Courageous Clonakilty drop down a division
DIVISION 2A
There was disappointment for Clonakilty in Donnybrook last Saturday afternoon, as their 49-21 defeat to Bective Rangers means that they will be plying their trade in the Ulster Bank League Division 2B section at the start of the next season, writes DAIRE WALSH.
Despite what the final scoreline might suggest, Clonakilty were well in touch for much of the contest but, as Clonakilty coach Dave O’Mahony stated afterwards, the sin-binning of flanker Paddy Ryan in the 55th minute had a major bearing on the final outcome.
“Yeah, it’s the story of our season. We didn’t lie down, we fought hard. We got into a position where we were 21-all. Then we had a man (Ryan) sin-binned, and they scored 14 points when he was sin-binned and the game was over. That was the crucial point. I’ve spoken to the referee, he’s happy with the sin-binning.
Those are the days. Things go your way, and things don’t go your way. It was a sin-binning without a warning. Some referees give a warning, but for some reason he felt it merited a sin-binning automatically for killing the ball,” O’Mahony stated.
However, O’Mahony also admitted they conceded far too many scores on the day and, despite the best efforts on the players on the pitch, they suffered from a lack of resources for the trip to Dublin.
“Those decisions are the story of our season. Nothing has gone our way really, but we conceded too many points again today. We also only had three subs today, which is disappointing.”
With just one victory from 14 games in the AIL this season, it has by and large been a season to forget for Clonakilty, and O’Mahony feels that it is important to take on board what has happened this season when they re-commence for next season’s campaign.
“The table doesn’t lie. We’re not bottom of the table because of pure bad luck. Things haven’t gone our way, and we feel a little bit unlucky. There has been great heart, spirit and commitment, but we’re bottom of the table because we’re simply not good enough. It not for a lack of effort or a lack of commitment, it’s just a lack of quality and we’ve got to take that on the chin and re-group.”
However, O’Mahony does feel that, given the state that club rugby finds itself in at the moment, it is going to get tougher and tougher for clubs like Clonakilty as they try to re-build for the future.
“Club rugby is struggling big time. The club game is on its knees. Was there 50 people watching this game today? That would have been the maximum. So, you have to give players credit for continuing to train, continuing to play and putting in the effort for very little reward.”