Last Saturday afternoon at a dry and warm Trinity College Sports Grounds, Santry a thrilling match took place.

The Swans nearly lost this game in normal time when down by 12 points deep into the final quarter. However, in the final two minutes, they scored the two goals and forced extra time. In those extra 20 minutes, they ran away from a shell-shocked Lions who must have thought they had the job done to win the John Locke O’Sullivan Cup.

The game was expected to be a tight contest after only eight points separated the sides in their most recent meeting in Dublin in September that the Swans won. The pre-match expectation was that the Swans’ tall forwards that shone in the preliminary final victory the previous week would again dominate the goal scoring.

The Lions raced into a 3.0 18 to 2.3 15 quarter time advantage.

The second quarter again saw the Swans’ smalls to the fore with Owens getting another two goals and staking an early claim for best on the ground.

Another Swans small midfielder, the impressive Connor Dunne got the other two Swans goals in the second quarter. However, at the other end, despite the best efforts of the defense, the Lions also scored four goals.

This left the half-time score Swans 6.7 43 to Lions 7.3 45.

Lions’ midfielders Kevin Jones and James Daly did some good work and they kicked four goals to the Swans’ two in the third quarter.

Again, for the Swans, it was the smalls scoring with Dunne bagging his third goal of the game and 2021 AFL Ireland Best and Fairest winner Keith Whelan getting the other one.

This left the three-quarter time score a rather worrying one for the Swans at 8.7 55 to 11.4 70 to the Lions.

This was the largest advantage the Lions had in the game and unless the Swans rallied quickly it would be game over.

It could not have been a worse start to the final quarter for the Swans with the Lions getting the first goal to push nearly four goals clear. The tall forwards finally got going for the Swans with Aussie Drew Baldwin getting his first followed by former Wexford County midfielder Rory Quinlivan getting a six-pointer.

Seamus Owens then got his fifth goal of the game, but despite the heroic efforts of the Swans to get back into it the Lions also got two more goals to maintain their three-quarter time advantage.

With just two minutes remaining it was desperate times for the Swans, then Cork native Gene Casey got a goal and gave Swans some hope.

With less than 30 seconds left on the clock and despite desperate Lions defending somehow Keith Whelan popped up to snap a goal from 30 meters out to draw the Swans level and force extra time.

Final score normal time, Swans 13.11 89 to Lions 14.5 89.

In the extra time, the switch of former UCD soccer goalkeeper Conor McGroarty from defense into attack yielded results instantly with the tiring Lions back men unable to contain the defender come attacker who got two goals in the first 10-minute half of extra time and Gavin Murray getting a third to outscore Lions 3.2 20 to 1.0 6 at the break.

The two sides were nearing exhaustion at this point but still, they fought on with another McGroarty goal putting too much daylight between the sides as

The South Dublin Swans eventually ran out convincing winners after extra time 17.13 115 to 15.6 96 for a 19-point Swans victory.

It was not all in vain for the Leesiders as their women’s team, the Cork Vikings had a convincing win in the Grand Final against Ulster Kookaburras.

Swans now look forward to being the Irish entry into the AFL Europe Champions League next April in Amsterdam, in only their second-ever appearance in that tournament.

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Goals from Nikola Krstovic and Ivan Vukcevic in the opening 10 minutes put Montenegro in front. This forced Jim Crawford’s Ireland U21 side to chase the game. They almost turned it around too with Mark McGuinness forcing Ognjen Obradovic into scoring an own goal before Conor Coventry saw a late penalty kick saved.

This loss now drops Ireland to fourth place in the group, four points off leaders Sweden. They do still have a game in hand but will be in dire need of a win.

Having beaten Luxembourg in Tallaght Stadium last week, confidence was high in the Irish squad.  Instead, they got caught early on with Krstovic scoring after just three minutes.

The tricky attacker raced onto a through ball before rounding the goalkeeper Brian Maher, slotting the ball home.

Montenegro doubled their advantage following a quick, incisive move. A deflected cross from the flank was dummied by Ivan Vukcevic but Krstovic quickly touched the ball back into his path and from a tight angle, the forward blasted it into the roof of the net.

For a brief moment just past the half an hour mark, Ireland thought they had conceded a third but they were relieved to see that Krstovic’s powerful finish with his head was correctly disallowed as he was stood in an offside position.

Ireland grew into the match following that let off but they couldn’t get the goal to half the deficit before the interval as Will Ferry saw a lob deflect just wide before his crossfield pass picked out Alex Gilbert, whose low drive from the edge of the box was saved.

They remained on top throughout the second 45 but it wasn’t until the 73rd minute that they gave themselves hope.

McGuinness reacted well to head home after the Montenegrins failed to deal with an in-swinging corner.

Substitute JJ Kayode almost nodded in a leveler within seconds of coming on but he could only turn Ferry’s cross wide of the near post.

