Boot boys share the spoils

BOTH BECTIVE and Skerries hung around to watch Lansdowne run in 10 tries against the hapless Trinity students in the other Leinster…

BOTH BECTIVE and Skerries hung around to watch Lansdowne run in 10 tries against the hapless Trinity students in the other Leinster Senior Cup semi-final match at Templeville Road.

While they might have justifiably pointed to the frailties of the young university team, they could not have failed to notice the different level of rugby one of them is going to have to face next weekend.

A replay at Templeville Road on Tuesday evening at 6.15 will decide that issue.

As Ben Kealy, the Bective winger who kicked five penalties from seven attempts for his side said, "whoever gets to the final next week is going find it very very difficult to beat Lansdowne. It will be an incredibly hard match unless they have a nightmare of a game. They will certainly go into it as red-hot favourites."

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Kealy's pressure kick in the last minute of normal time kept his side in the competition. Although it was from a relatively simple position from just outside the 22, a miss would certainly have seen Skerries go through to the final by a 12-15 margin.

"It's been a long time since I've kicked a penalty like that under so much pressure, but I thought Jim (Dempsey) would have definitely kicked the penalty they got just afterwards to win the game.

"I don't think he caught it right. We were lucky to get off. Our second-half performance was disgraceful. We weren't committed to it," said Kealy.

The match never really rose above the ordinary as neither back line really got moving. The rucking and mauling style both sides employed was error-strewn and unimaginative. "Messy is how Kealy described it.

As such, the game boiled down to a battle between the two boot masters, Dempsey and Kealy, both of whom rose to it impressively. Kealy landed five from seven attempts, while Dempsey was accurate with five from eight. Luckily for Bective, Dempsey's last effort of the game was one that could have won it for Skerries deep in injury time.

The orgy of kicking began after only six minutes when Kealy landed his side's first from the 22. Eight minutes later, he added another, before Dempsey brought it to 6-3 from 35 metres out.

Kealy then took it to 9-3 from his fourth attempt and again, Dempsey replied just before the break.

At that stage, Bective had total control of the set-piece scrums and it looked inevitable that a push-over try would soon come.

But when Trevor Brennan's indiscretion was spotted by the linesman, the referee had no hesitation on lecturing the flanker and giving Skerries the much-needed penalty to clear their line.

Dempsey began the kicking in the second half with two accurate efforts to put Skerries ahead before Kealy levelled. As Skerries dominance continued, Dempsey again struck and led into the final minute when Kealy finally landed the much-needed equaliser.

The midweek game could well see Bective line out without scrum half Des Jackson, who might have work commitments. He will not find out until work resumes after the bank holiday weekend.