It was frustrating game of missed oppurtinues for Bective as they fell to their third straight defeat when they lost 16-14 to Clonakilty in their final home game of the season on Saturday.

The visitors, winners of their previous three games, opened the scoring on nine minutes with a Gavin Henson-esque booming penalty from just inside the Bective half of the pitch by out half Kurt Morath.

But it was Bective who looked the most dangerous from that point on. With the home side enjoying a sustained period of pressure.

On 13 minutes hooker Alex O’ Sullivan set free Conor Harbison with a nice pass. The number eight’s chip ahead put the Cork side under huge pressure and they conceded a penalty. This would be the first of three penalties they would concede as Bective pushed and probed for a response on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for Rangers all three penalty attempts were missed meaning they had no reward for the endeavour they displayed.

It wasn’t until the 28 minute that the Cork side started to get back into the match. Out half, Kurt Morath, eluded Bective tackles and made a break. He then passed the ball out to the support on the wing only for them to be bundled into touch.

On 32 minutes, in a move straight from video analysis, Clon tried a cross field kick, the same move that Dublin University used to unlock the home side defence two games previous. However the result yielded only a scrum.

On 35 minutes Clonakilty were awarded a somewhat fortunate penalty when the referee deemed Bective player, Paul Hatton, to have obstructed a Clonakilty player although it looked accidental. The Bective lock was shown a yellow card. Clon missed the resulting penalty kick. With a man advantage the Cork side pushed for a score before the break and nearly got one in injury time. A skip pass by John O’Donnell to Noel O’Sullivan almost had him in but a thunderous hit from Bective wing Gavin Nyawatta put an end to the move and unfortunately also the match for Gavin.

After the break Bective had a great chance to get their first score when centre, Mike Summerell, collected his own deft chip. He then passed to ball to full back Rory McInerney who raced away to line and looked certain to score only for a great tackle by David Cookson who it seemed came out of nowhere to stop a certain try.

Bective, as they did in the first half, dominated the second half but credit must be given to the Clon defence who stood strong against the Bective onslaught and shut the door firmly whenever Rangers came knocking.

Despite the pressure from the home team Clon opened the second half scoring with a penalty on 58 minutes and added another pen on 67 to extend their lead to 9-0.

With Bective down by two scores and ten minutes left, they took more chances when in possession of the ball. This cost them dearly when inside their own twenty- two a loose pass was intercepted by Noel O’Sullivan who sauntered in for a record setting 57th AIL try of his career and a score that looked to kill off all hope of a Bective comeback

But as they have shown time and time again Bective do not give up and seemingly have panache for orchestrating near miracles. Indeed the last minutes of their matches should come with a health warning for those with a nervous disposition or heart problems.

On 76 minutes hooker Alex O’Sullivan scored his second try in two games after a pick and go in what looked to be a consolation try but deep into injury time they add another one after a quick lineout inside Clon territory.

With Clonakilty shell shocked Bective were in the ascendancy and they pushed hard for victory and drove once again deep into the Clon 22. They showed great patience with pick and drives trying to goad the Cork side into conceding a penalty. With Clon showing great discipline, Bective went for a drop goal but Rory McInerney’s attempt sailed wide right and Clonakilty scraped home to victory.

For Bective the last three home games will be looked back upon with frustration. They were twice denied at the death and how different their season could have been as they contemplate that the difference between success and failure is just a matter of inches.

Thanks to Conor Donnelly