After Ross Tierney and Kayode were denied what looked like certain penalties, Ireland was finally awarded a spot-kick in the 83rd minute when Jake O’Brien was fouled inside the area.

But Coventry couldn’t convert his second penalty in a few days. The Montenegro keeper made a great save low to his left to secure their win.

Next up is a doubleheader against Italy and Sweden as Crawford’s team return to Tallaght Stadium next month.

Starting Teams:

Montenegro: Izevic; Pesukic, Perovic, Babic, Raznatovic; Krstovic, Janjic, Vukotic (Divanovic ht); Vukcevic (Obradovic 70), Sijaric, Krstovic (Kujovic 57).

Republic of Ireland: Maher; O’Connor, O’Brien, McGuinness, Bagan; Coventry, Kilkenny (Devoy 77), Tierney (Kayode 77); Gilbert (O’Neill 60), Ferry, Ferguson (Whelan 60).

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Connacht 10 Munster 16

The Sportsground, Galway @ 7:35pm

A crisp clear day in Galway gave way to a light drizzle across the city as darkness fell. Whatever breeze there was favoured Munster for the first half. Both squads showed an impressive  intensity in their pre-game warm-ups and this turned into pure ferocity as the game commenced. 

Both sides showed impressive line-speed in defence, at times Munster were up suspiciously quickly. Munster’s work on the floor led to pressure relieving turn overs at crucial times. Tadhg Beirne was to the fore in this department. His man of the match award was more in recognition of the work he did over the ball rather than on it. However, the second row wasn’t alone in his work on the floor. Gavin Coombes won some crucial turnovers. CJ Stander won more again as Munster’s groundhog’s never let Connacht get clean quick ball. 

Early action

A couple of strong early carries from Sam Arnold led to a Connacht penalty. The resulting line out was overthrown, but then snaffled up by Jack Carty and another penalty followed just to the left of the post less than thirty out. However, Carty pulled his kick and Connacht failed to take the three points on offer.

Munster won an early penalty in the scrum, Finlay Bealham adjudged to be the guilty party. Shortly after on ten minutes Shane Delahunt was sin-binned for collapsing the maul. JJ Hanrahan converted the resulting penalty. Munster turned the screw while a man up and from the line out they drove their maul forward. The ball was recycled twice before Chris Farrell ran in the try on 18mins. Hanrahan added the extras. By the time Shane Delahunt retuned Connacht had shipped ten points.

Connacht enjoyed some good territory during the next phase of the game. However, they were unable convert this into points. A knock-on at a crucial stage while deep in the Munster 22’ was the closest they came to the line in the first half. Just before the break Jack Carty made amends for his earlier miss from a similar position by stroking the penalty over. 

Half-time: Connacht 3 Munster 10

JJ Hanrahan restored Munster’s ten point lead two minutes into the second half. Sweetly striking over a breakdown penalty. Connacht won a scrum penalty and threatened the Munster 22’ once more in the next phase of play. However, the outcome was similar to their first half efforts. Gavin Coombes this time winning a crucial turnover.

Hanrahan kept the scoreboard ticking over with another 3 points for the visitors on 63mins. This came when Connacht were penalised for not rolling away. 

Connacht preserverd and pressed for a try as the clock ticked into the final ten minutes. They turned down a kickable penalty in favour of chasing seven points. However, Munster drove them back out of the 22’ in an impressive show of defensive strength. 

At 3-16 behind entering the final three minutes it looked as if all Connacht’s efforts were in vain. Then Rory Scannell received a yellow on 78mins, shortly after coming on. Connacht made their numbers count with a try in the corner from Peter Sullivan in the next phase of play. When Carty converted superbly from the touchline Connacht were back within losing bonus territory.

Shortly after Munster were down to 13 men. Nick McCarthy joined Scannell in the bin as the clock entered the red. This time it was for cynically killing the ball as Connacht pressed for a winner. Connacht opted for the scrum and pressed for a winning try. However, Munster came up with another crucial turnover when it mattered most.  

Full-time: Connacht 10 Munster 16

Pro14 standings

Munster stretch their lead at the top of Conference B to eleven points. Now with eight wins out of nine they lead the way on 37 points. Connacht (on 26 points) by dint of their losing bonus move two ahead of third place Scarlets (24) who lost 29-20 away to Cardiff (22, who close to within two of their Welsh rivals. The Blues have, however, played a game more than Scarlets and two more than Connacht.

Teams

Connacht: 15. John Porch, 14. Ben O’Donnell, 13. Sammy Arnold, 12. Tom Daly, 11. Alex Wootton, 10. Jack Carty, 9. Caolin Blade, 1. Denis Buckley, 2. Shane Delahunt, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Ultan Dillane, 5. Quinn Roux, 6. Sean O’Brien, 7. Conor Oliver, 8. Sean Masterson. Replacements: Dave Heffernan – temporary sub for Masterson 15mins, Matthew Burke, Dominic Robertson-McCoy – for Bealham 51′, Gavin Thornbury for Masterson 56′, Paul Boyle – for O’Brien (HIA) 42′, Kieran Marmion – for Blade 55′, Diarmuid Kilgallen, Peter Sullivan – for O’Donnell (HIA) 48′. 

