Wicklow halted by Clondalkin
Seconds enjoyed a superb year
WICKLOW’S SECONDS bowed out of the Seconds Cup on Sunday after a disappointing game against a powerful Clondalkin side.
Clondalkin seconds finished third in Leinster in the league and so were always going to be a stern test for Wicklow.
The visitors got off to a good start with a long range penalty after 14 minutes to make it 0-3.
19-year-old Shane Farrar responded with a fantastic long range effort on the 20 minute mark to level matters at 3-3. A second Clondalkin penalty made it 3-6 before a dreadful mix up in the Wicklow defence allowed Clondalkin to walk in under the posts. The conversion made it 3-13 at halftime. Wicklow started brightly in the second half and a Farrar penalty made it 6-16.
Wicklow were trying a little too hard when chasing the game. They made some good headway when they got the ball wide but as a rule were finding it hard to get over the gainline against a well organized Clondalkin defence.
Uncharacteristic errors crept into Wicklow’s performance with knock ons and risky offloads coughing up possession on several occasions.
With 15 minutes to go Clondalkin tacked on another penalty to make it 6-19 but Wicklow responded well and got over in the corner with a fine try by Dean Leonard to make it 11-19. The difficult conversion would have put Wicklow within a score but it sailed narrowly wide.
Try as they might Wicklow couldn't get over for a nother score and Clondalkin closed out the game with a late penalty to make it 11-22.
Wicklow were very disappointed to lose and a little unhappy with their performance.
They were up against an excellent Clondalkin side that would be as strong as most clubs first XV.
Clondalkin probably adjusted to the referee better than Wicklow. Wicklow conceded too many penalties which made it very difficult to keep Clondalkin under sustained pressure.
Wicklow undoubtedly felt that, had they played to their potential they could have won the game.
This was a disappointing end to what has been a very fine season for Captain Simon Norton and coach Andrew Flood as well as all the coaches, management team and the players. A win in the South East League, third place in the Leinster league and a quarter-final in the Towns Cup is a decent return for this young side who will look to strengthen and kick on again next season. Congratulations and well done to all.
Wicklow RFC would like to wish David Hastie, Shane Farrar, KK Beattie and the WRFC U-19s the very best of luck in the Leinster Plate final against Dundalk next weekend.
Squad: Colm Lalor, Eanna Kileen, Seamus O'Brien, Liam Hughes, Simon Norton, Niall Higgins, Steve Roberts, Stuart Donohoe, Shane Byrne, Shane Farrer, Alan Byrne, Ben Mangan, Karl Townsend, Dean Leonard, Russell Andrew, Shaun O'Brien, Darren Kenny, Gavin Cox ,David Hastie, Dennis Higgins, David Acres, Yuri Savchenko, Niall Doyle.