Blackrock...32 UCD...20: All of a sudden the league table begins to layer out and Blackrock finally find a vein of form in the second half of their third last match. A little late for the Stradbrook semi-faithful. Too often the architects of their down fall this season, Blackrock showed, with the appropriate help of Bob Casey and Paul Wallace in the second half, why they were expected to have a reasonable shot at the play-offs this season. Not any more.
UCD, who had been battling well to stay in the zone and were something like pace-setters early on, have handed their future over to other clubs and, like Blackrock, the prospect of a top-four finish is still a mathematical, if unlikely, possibility. Terenure and Garryowen still remain in the trip-up zone at three and four from the top but they are two and three points ahead, respectively, with just two matches remaining (although Clontarf, whose match against Buccaneers was postponed, are in fifth place with three matches).
UCD, for all their relentless recycling and positional kicking from Eoghan Hickey, simply couldn't match the home side's pack, which only gelled in the last half hour when Blackrock were playing into a stiff breeze towards the clubhouse. Both sides had strong wide runners, UCD with Dermot O'Sullivan, Paddy Hickey-Dwyer and Stuart McCarron in the thick of it.
Missing captain Shane Moore in the centre, UCD went 13-0 down, Conor Kilroy kicking two penalties and Gary Browne running in his ninth try of the campaign. McCarron touched down on 33 minutes for 13-5 following a string of passes from possession at a lineout before James Ferris showed pace outside Hickey to run in under the posts for Kilroy to convert for 20-5.
Hickey kicked a fine effort into the wind from the touchline for 20-8 at half time and it was then the match began, both sides knowing the bottom line. Blackrock, who had been frustratingly spilling ball in contact and in their passing in the first half, followed quickly with a spate of indiscipline that appeared to be tilting the match towards the students. Three quick penalties allowed Hickey to bring UCD to within three points before Blackrock woke up.
Gavin McCarthy at number eight in tandem with Casey, Leo Cullen, Wallace, Byrne and Declan O'Brien controlled the set-pieces and breakdowns.
Ben Willis snatched Blackrock's first reply in the second half, nipping in from the back of a ruck under the posts with the man-of-the-match McCarthy then earning the credit just after the hour when Blackrock used the old-fashioned route one from a lineout to shove the lighter student bodies over their own line. The bonus point for that score could be vital.
"It wasn't our best game," said Blackrock coach Kevin West. "But certainly in the last half hour we got our mix right. It has taken the three games to get comfortable with the contract players. We believe we are now one win away from having it in our own hands."
Scoring sequence: 5 mins: C Kilroy pen 3-0; 10 mins: C Kilroy pen 6-0; 28 mins: G Browne try, Kilroy con 13-0; 33 mins: S McCarron try 13-5; 36 mins: J Ferris try, Kilroy con 20-5; 40 mins: E Hickey pen 20-8. Half-time: 20-8. 42 mins: E Hickey pen 20-11; 44 mins: E Hickey pen 20-14; 56 mins: E Hickey pen 20-17; 59 mins: B Willis try, Kilroy con 27-17; 63 mins: G McCarthy try 32-17; 67 mins: E Hickey pen 32-20.
BLACKROCK: N Turnet; A O'Neil, G Browne, D Quinlan, J Ferris; C Kilroy, B Willis; I McLoughlin, S Byrne, N Treston, J Fitzgerald, L Cullen (capt), D O'Brien, G McCarthy, R Woods. Replacements: B Casey for Fitzgerald (40 mins), P Wallace for Treston (53 mins).
UCD: D O'Sullivan; S McCarron, M Colling, P Hickey-Dwyer, P Bredin; E Hickey, B O'Riordan; S McCullough, D Blaney, M Venter, P Callanan, N Breslin, A Caroll. D Dillon, T Carter. Replacements: N Coughlan for Carter (39 mins).
Referee: R Stanley (Leinster).