Munster: 15. Mike Haley, 14. Keith Earls, 13. Chris Farrell, 12. Damien de Allende, 11. Shane Daly, 10. JJ Hanrahan, 9. Conor Murray, 1. James Cronin, 2. Kevin O’Byrne, 3. Stephen Archer, 4. Jean Kleyn, 5. Tadhg Beirne, 6. Gavin Coombes, 7. Peter O’Mahony, 8. CJ Stander. Replacements: Niall Scannell for O’Byrne 53′, Josh Wycherley – for Cronin 59′, Keynan Knox – for  Archer 53′, Fineen Wycherley – for Kleyn 15′ (HIA), Billy Holland – for Coombes 65′, Nick McCarthy for Murray 73′, Ben Healy for Hanrahan 63′, Rory Scannell – for Shane Daly 70′. 

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Guinness Pro14, Round 10 

January 2nd, 2021 – RDS Arena, Dublin

Leinster’s long unbeaten run in the Guinness PRO14 stretching back 26 games came to a juddering halt after being blitzed by a superb first half-performance by Andy Friend’s Connacht side. Leo Cullen’s men tasted defeat for the first time in all competitions this season and for the first time in this competition since a 14-13 loss to Ulster in Ravenhill towards the end of the 18/19 season.

Match Highlights

Both sides had their preparation interrupted by COVID cases within their camp, a reflection of a worrying rise in case numbers in wider society. Both managers were forced to juggle their squads ahead of this clash.

Match Report

Connacht started with the greater intensity. In their opening attack, Shane Delahunt was stopped just short of the Leinster line after a double hit from James Tracy and Peter Dooley. The opening score came 9 minutes in when Jack Carty intercepted a Ross Molony pass off the base of a ruck 40 meters out, to sprint clear for the score. Connacht then extended their lead when Carty was on the end of a team move and crashed over from short range, with a good shove from Quinn Roux ensuring the Athlone man wouldn’t be stopped. 

Leinster responded almost instantly when Scott Penny found space on the fringe of a ruck to sprint in untouched for a try which got the home side off the mark. Liam Tuner had entered the fray just prior to that score as a HIA replacement for Jonathan Sexton, who would fail to return to play. Rory O’Loughlin moved into the fly-half slot for the remainder of the match. 

A brace of Jack Carty penalties stretched the lead for the visitors. An Alex Wotton try after a good break from scrum-half Caolin Blade just prior to the interval gave Connacht a scarcely believable twenty point lead at the break.

Half-Time: Leinster 5 Connacht 25

Leo Cullen’s side came out after the interval with a heightened intensity and set about eating into that deficit. Luke McGrath sniped over three minutes after the restart. Then the score was converted by Jimmy O’Brien who had taken over kicking duties from McGrath.  Who had missed his own conversion effort in the first half. 

Jack Carty was on target from a penalty on 47 minutes to re-establish a two-score cushion. Just before the hour mark former Connacht hooker Sean Cronin brushed off a couple of would-be tacklers. He then fed Ryan Baird on the short-side, the young flanker then dived over from close range. O’Brien’s effort at the extra’s from the left-hand touchline was pulled across goal.

Turning point

With the scoreboard now reading 17-28 Leo Cullen’s side began turning the screw. It appeared that Leinster had further cut the margin when David Hawkshaw cut in for a try a few minutes later. However, an infringement was spotted in the build-up by TMO Ollie Hodges. Sam Arnold’s path to make a tackle in midfield had been obstructed by Andrew Smith and the try was duly struck off. 

Connacht weathered the Leinster storm. Both the win and the bonus point were ensured when Tom Daly intercepted on the 22’. He broke a covering tackle to grab a fourth Connacht try. An Ed Byrne try under the posts in the final play of the game gave Leinster the consolation of a bonus point themselves. However,  all the plaudits go to the men from the west on their first win in Dublin since a last-minute Mark McHugh drop goal gave them a victory in Donnybrook way back in 2002.

Full-time: Leinster 24 Connacht 35

Pro14 standings

It’s first v second in both Conferences this weekend. In Conference A Leinster will host Ulster at the RDS on Friday night at 7:35. The northerners are now ten points ahead of Leinster. However, Leo Cullen’s side do have two games in hand. Meanwhile in Conference B Munster are on top of the pile after 8 games on 33 points. Connacht are 8 points behind on 25. For the home side, a win is a must if they are to catch Johann Van Grann’s side at the top.

Table reproduced from Pro14.rubgy

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