Nothing to shout about
BOYNE’S return to the junior ranks after an extended period in the All-Ireland League hasn’t coincided with an improvement in fortunes and they suffered a fourth straight defeat until the Milltown House lights last Friday night.
Players and supporters endured dreadful weather conditions as the first signs of Storm Brian brought wind and rain, although underfoot conditions remained surprisingly firm throughout despite the deluge.
Both sides were short some regulars, with Boyne missing their key half back pairing of Alex Cox and Tom Francis who had to return to Manchester for their graduation ceremony.
It was hoped that with Ashbourne agreeing to change the fixture to Friday evening both players would be available, but unfortunately this didn’t work out.
Boyne also had to contend with their captain George Cooney’s absence through suspension and the unavailability of promising young hooker Padraig Mongey because of injury.
It was Ashbourne who were into their stride right from the kick-off when their rampant centre Simon Deevy crossed for a try within two minutes of the start. Gavin Kennedy landed the easy conversion to make it a seven-point game before Boyne could draw breath.
Kennedy then increased this lead a few minutes later when he landed a penalty to bring his side to 10 points.
Following the initial tidal wave of
Ashbourne Boyne 31 0
Ashbourne offensives, Boyne did manage to steady the ship somewhat and had some moments in attack when full back Eoghan Duffy joined the line.
Nevertheless, Ashbourne contained these sojourns until the 33rd minute when Boyne lost the ball in a tackle, with the home side making a counter-attack to bring play deep into the Boyne half.
It was their wily scrum half Gavin Kennedy who finished off his forwards’ good work with a try under the posts and he converted his own try to bring Ashbourne’s scoring tally to 17.
More woe was to follow for Boyne when prop Hugh Carolan saw yellow for an infringement and later full back Duffy was injured when making a try-saving tackle on Ashbourne centre Jack O’Brien, which held up the game for several minutes as both players received attention. Duffy had to retire and was replaced by Michael Briscoe.
Early in the second half Ashbourne inflicted more punishment on the visitors with a try within two minutes. This time it was second row Ciaran Roche who crashed over, with Kennedy, who had an unerring night with the boot, landing the conversion.
Following this score it was Boyne who had most of the possession for long periods, without really threatening the Ashbourne try line.
The home side were on the defensive and it looked as if their earlier whirlwind efforts would not be rewarded with a bonus point to consolidate their win and top-ofthe-table position.
Whilst Boyne were enjoying possession and territorial advantage, their endeavours were disjointed and lacked a cutting edge to breach their opponents’ defence.
Ashbourne had to be patient and await virtually the last play before garnering the elusive bonus point as they broke out of defence and took play beyond the Boyne 10-metre line, with the ball going into touch.
A fracas resulted, with Boyne winger Brian Howell receiving a yellow card, and Ashbourne chose to use this penalty as a last-ditch drive to achieve their fourth and final try.
The ploy worked with the last play of the game and players and supporters alike were exuberant when out half Adam Martin touched down for a score that was converted by Kennedy to keep his 100% kicking rate intact.
This is proving to be a tough league for the Boyne players and mentors and a big effort will be required to garner the necessary points to move away from the bottom two positions in the table. They are, in the main, a young side who cannot be faulted for effort, but the manner in which some of their opponents have run in tries means they must work on their defence to improve results.
Boyne now have a short break before making another tough away trip to second-placed De La Salle Palmerston on Saturday week. ASHBOURNE: Maiky Massuger; Andrew Gibson, Jack O’Brien, Simon Deevy, Ben O’Reilly; Adam Martin, Gavin Kennedy; Jake Wall, Joey Szpara, Conor Hurley; Ciaran Roche, Sean Kent; Frank Keegan, James McCaghy, Alan Wall. Replacements: Brendan Meehan, Tim Lawrence, Adam Carberry, Mark Rooney, Shane Bass.
BOYNE: Eoghan Duffy; Brian Howell, Joe Sweeney, Adam Brodigan, Kevin McCleery; Shane Campbell, Sean O’Byrne; Jerry Onianwa, Pat Shuttleworth, Hugh Carolan; Richard Shuttleworth, Conor Walsh; Declan Moore, Wilson Twentyman, Karl Keogh. Replacements: Keith Keogh, Michael Briscoe, Rory Hennessy. Ashbourne DSLP Enniscorthy Gorey Dundalk Wicklow Boyne Monkstown P 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 W 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 L 1 1 2 2 2 2 4 5 Diff 47 16 64 15 1 10 -50 -103 Bo 5 2 3 1 4 2 2 1 Pt 21 18 15 13 12 10 6 1