Lansdowne made hay while the sun shone, but when the heavens opened and Moher Road turned to water, the Buccaneers plundered the points. It was what you might call a game of two seasons.
That the piratical adventurers should have been suited to the wet stuff again is both appropriate and unsurprising, even if Lansdowne might feel the `adventurous' tag wasn't appropriate.
Without even the solace of an immediate hot shower, Lansdowne departed convinced that they would have won had conditions stayed dry. They had a point. Bad enough that, typical of their season, injuries deprived them of four of their mainstays. Even so, as the sun shone from the kick-off, even into a cross-field wind Lansdowne reaped the points to take an imposing 8-0 lead.
But the rain poured from the 19th minute on, and even when the sides turned around with Buccs holding a buffer of only a point, as if right on cue the wind ceased and the flags stopped fluttering.
They began far more confidently and assuredly; making less handling errors and generally playing one or two ruck rugby before exploring the narrow side or putting the ball in behind. To make matters worse, the normally reliable Simon Allnutt hooked his first penalty attempt horribly wide.
In contrast, Rory Kearns steered Lansdowne into an early lead with a penalty.
Lansdowne went further ahead when winger Marcus Dillion scored. A storming Colin McEntee made huge ground, beating the first-up tackles and the covering tackle of Stephen McIvor. Cormac Egan was in support and when the ball was moved, Kearns made sure of the overlap to give the flying Dillon a clear run to the line. Lansdowne looked a class apart. Buccs looked like rabbits in headlights.
It had taken Buccs all of 15 minutes to mount their first trademark pick and go forward drive. Whereupon, Allnutt kicked penalties either side of the rain arriving. Buccs got their set-pieces together and scrum pressure yielded the slenderest of interval leads, thanks to Allnutt's third penalty. The crucial score came shortly after the restart. Robert Lee showed genuine pace to complete an otherwise orthodox 8-9-15 scrum move going blind.
The Buccs' pack shoved Lansdowne off their own ball and generally had the better of things, but the visitors stayed in the hunt; Kearns cutting the deficit to three only to stroke a 66th minute penalty wide. In the event, Buccs finished the stronger and were worthy winners.
Buccs' coach Eddie Sullivan was happy after the match. "It wasn't the prettiest rugby but it was effective, I suppose, in the conditions." No-one had been complaining amongst the vocal home crowd. "More rain," they pleaded at regular intervals, interspersing it with "keep it tight Buccs". They know their rugby team hereabouts.
"Lansdowne were plugged in and went about their job like men possessed," added O'Sullivan of that first quarter, whereupon they realigned their defence and focussed on getting McEntee down early. "The weather conditions helped and slowed the game down for us. "All season, to be fair to the team, they've dug deep," he added, and no-one can dispute the Buccs' spirit. Six of their eight wins have been by a score.
"It's a ridiculous achievement in many ways," the successful coach said. "Everybody said we would be relegated and I'd no problem with that. I thought today might be a game that would save us from relegation. To win today and do the business, I don't know, it hasn't sunk-in really."
O'Sullivan's solace for an unlucky Lansdowne won't have been much consolation for the embittered losers. On top of everything else, a heavy penalty count in the home side's favour (by my reckoning, 16-8) left coach Michael Cosgrave fuming. "I couldn't understand the referee's decisions. I thought we were disciplined, I thought they were the ones who were playing the ball on the ground. We weren't allowed any of that latitude."
Lansdowne are the unluckiest team to miss out on the play-offs. Injuries meant that only their back five, scrum-half and Kearns were ever-present. Lansdowne were one of three clubs with a 100 per cent home record, but unlike Con and Buccs, had five rather than six home games. What happened on Saturday will fuel their feeling that lady luck wasn't with them this season.
Scoring sequence: 2 mins Kearns pen 0-3; 9 mins Dillon try 0-8; 15 mins Allnutt pen 3-8; 22 mins Allnutt pen 6-8; 37 mins Allnutt pen 98; 42 mins Lee try 14-8; 59 mins Kearns pen 14-11.
Buccaneers: R Lee; M Devine, O Cobbe, C Gormley, T Stuart-Trainor; S Allnutt, S McIvor; J Screene, J McVeigh, M Cahill, B Rigney (capt), C Rigney, Des Rigney, M Steffert, E Brennan. Replacements - A Connolly for Lee (78 mins).
Lansdowne: R Kearns; M Dillon, R Niland, K McQuilkin, N Gunne; B Glennon, D O'Mahony; E Bohan, C Egan, A McKeen, S O'Connor, G Fulcher, S McEntee (capt), C McEntee, L Toland.
Referee: A Watson (Ulster).
