Harbison hat-trick ensures Clonakilty will play in the division 2B next year
BECTIVE RANGERS 49
CLONAKILTY 21
DIVISION 2A
By DAIRE WALSH
NUMBER 8 Conor Harbison was the star of the show in Donnybrook on Saturday afternoon, as his hat-trick of tries for Bective Rangers helped to confine Clonakilty to the Ulster Bank League Division 2B for next season.
The West Cork outfit were well in contention when a penalty from centre David Lombard drew the sides level with 13 minutes gone in the second half, but a strong finish from the home side ultimately killed off Clonakilty’s brave attempts to avoid the drop.
With just one victory from 13 league outings heading into this encounter, Clonakilty needed to start this game firing on all cylinders, and they received a major boost inside the opening five minutes when Bective captain Mike Summerell was sent to the sin-bin.
This gave the visitors an important numerical advantage in the opening stages, and they took full advantage seven minutes in when Lynch got on the end of a fine move involving Lombard and flanker Tomas Keogh to score the first try of the contest.
Lombard was off-target with the subsequent conversion, but this was a very promising start from Clonakilty nonetheless. However, Bective would soon settle into their stride, and they found themselves in the lead by the 20th minute when out-half Cormac O’Beirne converted a powerful try by Harbison at the end of a long scrum.
Bective had been slightly nervous in their play up to this point, but Harbison’s five-pointer helped to settle them down, and they managed to increase their lead by the half-hour mark when centre Sumerell got through on the left via a neat pass by O’Beirne, who was once again on hand to slot over the bonuses.
Clonakilty were now being caused numerous problems by the Dublin 4 outfit, but Dave O’Mahony’s charges finished the half strongly, as a brace of penalties from Lombard meant that the Bective cushion was down to three (14-11) by the mid-way point.
This gave the division’s bottom side a fighting chance heading into the second period, but it was the Dubliners who drew first blood upon the resumption, as right-winger Ferdia Kenny touched down under the posts just four minutes after the re-start for another converted try.
Credit must go to Clonakilty, however, as a second try from the dynamic Lynch, as well as a conversion and penalty from his midfield partner Lombard, restored parity to the tie with 53 minutes of play gone. This set the game up for a tantalising final 25 minutes of action, with both sides looking dangerous in possession.
However, Clonakilty’s quest for victory suffered a hammer blow on 55 minutes when Paddy Ryan received a contentious yellow-card, a decision that would prove decisive as, during his time off the field, Bective mustered up two converted tries through the outstanding Harbison, which would help to swing the pendulum back in the host’s direction.
Clonakilty did their level best to force their way back into the reckoning, and they started to make some good inroads into the Bective half during the opening part of the final quarter, but their lack of resources on the day (they only had three players in reserve) robbed them of some vital energy during the closing stages.
Bective had a number of options off their bench, though, and they finished the game strongly with a try courtesy of the industrious Summerell on 74 minutes following some good work on the right-hand side, before a seventh converted try from the impressive Kenny (after excellent approach play by his fellow winger Daire Fitzgerald) gave Bective a comfortable victory in the end.
Scorers for Bective Rangers: Cormac O’Beirne 7 cons, Conor Harbison 3 tries, Ferdia Kenny, Mike Sumerell 2 tries each. Clonakilty: David Lombard 3 pens, 1 con, Darragh Lynch 2 tries.
BECTIVE RANGERS: Brad Allam; Ferdia Kenny, Philip Gardiner, Mike Summerell, Daire Fitzgerald; Cormac O’Beirne, David Barron; David Halliday, Emmet Hogan, Will O’Donovan, Joe Moran, Aidan Mulligan, John Byrne, David Daly, Conor Harbison.
Subs: John McMahon for Gardiner (9-16), McMahon for Barron (h-t), Rafal Sajur for O’Donovan (50), Conor Savage for Moran (65), O’Donovan for Sajur (73), Jimmy Nolan for Daly (75).
CLONAKILTY: Kieran Howlin; Brian McSweeney, Darragh Lynch, David Lombard, Noel O’Sullivan; Mark Purcell, Matt Kirby; Gary Shannon, Batt Duggan, Ryan Purcell, Sean Dignan, Sam Dignan, Tomas Keogh, Paddy Ryan, Jake Ball.
Subs: Stephen Cotter for Duggan (21), Ger McCarthy for Sam Dignan (30-40), Fiachra Keane for Sean Dignan (71), Sean Dignan for Sam Dignan (76).
Referee: Stuart Gaffakin (Ulster Branch).