Ashbourne power their way to sweet cup victory
"Sport is all about momentum," commented one observer during this evening's Jenkinson Cup final at Balreask Old.
The man is a big Ashbourne supporter and at the time (it was the second-half) he made the comment his team certainly had the momentum behind them. They sustained that momentum too and pushed on to win the game 25-15 to claim the piece of silverware much to the delight of the man in question.
Ashbourne were greatly helped towards reaching the summit by two tries scored by Matt Connolly while out-half Fergus Bobbett also made a hefty contribution with 10 points, two conversions and two penalties, with Conor Craigie also breaking through for a try in what was a contest full of bruising tackles.
Not that Ashbourne were always on the front-foot in this encounter. Far from it. For much of the opening half they force was very much with North Meath.
It was they who led at the break 15-5. It was they who looked to be on the way to a shock victory but then in the early stages of the second-half something happened to them that ultimately undermined their hopes of victory. The balance of control changed and the way it happened underlined how fortunes can change - and quickly.
North Meath had two players - Conor Grey and Ciaran Cullen - sinbinned within a minute or two of each other shortly after the break. They were pinged for low-key yet costly infringements.
That gave Ashbourne their chance and with the driving wind and rain behind them there was no holding them back. They hit back from that interval deficit to go on and win - and win well, more comfortably than the final scoreline suggests.
It is essential for any team to maintain their discipline particularly in rugby where the loss of one, never mind two players, can seriously undermine a team's cause. So it proved with North Meath - and Ashbourne, who had a player, hooker Conor Malone, sinbinned themselves in the opening half - certainly had the capability to take full advantage.
They dominated the second-half forcing a series of turnovers, winning a raft of penalties and building up that momentum - that word again - that carried them to victory.
Yet the North Meath and their head coach Simon Deevy (who played for Ashbourne in the past) will look back on that opening half with a mixture of pride and bemusement. Pride that they, with their ferocious tackling and intensity, were by some way the better team in the opening half.
They will be left bemused by the way it all went so wrong for them in the second-half. So terribly wrong.
After Connolly went in for an early Ashbourne try, North Meath played some excellent, controlled rugby. They repeatedly broke the gain-line, held onto the ball as players such as Hunter Curtis (another former Arshbourne player), Denis Cannon, Padraic McGurl, Graham Boland, made the hard yards. Behind them backs such as Oisin McDermott, Grey and Eanna Finn who made darting runs. They forced turnovers, moved the ball wide with real intent.
McDermott scored from a penalty before North Meath surged into the lead with a Conor Grey try after he closed down an attempted clearance. McDermott converted. Just before the interval Cian Doogan got an unconverted touchdown to give North Meath their interval advantage.
It was looking good for them at that stage although they got some luck too in that opening half especially when Ashbourne's Ben Connolly looked to be on his way to scoring a try only for play to be brought back in order for a North Meath player to receive treatment for a head injury.
North Meath were by some distance the better team before the interval but instead of them pushing on after the break Ashbourne took control. Connolly, Bobbett and Craigie all benefited from the momentum Ashbourne built up. They got the scores, and so guided their team to victory.
As the man said sport is all about momentum - and he is right.
"After the last few years with Covid and all that everybody is looking for something positive to focus on this is our first piece of silverware since all that happened, it's our first piece of silverware of 2023 and hopefully the first of many," said Ashbourne head coach Adam Sherrard afterwards.
Ashbourne - Colm Crigie, Ben Donnelly, Conor Creaby, Cathal O Scannaill, Matt Connolly, Fergus Bobbett, Paddy Dillon; Conor Phelan, Conor Malone, Frank Keegan, Jake Moulder, Sam McSweeney, Nick Bobbett, Aaron Murphy, Lorcan O'Reilly. Subs - Shane Boland, Kevin Keyes, Carl Keogh, Harry Wilson, Peter Carr, Eoghan Murphy, Dermot Colreavy.
North Meath - Oisin McDermott, Ben Wiseman, Cian Doogan, Eanna Finn, Andrew Monaghan, Conor Grey, Nathan Kiernan; Sam Bashford, Killian Flanagan, Padraic McGurl, Graham Boland, Denis Cannon, Ciaran Cullen, Curtis Hunter, Senan McDermott. Subs - Theo Chamberlahyne-Daye, Sean Gilsenan, Eoin Briody, Ben Shine, Paul Butler, Simon Deevy, Brian O'Connor, Andrew Kenny.
Referee - Hugh Earley.
MORE QUOTES AND DAVY MULLEN'S PHOTOS FROM GAME IN NEXT ISSUE OF THE MEATH CHRONICLE