Dungannon 22
DUFC 16
DUFC’s Paddy Lavelle skips through Dungannon’s defence on the way to his side’s second try at Stevenson Park last weekend. Photo by Peter Wolfe.
Rory McCarthy
Deputy Sports Editor
An oft-remarked cliché in sport is ‘you can only play what’s in front of you’. How good Trinity really are will again have to wait until the sterner tests of Malone, UCD and Buccaneers later in the season. The students got off to a romping start in College Park securing a bonus point win over Blackrock College RFC last week. On Saturday they traveled north to Dungannon RFC for their first away game and their first of five trips to Ulster in this year’s Ulster Bank League. Dungannon were put to the sword by a fast and ferocious Malone side last week and would surely have sought to re-establish themselves at home this week against a side new to the pressures of Division One. Unlike Blackrock, who mounted a challenge as strong as a wet tissue might, when put under duress by being stretched apart, Dungannon were a spirited side. In the opening twenty minutes of the game the home side strung some good patterns together and scored early points through fullback Peter Nelson and winger Chris Cochrane.
Trinity started with a penalty from Cathal Marsh after 12 minutes but it was a lead that wouldn’t last long as Dungannon scored a great team try through Chris Cochrane almost immediately after Marsh’s penalty.
Trinity started slowly, affording Dungannon the best of the early exchanges. Cochrane added his second try halfway through the second half to make it 10-3 to the Ulster men. Cochrane, who featured impressively for Ulster in the opening Rabo ProDirect League games, was enjoying the freedom to roam infield from a sluggish Trinity defence. However, Warkin Larkin, Colin McDonnell and Brian Du Toit rolled their socks up and got through buckets of work to shore up Trinity’s defensive lapses. Nelson added his second penalty to make it 13-3 but his failure to add a conversion to either of Cochrane’s tries meant that despite the achievement of scoring two team tries of good quality, Trinity were never forced to resort to panic mode.
Marsh kicked cleverly down to the Dungannon 22, and Jack Kelly turned over the resulting lineout to begin a period of encampment in the Dungannon red zone. The Trinity pack went into overdrive using forward runners of the base of the ruck again and again to soften up the Dungannon defence. That sort of rugby might be dismissed easily as negative or turgid but it requires incredible accuracy, power and consistency from the pack to execute effectively, not to mention energy to hit ruck after ruck in effort to secure the ball. Du Toit worked his feet in a dazzling fashion to skip out of Peter Nelson’s tackle to dive over the line giving Trinity seven vital points before half-time.
Trinity began the second half in trademark style. Last season the first twenty minutes of the second half were statistically Trinity’s strongest and in the opening games of this season the pattern seems to be continuing. The Trinity front-row, with Larkin in particular enjoying arguably his best game for the students, exerted massive pressure on the Dungannon front row and were rewarded a penalty just near the left touchline on the half-way. Michael McLoughlin, so often the lynchpin in Trinity’s attack tapped quickly and Joe Coyne made a strong carry to soak in Dungannon’s defence. Quick ball was fed to Niyi Adelokun who turned on the afterburners to skate down the wing before being hauled down in a desperate covering tackle. From then Larkin popped a short pass to McLoughlin who passed back inside to Paddy Lavelle. Lavelle built like a blindside flanker; with the speed of a winger is as liable to stop in those situations as the Batmobile upon seeing the light go amber. He surged through the stretched Dungannon defence and shrugged off Nelson’s soft cover tackle to dot down. That made it 13-17 to the away side with Trinity eager to push on with the swell.
Trinity with Marsh at out-half have access to a player who has a truly staggering passing range and it was on show for Trinity’s final try. Following a wayward garryowen David Fanagan used his pace and elusiveness to work down the pitch, before being tackled. Marsh then glided a long arcing pass off his left hand to blindside Pierce Dargan. Dargan released centre Ciaran Wade with a soft pass, and then Wade slid back infield with a strong step to catch the drifting Dungannon midfield off guard. Marsh released another zipping pass to Adelokun who seared down the right wing and dived flamboyantly in the corner to make in 22-13. Marsh was unlucky with the touchline conversion that drifted to the right.
In the dying stages of the game tempers frayed over with both front-rows engaging in handbags. Despite all the distractions Trinity remained focused with Larkin, Kelly and Coyne getting through a solid shift in defence to secure an excellent result.
Trinity may have felt aggrieved having not secured a bonus point, especially as Ariel Robles crossed the line for a try that was ultimately disallowed early in the first half. However to win away from home in the Ulster Bank League remains a difficult task for any traveling side. To win in Ulster where the grounds are typically vocal and hostile to any decisions against the home team deserves full praise. Trinity traveled back to Dublin happy with a result that was an improvement in performance on last week’s efforts against tougher opposition.
Where they really stand and what they are really made of will become clearer in the coming weeks but for now all they can do is play what’s in front of them.
Dungannon
Tries: Cochrane (2)
Penalties: Nelson (2)
DUFC
Tries: Du Toit, Lavelle, Adelokun
Penalties: Marsh (1)
Conversions: Marsh (2)
