In rugby, as in hurling, as in any other sport, you’ve got to be able to push the opposition beyond the full time whistle.
While Kilkenny opened their 2016/17 Leinster League Division 1A campaign with a win against Monkstown on Saturday afternoon, there was a chance there to make a real statement with the score standing 28-8 before Monkstown crept in with two late tries to seal a losing bonus point and leave Gordon Rowe’s men with a 28-22 victory.
However, having lost the reverse fixture at Sydney Parade last season, and coming off an as-yet unbeaten South East League run, Saturday’s win will be a big one in the books for Kilkenny.
The game started brightly for Kilkenny, Rory McInerney at 10 chalking down a penalty inside three minutes shooting into the Waterford Road end before extending his side’s lead out to 10-0 with a try of his own on the 19 minute mark. A heavy spell of pressure from Kilkenny carved out room for McInerney to burst towards the right of the posts from inside the Monkstown 22.
It took Monkstown 25 minutes to register their first score, some questionable drifting defence from Kilkenny given the men from Sydney Parade room to make it all the way to the corner of the country end to take their first of three tries for the day, the angle too much for the conversion to leave the scores at 10-5.
A missed Kilkenny penalty two minutes later was made up for just past the half hour mark with Podge Mahon touching down for Kilkenny under a good head of wind but again, a skewed conversion attempt left more points on the field but had restored Kilkenny’s 10-point advantage. A Rory McInerney penalty on the stroke of half time left Kilkenny with an 18-5 lead and 40 minutes to play.
Five minutes after the restart and Rory McInerney tacked on another penalty for Kilkenny to push the lead out to 21-5. Where Kilkenny had fallen short last season in letting the second half of games go, they looked more composed, hungrier, from the start of the second period but as momentum does, it shifted towards Monkstown when Joe Manuel saw straight red for a punch.
The Monktstown player’s reaction was most audible from the sidelines, and while it looked like there was some pulling of Manuel’s scrum cap, it was the reaction that left Kilkenny with 14 men and 30 minutes to play, the resulting penalty for Monkstown inside the Kilkenny half sailing through the uprights.
You would think holding a two try lead and down to 14 you would try and shore up the game somewhat but Kilkenny kept pressing and Podge Mahon capitalised on a huge defensive error from Monkstown, picking up an interception near the half way point and streaking home under the posts for his second and Kilkenny’s third try of the day.
Monkstown would go on to claw back two scores of their own inside the final five minutes to put them at least inside losing bonus point territory and while Kilkenny had a penalty at the death which could have denied the Dubliners a point, the kick to touch was the game-ending option.
Elsewhere in 1A on Saturday Enniscorthy secured a bonus-point win over Dundalk at Ross Road, Gorey edged out De La Salle Palmerston 15-12 while Malahide made an early claim for top honours with a comprehensive hammering of Ashbourne, that game finishing up 71-13 at Estuary Road.
Next weekend sees Kilkenny make the trip to Mill Road to take on Dundalk who dropped down from the AIL last season in what is the first of three tough tests in a row with back-to-back home games against Enniscorthy and Gorey looming. With that in mind, getting off to a winning start and putting points on the league table early will be a great boost for the side.
Leinster League Division 1A
[table]
#,Team,P,W,D,L,PTS
1,Malahide,1,1,O,O,5
2,Enniscorthy,1,1,O,O,5
3,Kilkenny,1,1,O,O,4
4,Gorey,1,1,O,O,4
5,DLSP,1,O,O,1,1
6,Monkstown,1,O,O,1,1
7,Dundalk,1,O,O,1,O
8,Ashbourne,1,O,O,1,O
[/table]
All match photos courtesy of Ken McGuire. Looking to use match photos for your club? Requests in writing to [email protected].
