Mullingar 10 Clondalkin 5

By Finian Coghlan

For years my father had the perverse attendance habit with GAA in that he
never went to Westmeath games, but regularly travelled with a friend to
Meath matches.
I never really understood why until the under-21 Leinster final in
Tullamore in 2000 between us and them, which we miraculously won.
Well, I can die happy now,” said the oul fella as we walked off, after
finally witnessing a Westmeath team get a win over their great foes.
And so it was also felt amongst the entire Mullingar touchline on Sunday
afternoon when the beloved Martina ‘Teenie’ Burke finally scored her first
ever try after three years of frustration, and was subsequently and
rightfully swamped by her entire herd.
More importantly, however, this score was no gimme walk-in at the end of an
80-odd point hockeying, but a vital try against a surprisingly dogged
opposition whom Mullingar had well beaten in west Dublin in the first game
of the season.
Clondalkin brought a huge game – which saw both Tracy Talbot and Olive
Burke assisted from the field before time – and Mullingar had to dig to
quite a depth into their collective bag of tricks to see them off. 
However, and this is what will gladden the hearts of the two Daves the
most, when asked again Mullingar had enough in the bag to have what it took.
And this they did without three starters, with Adrienne Andrews recovering
from a broken nose, Louise Kelly in Colombia, and LeeAnne Maye on enforced
matron duty with a pair of sniffly chisellers at home.
It was into the last of these holes that Teenie slotted, with Gillian Kelly
going in at 2, and Sinead Holmes filling the sizeable Kelly boots in
midfield.
From the off it was always going to be a traditional December game of grunt
in the soft conditions, and so the sleeves were rolled up and the attack
dogs were let slip.
Crosby, Cleary and Layde – though sounding like a firm of solicitors –
lived on the very edge of legality and put some substantial heeby-geebies
into the visitors.
It did not take long for this go-forward ball to be taken advantage of, and
after just five minutes skipper Kennedy loosed off her outside backs to the
left, and Tait stepped into the line for the killer injection.
She made good ground, and with Teenie off her left shoulder she timed her
popped pass to perfection, and Burked did exactly what was asked of her,
prompting the spontaneous touchline explosion of sheer delight.
Unfortunately, Clondalkin wouldn’t take the hint and lie down, and almost
from the re-start did they flash some teeth and had a go. 
Within minutes they looked like they had broken through, only for Her
Daintyness Miss Burke to show some exceptional, adrenalin-fuelled pace and
aggression to take down the danger inside the Mullingar 22. It is rarely
the size of the dog in the fight.
However, Mullingar just couldn’t get any further breakthroughs in the half
as Clondalkin put up a test and kept the home side very honest. 
Early in the second half Mullingar got their first fright when attempting
expansiveness when some dodgy handling out right afforded Clondalkin an
intercept, only for Ellen Tait to mind the house.
The lesson wasn’t learned though, and less than five minutes later
Clondalkin were back in the game with an almost carbon copy of that first
attack.
This was the poke that the Mullingar women required. Kennedy’s re-start
forced a knock-on, and from the scrum, the ball carriers of Layde, Cleary
and Crosby made serious gains, and the Mullingar pack rumbled into the
Clondalkin 22 with some meance.
Disciplined pack work saw a smart recycle, and Crosby went off again,
sniping right. She had Cleary at full tilt outside and nothing short of a
brick wall was stopping this one, and she was able to stretch into the
corner to return her team to a deserved lead.
Unbeknownst at the time was that both sides were still to face another 43
minutes of rugby, on account of all the stoppages, and this is where the
superior Miller-influenced fitness paid off.
The unsung heroes of Bagnall, Kelly, and O’Brien were immense and it rubbed
off in the strangest of places.
Still probably full of the super juice, Burke was sidelined after a clash
of heads tapped a fine spring of nasal claret. 
However, after just four minutes out of the fray, she pulled the plug to
satisfy herself the flow had been staunched, and then begged Miller to be
let back in.
This attitude was shown right across the squad, and despite the brave
efforts of the Clondalkin women, Mullingar held bravely on to the full-time
whistle to maintain their position at the top of Leinster rugby for the
close of 2014.
Team: 1. Aoife Bagnall, 2. Gillian Kelly, 3. Tracey Talbot, 4. Claire
O’Brien, 5.Sylvia Rattigan, 6. Sarah Crosby, 7. Katie Layde, 8.Clodagh
Cleary, 9. Gemma Egan, 10. Niamh ‘Crilly’ Kennedy, 11. Martina ‘Teenie’
Burke, 12. Jenny Gibson, 13. Sinead Holmes, 14. Olive Butler, 15. Ellen
Tait. Subs used: Claire Farrelly, Julie Dunne, Emma Gillespie, Nicola
Rowntree.
Tries: Burke, Cleary
Top try scorers 14.12.14:
Olive Butler (11), Andrew Coade (10), Matthew Coade, Paul Maxwell, Sam
Blair(6), Louise Kelly, Johnny Butler (5) Stacy Boland, Ellen Tait (4),
Diarmuid Raleigh, Conor Jack, Sarah Crosby (3), Adam Kerroum, Davy
O’Reilly, LeeAnne Miller-Maye, Niamh Kennedy, Richie Pyke, Clodagh
Cleary(2), Darech Geraghty, Darren Brady, Ronan Wallace, Ryan Tighe, Cormac
Dunne, Darren Brady, Luke Peppard, Alan Brabazon, Nigel Mills, Aoife
Bagnall, Katie Layde, Julie Dunne Adrienne Andrews, Tracy Talbot, Teenie
Burke.