The village of Skerries uprooted from its north Dublin base and relocated to Lansdowne Road on Saturday to provide a wonderfully colourful presence and create a carnival atmosphere for the Heineken Leinster Senior Cup Final.
That this match should have been played in Donnybrook, which would have provided a more fitting backdrop, is indisputable. Despite the cavernous vacuum, the Skerries faithful did their utmost to make the occasion memorable.
Unfortunately for their vociferous support, Skerries could not manage to gilt-edge their first final with victory: Lansdowne's greater potency in possession coupled with the flawless kicking of fullback Rory Kearns ensured that the holders retained their trophy.
Skerries managed an abundance of possession, provided by a hard working eight that just about shaded their opponents over the 80 minutes. Hooker and captain Billy Mulcahy was typically industrious, Brian Higgins was a colossus out of touch, while Tony Giles, Eamon Darcy and David O'Sullivan foraged and tackled voraciously.
Scrum-half Alan O'Sullivan enjoyed a superb match and formed a smooth partnership with Jimmy Dempsey, the latter's probing chips assuring good field position. Crucially, though, despite the straight running of centres Dermot O'Sullivan and Gareth Earley, the backplay was generally pedestrian, patterns easily discernible to a vigilant Lansdowne defence.
Lacking penetration, close-in and out wide, Skerries never found appropriate outlets for hard-won possession. They also undermined their chances with a litany of turnovers and some basic handling errors. On the first three occasions that they ventured into the Lansdowne 22, they produced two turnovers and Mulcahy threw crookedly to a lineout five metres from their opponents' line. In mitigation, they showed good character to redress a 16-3 interval deficit. Lansdowne began as if they were set to sweep Skerries back to the coast; they popped ball to Stephen O'Connor, Colin McEntee and Stephen Rooney on the fringes, content to persevere with a direct route.
But their initial enthusiasm waned, particularly after the interval, and for 20 minutes appeared as if they would struggle to re-establish superiority. Out-half Brian Glennon was the catalyst for the revival.
On 66 minutes he accelerated onto David O'Mahony's pass inside his own 22, stepped inside Dempsey and raced 60 metres before drawing the covering Clive Lawless and releasing Melvin McNamara who coasted under the posts. It was to prove the game's pivotal moment.
Lansdowne enjoyed a perfect start when Kearns kicked an easy penalty on three minutes after the winners had displayed good continuity to bring play within the shadows of the Skerries posts.
A similar strike on 13 minutes, this time from 23 metres, extended the advantage before Dempsey managed a penalty after Lansdowne were penalised for collapsing a scrum.
Kearns third penalty appeared to be the last score of the half but two minutes into injury time, Lansdowne worked the short side from a scrum: Glennon's reverse pass to blindside wing McNamara created the space and the out-half was on hand to take a return pass and cross unopposed. Kearns posted the conversion.
Skerries underlined their mettle by dominating the first 20 minutes of the second half. Dempsey kicked a penalty and landed a neat drop goal before Giles powered over after Lawless and Caraher had nearly botched an obvious chance.
Unfortunately, Skerries were caught napping as Glennon created McNamara's try, which Kearns converted. Despite Dempsey's penalty, Lansdowne never had to step outside the comfort zone in the closing exchanges.
Scoring sequence: 3 mins: Kearns penalty, 3-0; 13: Kearns penalty, 6-0; 22: Dempsey penalty, 6-3; 24: Kearns penalty, 9-3; 42: Glennon try, Kearns conversion, 16-3; 45: Dempsey penalty, 16-6; 56: Dempsey drop goal, 16-9; 63: Giles try, 16-14; 66: McNamara try, Kearns conversion, 23-14; 73: Dempsey penalty, 23-17.
Lansdowne: R Kearns; W Clancy, S Horgan, K McQuilkin (capt), M McNamara; B Glennon, D O'Mahony; E Bohan, C Egan, O Ennis; S O'Connor, W Aherne; S Rooney, C McEntee, G Molloy. Replacement: J Woods for McQuilkin (44 mins).
Skerries: P Beggs; C Lawless, Dermot O'Sullivan, G Earley, E Caraher; J Dempsey, A O'Sullivan; J Horan, B Mulcahy (capt), J O'Reilly; T Giles, S Gilbride; E Darcy, B Higgins, David O'Sullivan. Replacement: A Kissane for Caraher (82 mins).
Referee: D Tyndall (Leinster).
