kennedy released Sean Kent and he took it on before making the scoring pass for Sean McKeon, with Kennedy missing the conversion.
Dundalk had their player coach Mike Walls sin-binned at this stage, yet Ashbourne’s lead only lasted five minutes as poor tackling contributed to a home try in the left corner for captain Enda Murphy.
It was 8-5 to Dundalk at the break and the momentum was with them, even though they were still a man down.
Not long after the restart Dundalk had their purple patch as an indiscretion by Kent saw him sent to the bin and the hosts’ Peter O’Neill converted the penalty.
Worse was to follow as a twotry blitz stretched Dundalk’s lead to 27-5, with Stephen Murphy and Laurence Steen getting the touchdowns following some lovely ball-handling moves.
For all that, Ashbourne were not playing badly and with Ciaran Roche and Simon Deevy on after the break they had strong ball carriers on the field. Indeed, it was Roche who drove over from a few metres out for the second Ashbourne try in the 55th minute, with Deevy also involved in the build-up.
Kennedy converted and the score moved to 27-12, with Ashbourne hanging on and still in with a chance.
However, on 70 minutes Dundalk broke through to add a fourth try, with Jonathan Williams the scorer, and take what seemed like an unassailable 20-point lead. Remarkably, the missed conversion would cost them dear as Ashbourne produced the mother of all comebacks to snatch a onepoint win with three converted tries in quick succession.
The first of these came from a quick tap, from which Alan Wall worked his way over for a try to the right of the posts. Ashbourne’s fourth touchdown followed quickly as the game opened up.
A break from Deevy saw him get beyond the Dundalk 10-metre line and he found Scott Crowley on the right wing. His pass put Adam Martin through the gap and he broke free to score a converted try - 32-26.
With time ticking away Ashbourne drove deep into the Dundalk half on the back of another Deevy break, along with good play involving Gibson and Ben O’Reilly.
A lineout was won in the Dundalk 22, from which Meehan found McKeon who set up the maul. Ashbourne’s pack drove and probed until Jake Wall peeled off to score the vital fifth try.
Kennedy held his nerve by kicking the conversion and soon after it was all over and Ashbourne celebrated and Dundalk held their heads.