There ought to have been a few broken tea cups in the Lansdowne dressingroom after Saturday's AIB All-Ireland League clash. Coach Michael Cosgrave was seething and had every justification to be angry, principally with his own team who squandered a potential match winning situation through a plethora of elementary errors.
His second bugbear centred on the question of law interpretation by officials. Cosgrave was not enthralled by Murray Whyte's performance, although publicly he refused to criticise the official. Whatever grievances Cosgrave may have had, the visitors, and not Whyte, were primarily architects of their own downfall.
Trailing 15-14 midway through a second half in which they had a strong wind at their backs, Lansdowne contrived to spurn good field position on several occasions with crass errors. They then fell victim to John Kelly's marvellous try, a move that spanned 70 metres.
There was a nasty undercurrent to proceedings that Whyte never quite capped and it manifested itself in some borderline and gratuitous rucking and a four-man punch-up in which a minimum of 15 punches were thrown. It was hardly surprising that neither coach saw who started it but the fact remains that three players should have been sent off.
"Fight night" happened right in front of a touch judge. One of the combatants ended up with a damaged hand, another with a bloody nose and so the assertion that it was "handbag stuff" is ludicrous. Too many punches were thrown and landed for it to warrant merely the sin binning of two players, Cork Constitution prop Ian Murray and Lansdowne hooker Cormac Egan.
The traditional musical chairs followed with Lansdowne introducing Peter McQuillan and withdrawing Stephen Rooney for the 10 minute sabbatical while Cork Constitution brought on Under-20 prop Robbie McGrath with second row Ken Murphy enjoying a brief rest.
A treacherous, sodden surface and a strong wind that blew towards the pavilion ensured that weather conditions would provide a central role. Constitution enjoyed first use of the elements and Ireland's outhalf Ronan O'Gara treated the home supporters to the full repertoire of his talent. He finished the match with 20 points - six penalties and a conversion - a display that might on another day have commanded the headlines.
Instead it was Kelly's superb try and the performance of the Con back row that dominated post-match discussion. The Ireland A centre glided through a gap and changed his angle beautifully to leave Gordon D'Arcy flat-footed as Kelly completed the journey to the posts.
The O'Callaghan brothers Donnacha and Ultan were superbly abrasive with or without the ball, while openside flanker Jerry Murray inspired his teammates with his work ethic. Mick O'Driscoll and Donnacha O'Callaghan provided a platform out of touch. As coach Michael Bradley pointed out: "I thought we were better carrying the ball and that this match was won by the front eight."
Con won this match in the final 20 minutes when they raised the tempo and quality of their forward play. The visitors played extremely well into the wind in the first half but could not translate territorial domination into points. Periods of activity inside the Constitution 22 usually ended in frustration.
The one exception was Ray Niland's try. Barry Everitt's hasty offload to Robbie Dolan on his own 10 metre line did not augur well for Lansdowne but Dolan's ability to brush past Cian Mahony's feeble tackle saw him race through the front line cover. Shane Horgan maintained the momentum before sending Niland in for an excellent try.
It reduced the deficit to 9-5. Everitt missed the easy conversion but did tag on three penalties to leave Lansdowne trailing 15-14 with 25 minutes left. Liam Toland, Aidan McCullen, Colin McEntee and Stephen Rooney scrapped hard but an increasing number of individual errors crept into the team's play. Cosgrave admitted: "In the end we weren't ruthless enough. We let them out of their 22 too easily."
Con have beaten Young Munster, Shannon and Lansdowne, three teams above them in the table while losing to Buccaneers, Dungannon and Ballymena. The champions need to deal better with expectation.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: O'Gara penalty, 3-0; 16: O'Gara penalty, 6-0; O'Gara penalty, 90; 36: Niland try, 9-5; 42: O'Gara penalty, 12-5. 45: Everitt penalty, 12-8; 48: O'Gara penalty, 15-8; 51: Everitt penalty, 15-11; 54: Everitt penalty, 15-14; 62: Kelly try, O'Gara conversion, 2214; 74: O'Gara penalty, 25-14.
Cork Constitution: B Walsh, T Kiernan, J Kelly, C Mahony, D Dillon; R O'Gara, C Murphy; I Murray, F Sheahan, J O'Driscoll; M O'Driscoll,K Murphy; D O'Callaghan, U O'Callaghan, J Murray (capt). Replacements: J Fogarty for K Murphy 73 mins.
Lansdowne: G D'Arcy; R Niland, S Horgan, G Hamilton, R Dolan; B Everitt, D O'Mahony (capt); R Corrigan, C Egan, A McKeen; G Quinn, C McEntee; S Rooney, A McCullen, L Toland. Replacements: P McQuillan for Egan 69 mins; S McEntee for Rooney 69 mins; B Cusack for Quinn 69 mins.
Sin binned: I Murray (Cork Constitution), C Egan (Lansdowne).
Referee: M Whyte (Leinster).
