Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) secured their first win of the season this afternoon, triumphing 37-26 after an electric display of backline skill and execution against Young Munster.
Young Munster began on the front foot, with an imposing forward unit immediately stamping their authority on the game, earning a penalty at the breakdown. Clayton Stewart duly slotted between the posts. Max Kearney’s break through the Young Munster line, soon after the restart, allowed Trinity to hit back through a penalty of their own, levelling the scores at 3-3.
Young Munster, however, continued to dominate the breakdown, drawing a string of penalties from the home side, allowing them to press home a territorial advantage and retake the lead through another Stewart penalty.
The game began to come to life midway through the first half, with Niall O’Riordan breaking powerfully through the centre of the Limerick side’s defence. However, last-gasp defending from Young Munster eventually allowed the visitors to clear their lines, before narrowly missing out on a try themselves, after Stephen Kerins opted to tap and go from a penalty around the halfway line. A slaloming run brought him within inches of the line, but poor handling in the corner let DUFC off the hook. Young Munster, though, had advantage and pointed to the posts, extending their lead to 9-3 through another straightforward penalty.
With the penalty count rising, the hosts sought to involve their backs more, a move that paid immediate dividends. A half-break from Philip Murphy into the visitors’ 22, closely followed by a powerful run by Colm Hogan, nearly saw Trinity crash over the whitewash. However, an infringement at the breakdown handed Young Munster the penalty and set Trinity back once again.
From here came the pivotal phase of the game. Young Munster shifted the ball through the backline at the halfway and found themselves with numbers to spare on the left wing. A poorly timed skip pass, however, combined with solid defensive tackling, saw the ball pop loose into the hands of newly returned full-back Michael Silvester, and set in train a sequence of events that would lead to perhaps the best try that College Park will see this season. Silvester tore sideways across three-quarters of the pitch before eventually releasing Hogan, who expertly beat his first man for pace before stepping inside a second and shrugging off a third. With clear space in front of him, he returned the ball to a still-trailing Silvester, who ran clear to score.
This score, it quickly became clear, would prove to swing the game’s momentum firmly towards DUFC. Soon after the restart, Trinity found themselves with possession in the visitors’ half again. A simple move off the back of the scrum saw James Hickey burst through a gap before releasing Silvester again for his second try of the afternoon. Fennelly once again converted and Trinity went into the break with a 17-9 lead.
The second half started promisingly for DUFC, with Fennelly immediately scoring a penalty from the tee. However, Young Munster hit back soon after and found a try of their own through Darragh O’Neill to bring them within six points of the home side.
The breakneck pace of the contest continued, as Trinity once again retaliated through some electric play in the backline. From left to right, an adroitly constructed move ended with Silvester breaking clear once more. This time, however, he opted to clip a grubber beyond the onrushing full-back, allowing Liam Turner to skin his man and collect a delightful bounce before diving over. Fennelly, imperious from the boot all day, added the extras to round off what had been a hectic opening 10 minutes of the second half.
Silvester had his hat-trick moments later. Some more flowing play saw him ignore, this time, Hogan on his outside, fending off a would-be tackler on the inside before scampering in again and securing a bonus point for Trinity.
However, if it seemed the game was secure with the score at 34-14, then Trinity’s habit of making things exciting at both ends of the spectrum meant there was still drama in store. The sin-binning of Cian O’Dwyer allowed the Rossbrien side to claw their way back into the game, with Darragh O’Neill grabbing a second try after powering home in the right corner before Mark O’Mara touched down to make it an eight point game. Stewart, however, was wayward from the boot, missing for a third time and keeping a crucial two-point gap between the sides.
As tensions continued to rise, both sides grew impatient with refereeing decisions as the afternoon sun began to fade. Through a combination of forward pressure with the ball and disciplined defending without it, Trinity were able to see out the contest in Young Munster’s 22. Minutes from the end, Fennelly added a final penalty to finish off the game.
While fans will no doubt have left College Park out of breath – not for the first time this season and not, you suspect, for the last – this win will be hugely encouraging for a side who had seen victory narrowly escape their grasp in two of their opening three Ulster Bank fixtures this season. Coach Tony Smeeth will hope this clinical edge remains, to complement the stunning, running rugby that has marked many of the students’ opening encounters.
