DIVISION TWO FINAL Lansdowne 17 Bruff 10:FIRST-SEEDS Lansdowne made the most of a swift start to keep Bruff at a safe enough distance to guarantee the All-Ireland League Division Two crown at Anglesea Road on Saturday.
Former Ireland Under-20 scrumhalf Matt Healy has been repositioned on the left wing for the club this season where he has wreaked havoc on unsuspecting defences. He was firm in his fend-off of centre John Malone for the opening try in the fifth minute, converted by outhalf Andrew Geraghty.
Bruff winger John Moore pounced on a dreadfully skewed clearance by Shane Gahan to reduce the gap to two points only for Lansdowne fullback Davy Hewitt to slice the Limerick club open for a 14-7 lead on half-time.
“Our early tries help to settle us and our defence was able to deal with Bruff coming at us most of the time. We didn’t give away too many kickable penalties,” said Lansdowne manager Brian Corrigan.
When Geraghty nailed a 35-metre penalty in the 53rd minute, it looked like the makings of a decisive lead. However, Bruff produced the best try of the match, backs and forwards combining for fullback Pat Thompson to fizz over on the right.
“What can I say? Bruff never gave up. They never do. With 10-15 minutes remaining, at 17-10, anything could have happened. We just held on in the end,” said Corrigan.
The influence of assistant coach Gordon D’Arcy could be seen in the way Lansdowne used their line speed to close down the outside channels in a very Leinster attitude to defence.
The club looks well equipped already to make a strong challenge for promotion against next year given the relatively young age profile of the players, mixed in with the experience of well-known former professionals in Kieran Lewis, Aidan McCullen, Brian O’Riordan and captain John Lyne.
“Promotion was our main concern. At the same time, it is a competition and when you are in it you want to win it. You don’t just want to make up the numbers.
“When we had a reasonable win over DLSP in the semi-final, we knew we had to be on our game for our old enemies Bruff. We knew they would give us a good test.
“We have come up against them at various levels at senior and age-grade levels and we have formed a good relationship with them.
“They epitomise all that is good about Munster rugby. We like to think we do the same for Leinster rugby. On this occasion, Leinster won out.”
Of course, Bruff are also in line for the heady heights of Division One B for the first time in their history.
They bring clarity of thought to their strategy, starting with the combustible nature of a hard-nosed forward pack, the smart decision-making from half-backs Tony and Brian Cahill and a backline that is not shy of exploiting space.
LANSDOWNE: D Hewitt; S Gahan, K Lewis, G Stafford, M Healy; A Geraghty, B O'Riordan; J Lyne (capt), P Flood, J O'Connell, N Keogh, W Earles, A McCullen, B Horan, B McKeever. Replacements: R Boucher for McKeever half-time, R Jones for Boucher (82 mins).
BRUFF: P Thompson; A Cashman, J Malone, J Carroll, J Moore; B Cahill (capt), T Cahill; D Horan, C O'Regan, S Foster, M O'Connell, A Bourke, D Gardiner, J Shine, M Carroll. Replacements: P Malone for O'Connell, D Murnane for M Carroll (both 45 mins), N O'Riordan for Thompson (temp-47 mins), E Maher for J Carroll (77 mins).
Referee: S McDowell, IRFU.
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