Buccaneers draw blanks as McFadden inspires Belvo boys

Old Belvedere took clear leadership of the AIB League Division 1B with an impressive 36-12 victory over Buccaneers at Dubarry Park, Athlone, on Saturday. In this Dubarry-sponsored game played in ideal pitch and weather conditions, a stronger and more seasoned Belvo were simply too slick and sharp for a young, developing home squad. Buccs made one personnel change from their opening day defeat at Young Munster, Brian Touhy debuting in the centre with Gavin Kelly switching to left wing and Paul Harte surprisingly on the bench while the pack remain unchanged. Old Belvedere could enjoy the luxury of not using ex-Bucc Chris Keane until the second half, where he linked up with the vastly experienced Andy Dunne at half-back, while the highly-rated Fergus McFadden was also made available by Leinster, thus making the visitors' backline a fairly formidable force allied to a decent, mobile pack. The metropolitans got the start that Buccs did not want, a Dave Mongan try that came a bit too easily after just six minutes with McFadden adding the conversion. Eight minutes later, Garreth Halligan put in a terrific tackle to put an Old Belvedere player into touch inside the home 22, but the touch-judge mystifyingly signalled a knock on by Buccs. From the resultant scrum, Jason Risdon broke through for the visitors' second try, and the magnitude of the challenge facing Buccs was even greater, being 12-0 adrift so early in the game. But the midlanders gradually regrouped and enjoyed a fine spell of pressure in the right corner at the end of the opening quarter. They forced several successive penalties but just could not get over the visitors' goal-line while, five minutes later, Touhy chased up effectively to win possession but Adam Kennedy was deemed to have knocked on when stretching to touch down. Next it was Old Belvedere's turn to miss out, speedster Mongan knocking on when a try looked imminent before Buccs were whistled back soon afterwards for a crossing offence in a good position. However, the excellent McFadden landed a penalty, awarded after a brief flare-up on halfway in which Sean Stapleton was fortunate escape a yellow card, with the final kick of the half for a 15-0 advantage to the Dublin club. Both sides made changes at the break, with Buccs introducing John O'Brien for Brendan Carpenter at full-back. As last week, Buccs really needed to get the opening score in this half and indeed looked to be in a position to do so but somehow lost possession close in and Belvo's in-form winger Mongan hared down the left flank to grab his second try of the match (and fifth in just two games), McFadden knocking over the tricky conversion. DéjÀ vu for the home side. Three minutes later, they secured their bonus point when Buccs forwards were left chasing Belvo backs on the right and the impressive McFadden got in at the posts for a try which he also converted for a 29-0 lead. A real drubbing looked on the cards at this stage but the homesters refused to capitulate and a clever Kennedy grubber kick through was fastened onto by Billy Henshaw to open the home scoring with a smartly taken try on the right. Just two minutes later, however, an exquisite Dunne dummy opened the home defence and full-back Kieran Hurrel joined the line to notch try number five for the visitors, McFadden again converting. Referee Richard Kerr had a second 'chat' with visiting lock Erik Jackman approaching the three-quarters stage and a late tackle soon afterwards got Buccaneers' dander up. Again they applied some sustained pressure with Henshaw, Conor Higgins and Stephen Burke all going close without scoring reward, until centre Touhy danced away from his tackler to surge in for a 70th minute try which Alex Hayman converted with a drop kick. Touhy was cynically body-checked two minutes later by Dean Moore who, ironically, had just replaced Jackman and the substitute was duly sin-binned. Buccs endeavours gathered momentum to the finish but both O'Brien and Colm Rigney were stopped just short of the visitors' line and so the final score read 36-12 in favour of Old Belvedere, for whom skipper Dunne pulled the strings and earned the 'Athlone Springs Hotel Man of the Match' award. McFadden was a class act too, Mongan is scoring tries for fun, and Leon Auva'a was the dominant forward on the park. It has been a chastening opening couple of fixtures for Buccaneers but their mainly youthful side is lacking bulk and cuteness, and they are very much on a learning curve. Pre-season preparations were somewhat in arrears of other clubs and, consequently, they are playing catch-up. But despite the margin, this was a better showing by Buccs and they will improve as they get more game time together. Encouragingly, they battled to the bitter end when it may have been tempting for them to cave in, and their strong finish was certainly a light at the end of the tunnel. Hayman was as solid as ever while his centre partner Touhy made a decent debut while Rigney, Burke and Higgins were most effective in the forwards duel. Footnote Two Old Belvedere players have Athlone connections. Fergus McFadden is a nephew of club trustee Tony Lowry while John Kennedy is a nephew of Margaret Skelly, whose 93-year-old mother hopped on a bus from Clonmel to see her grandson in action! SCORERS - Old Belvedere: F.McFadden 1 try, 1 pen & 4 cons; D.Mongan 2 tries; J.Risdon, K.Hurrell 1 try each. Buccaneers: B.Touhy, B.Henshaw 1 try each; A.Hayman con. BUCCANEERS: B.Carpenter; B.Henshaw, B.Touhy, A.Hayman, G.Kelly; J.H.Potgeiter, A.Kennedy; M.Staunton, G.Halligan, C.Higgins; A.Hughes, J.Tormey; S.Burke, S.Stapleton & C.Rigney (captain). Replacements: J.O'Brien (for Carpenter, h/t), B.Gilligan (for Staunton, 51 mins), P.Burke (for Tormey, 51), P.Harte (for Kelly, 56) and C.Watters (for Hughes, 70). OLD BELVEDERE: K.Hurrel; M.McAllister, J.Kennedy, F.McFadden, D.Mongan; A.Dunne (captain), E.Hamilton; D.Wyeth, T.Sexton, N.Lovic; E.Jackman, A.Trenier; J.Slattery, J.Risdon and L.Auva'a. Replacements: Chris Keane (for Hamilton, h/t), M.Cooney (for Sexton, h/t), Conal Keane (for Kennedy, 56 mins), S.Maguire (for Wyeth, 60), D.Moore (for Jackman, 61). Temporary sub: .Sexton (for Slattery, 74 mins to end). REFEREE: Richard Kerr (Ulster).