ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE/DLSP...13 Terenure...14: As Terenure pressed on unconvincingly toward a top four place, this one will have rankled with DLSP long after the final whistle. Their only hope will be that they won't be left rueing this as the win that got away come the end of the season.
On a wild day on the high veldt of south Co Dublin, this encounter typified a top flight in which the table counts for little come kick-off.
Benefiting from the strong wind behind them in the first half, DLSP made much of the running and over the 80 minutes played the better, more expansive rugby. Simon Broughton's classy distribution and the array of target runners either side of him ensured their continuity asked continuous questions of the Terenure defence.
By comparison, Terenure played to the corners and to their pack, relying almost exclusively on the boot of former Irish Schools outhalf David McAllister and their lineout maul. McAllister's radar was off kilter, but referee Olan Trevor kept giving him sufficient and ever-improving opportunities for the youngster to steer the visitors home with two kicks from under the posts after three misses.
And ultimately, it was Mr Trevor's rash of penalties against the home side, even more than the sin-binnings for Aaron Davis and Dan Masters, which decided the outcome. Those two decisive penalties came at the vehement behest of Terenure's wily director of rugby and last-quarter replacement, Kevin Putt.
"He's a persuasive young character," quipped Paddy Stewart, "which is the sign of a good half-back."
The DLSP coach admitted "this was a game we needed, a game we targeted, but at the end of the day our discipline cost us. We suffered from goal-line fever, losing three or four try-scoring opportunities. We gifted them five points and then the penalty chances to win the game."
When you play with the gale in the first half, it's almost as imperative not to concede silly scores from rare sorties upfield by your opponents as it is to maximise your territorial dominance. The home team regularly pierced the Terenure line, only for Shane Cullen to prove a solid and obdurate last line of defence. But eventually Jason Critchley took a skip pass from Broughton to give a try-scoring offload to Mihai Vioreanu.
But it was almost inevitable that DLSP would pay for the schoolboyish loss of concentration which followed from the restart.
Actually that's a gross disservice to schoolboys, for DLSP lapsed into collective freeze frame as they watched Richard Governey's kick-off bounce about unchallenged. The alert Michael Quinn raced in to gather, and a few recylces later Donal Mahony squeezed over.
Broughton sandwiched a Governey penalty with a couple of his own for a 13-8 interval lead, but it was never likely to be enough, particularly as the DLSP lineout virtually disintegrated.
Admittedly, Terenure's territorial dominance was earning little reward until Putt steadied them with a couple of clever box kicks, and with his leadership.
"It's never easy coming here and it wasn't pretty, but we're very happy with the pack's second-half performance," admitted Terenure coach Bobby Byrne after following three successive defeats with a third win on the spin. "It's a very strange competition. You don't know who you're playing week to week, and to be honest we're surprised we're in the shake-up after losing so many players."
SCORING SEQUENCE: 11 mins: Vioreanu try, Broughton con 7-0; 13: Mahony try 7-5; 16: Broughton pen 10-5; 22: Governey pen 10-8; 24: Broughton pen 13-8; (half-time 13-8); 68: McAllister pen 13-11; 71: McAllister pen 13-14.
DLSP: E Devitt; B Hogan, J Critchley, D McCabe, B Hogan; S Broughton, M Cross; K Ashmore, A Davis, D Masters, S Kavanagh, R Candlin, A Toher, J Deen, S McCarthy. Replacements: B O'Loughlin for Toher (37-45 mins), M O'Sullivan for Hogan (73 mins), K Condron for Toher (78 mins). Sin-binned: Davis (35-45 mins), Masters (75 mins).
TERENURE: S Cullen; S King, J Sullivan, D Minerney, P Costelloe; R Governey, D Mahony; J Nolan, C Egan, S Barretto, M Quinn, D Quinn, P O'Malley, D Blaney, B Kavanagh. Replacements: G Deans for Barretto (14-18 mins), D McAllister for King (46 mins), A Ryan for Kavanagh (50 mins), K Putt for Mahony (62 mins).
Referee: O Trevor (IRFU).
