photo taken on my iPhone
COOKIES CRUMBLE ROCK
On the pitch this was a game of one half and two quarters.
In the first half the two sides both played highly entertaining fast-paced rugby and the 24-10 lead for the visitors was partly due to them taking their chances and a bit due to a lucky bounce of the ball which led to their third try right on the halftime whistle.
That key score dictated the tone for the start of the second half as Rock came out trying to see if the high ball would do them any better but Young Munster kept plugging the ball back at them and produced a midfield stalemate. The home side then got a penalty which narrowed the gap but then coughed up one themselves straight afterwards under their own posts which restored the 14-point margin and shortly afterwards a penalty try was awarded which killed the game dead once and for all and made for a handy 5 away points for Mike Prendergast's men.
It was all done and dusted by around the 60 minute mark and the game fizzled away into nothingness from there with only a cheeky drop goal on the buzzer to add insult to Rock's injury.
That's my report on the match. Things some things were lacking from it? Well I'm going for irony there.
I wasn't just there for the rugby action. I wanted to see how the match was presented to the viewing public. Well, when I arrived, my tenner was taken off me by a man holding a bag. I happened to know where the pitch was, but it sure wasn't obvious.
As for the "home support", well, it was dreadful I'm ashamed to say. A couple of scattered cries of "C'mon Rock!" but nothing substantive, even when they had an early lead. From the roars of the spectators you'd almost swear it was a home match for Young Munster!
I saw people going around with team sheets but I sure wasn't offered one as I went in. In the defence of the man with the bag, he had nowhere to put them! But it is for that reason that I left out names of try-scorers from the match report. Even the announcer had read out half the starting lineups before the actual tannoy system started working.
Now just to be clear, I know this wasn't exactly the Heineken Cup BUT when you're asking people for a tenner to watch a rugby contest at the level just below that of Leinster rugby, you should be expected to give something in return.
Compared to the St Mary's match I went to last year, ironically also against Young Munster, this was a poor showing in my view. The impression I got is that this is how matches have been put on at Stradbrook since going way back into the amateur days and things haven't really moved on since then.
What do I expect? I don't know really. Not dancing girls or mascots or anything like that, but definitely some kind of concerted effort to make me want to come back here and spend my tenner again next time. Plus the club website could be kept up to date a bit better, with actual match reports on the end of the links, etc.
All I'm asking for is a Division 1A standard from a Division 1A club.
Maybe I'm not giving them a fair go, but I was determined to call things as I saw it, and will be more than willing to say so if things are different the next time, since on this display I should definitely give them another chance.
Hang on...maybe they've convinced me to go back after all! A cunning ploy perhaps? JLP
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