REFEREE Graham Crothers discovered at first hand some of the unique characteristics of a Limerick rugby crowd when he handled Saturday's All-Ireland League thriller at Clifford Park in which Lansdowne pipped Young Munster.
Very few of Crothers's decisions were approved of by the partisan home crowd. Nor were they slow in letting him know exactly how they felt about the run of kickable penalties he awarded against Young Munster.
The Young Munster coach Tony Grant was scathing in his comments on the referee's performance. "I don't mind losing but really the referee made it very difficult. He killed the momentum of the game and consistently took the advantage from the attacking team," he said.
Lansdowne were forced to go into the game without international outhalf and goal kicking ace Eric Elwood who was injured in a seven-a-side training session late in the week. Elwood gave way at out half to Johnny Woods who handed over the kicking duties to Aherne. And the former Ireland scrum-half missed with five of his seven efforts at goal in the opening half.
However, he did find the target with shots in the eighth and 33rd minutes and in between Lansdowne had their try by number eight Farrell. An 11-0 interval lead in the appalling conditions would have been satisfactory going into the game but as Lansdowne's president, former Ireland out-half Barry McGann, pointed out: "We could and should have been farther ahead.
There never, of course, had been a chance of a repeat of that 31-0 drubbing. But as the second half wore on, it looked as if Lansdowne would. in fact, be punished for those first half lapses. Excellent handling of the greasy ball by Young Munster backs and forwards led to a try four minutes after the restart for full-back Peter Boland.
In the 64th minute, Derek Tobin chipped through for Niail McNamara to score his side's second try and a minute later an Aidan O'Halloran penalty put Young Munster 13-11 in front. It was then that Lansdowne, more than ever, needed the "pride" to which their president referred. It duly emerged and three minutes from the end Aherne converted the penalty that gave Lansdowne the win they just about deserved.
