Cork Constitution are used to such under-whelming beginnings as much as Buccaneers are resigned to building a powerful reputation as a Ballinasloe powerhouse. The Cork reigning champions came and left with their noses bloodied, disappointed and wondering when a season will arrive where they react positively to the opening of league campaign traps.
Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie once explained his remarkable reaction to the starter's gun in the 100 metres by proclaiming that he "goes on the `B' of the Bang." Cork Con had still not shifted when the "G" was echoing around Moher Road. On Saturday, history was repeating itself.
"We lost three of our first four matches last season," said coach Paul Derham afterwards. "And the first year of the All-Ireland League was the only year we won our first match."
But, while the visitors were sticking with their tradition of stuttering starts, the match was more profoundly about Buccaneers' resolve.
A softer pitch than their other Keane Park venue, coach Brian Rigney's clear intent was to impose softer conditions on the champions, play a forward dominated game and make few mistakes. That, Buccaneers did with ruthless consistency, reducing the lethal boot of Ronan O'Gara to just two successful kicks while running in four tries. A bonus point too, thank you very much.
Justifiably the match rewarded Buccaneers' magnificent pack. Captain Martyn Steffert marshalled from number eight while both Jimmy Screene and Martin Cahill laid themselves out on countless occasions as the front eight rolled in three of the tries, left wing Robert Lee grabbing the other from a Des Rigney kick ahead.
In one defining moment late in the first half a Buccaneers' lineout, gathered 30 metres from the Cork Con line, bulldozed it's way, almost at a trot, into the danger zone where captain Steffert fell with the ball for their third try. That delightful sequence brought the score to 23-5 at half time, Mike Devine and Screene both capitalising earlier on extreme pressure following fine kicks to the left corner from both out-half Simon Allnutt and scrum-half Steve McIvor.
That the first half wind was biting and fresh suggested that with O'Gara on form and a moving back line the champions might creep back into the match. Their only score in the first half, from a blind side move which put Anthony Horgan into the corner, was in fact, Constitution's only offensive thrust in the entire period.
The turn around immediately rewarded Mick O'Driscoll as Cork Con lifted the tempo but six minutes later Lee out-sprinted the pack for 28-12 as Buccaneers squared up to the challenge.
In the final half hour Buccaneers pressed home their steely attitude. O'Gara and Brian O'Meara probed and hustled but their swarming pack, combined with relentlessly clean tackling from centres Mel Deane and Eamonn Molloy, kept the home side intact.
O'Meara was then sin-binned for what referee Alan Lewis adjudged to have been a professional foul on McIvor and suddenly any rhythm that Con had generated died away. From there on a lone penalty from O'Gara brought the curtain down at 28-15.
"It was a concern, the losing habit with Connacht," said Rigney of Connacht's dismal season so far. "Things haven't been going that well for them and my biggest fear was if we fell behind would we have the inner belief to come back.
"But it was a team effort, great discipline. Most guys out there had something to prove. It's a big win for us, as big as any last year," he said.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: S Allnutt penalty 3-0; 7: S Allnutt penalty 6-0; 10: A Horgan try 6-5; 25: M Devine try 11-5; 33: J Screene try, Allnutt conversion 18-5; 37: M Steffart try 23-5; 44: M O'Driscoll try, O Gara conversion 23-12; 50: R Lee try 28-12; 63: R O'Gara penalty 28-15.
Buccaneers: C Kilroy; M Devine, E Molloy, M Deane, R Lee; S Allnutt, S McIvor; J Screene, J McVeigh, M Cahill, C Rigney, G Webster, D Rigney, E Brennan, M Steffart (captain). Replacements: Donal Rigney for Des Rigney (50 mins); J Maher for Screene (64 mins).
Cork Constitution: B Walsh; J Kelly, C Mahony, Cian Mahony, A Horgan; R O'Gara, B O'Meara; I Murray, F Sheahan, J O'Driscoll, M O'Driscoll, K Murphy, D O'Callaghan, J Murray (captain), U O'Callaghan. Replacements: J Fogarty for M O'Driscoll (52 mins); D Sheahan for K Murphy (70 mins).
Referee: A Lewis (Leinster).
