UL Bohemian Senior Men lost out to a well drilled Dolphin RFC side in opening game in the AIL.

UL Bohemian RFC where beaten by a well drilled Dolphin side who, on the whole, deserved their victory last Saturday in the opening game of the Men’s AIL.

Dolphin started fast with a penalty from close range. A scrum penalty won by the starting front row of Pauric Nesbitt, Connor Botha & Phil Poillot gave Harry Byrne the opportunity to level the scores from the kicking tee just a few minutes later.

Following a UL Bohemian breakdown error, Dolphin kicked to the corner, and a well worked training ground peel move resulted in a try, which was converted too leave the scoreline 10-6.

UL Bohemian had plenty opportunities to hit back. Two mauls right at the Dolphin goal line were taken down and Bohs awarded penalties, but shortly after a handling error close to the line left them off the hook. Another handling error in the Dolphin 22 was the cause of the next Dolphin try, which was a sucker punch just before half time, leaving the score at 17-6.

The second half showed a much improved intensity from Bohs, and when we held on to the ball we looked dangerous. Colin Ryan broke the line, but the pass to Harry Byrne going under the posts just didn’t land. Dolphin kicked a penalty two extend the lead to 14 points,. But the lads fought to the end, and a line break from our own posts should have resulted in a 7 pointer, but we ended up being held up over the line and the game finished. A below par performance, but plenty to build on going forward. The season starts now.

Next Weekend Senior Fixtures

Date & Time	Home Team	Away Team	Venue
Saturday 9th Oct 2:30pm	MU Barnhall RFC	UL Bohemian RFC Senior Men AIL	Parsonstown
Saturday 9th Oct 5pm	UL Bohemian RFC Senior Women’s AIL	Old Belvedere RFC	UL 4G North Campus
Sunday 10th Oct 12:15pm	Waterpark RFC	UL Bohemian RFC Women’s Div 2	Waterpark RFC
Sunday 10th Oct 2:30pm	UL Bohemian RFC Men’s Blue Team	Young Munster RFC	UL 4G North Campus