Geraghty one step ahead

Heineken Cup – Pool 1 Round 1

Franklin’s Gardens – 10/10/09
Northampton Saints 31, Munster 27

ALMOST a decade since Northampton beat Munster to lift the illustrious Heineken Cup trophy, the club's faithful were reminded of days past as their side defeated the Irish province in this season’s opening round.

A win with a difference you might say as new look captain Dylan Hartley stands at the forefront of Northampton’s ambitions this season. Paul Grayson was the man to kick his side to European glory at the turn of the century and Munster have twice gone on to win the tournament since the loss at Twickenham.

This time, however, it was a new face from London who pulled his side through a dramatic 31 – 27 win in front of a watchful Martin Johnson.

An early penalty opportunity was fluffed by visiting ten Ronan O’Gara while former Exile and man of the match Shane Geraghty took advantage with his turn in front of goal.

Munster found it difficult to undo a resilient Saints defence for the first quarter, felt, none more so, by South African Jean De Villiers on the wrong end of a ferocious tackle from James Downey.

In attack, controlled, thoughtful play from Geraghty encouraged support on and off the field. As the home stands bulged with excitement and anticipation, their side pushed forward from all angles.

A vortex at the centre of a Northampton forward-front, Geraghty finalised a powerful Soane Tong’ulha surge with a delicate chip over the top, which was fumbled on Munster's retreat, fumbled again, and pounced on by a waiting Chris Ashton for the first score of the night on seventeen minutes.

A Munster response was overdue, however, and came in unexpected fashion as fullback Paul Warwick hit a massive drop goal on the touch line 40 meters from goal.

With Munster out of the blocks, O’Gara’s precision kicking was turned into territorial advantage. Saints’ defensive lineout was put to the test and Munster’s play maker was allowed to integrate space on the overlap. Wing Keith Earls used up the yards presented and opened up the chasing Saints defence with similar ease as he kicked his former Lions colleague David Wallace in over the whitewash in the twenty-fifth minute.

A share of penalties then saw ten minutes of to and fro between O’Gara and Geraghty. As it seemed Geraghty was going to slot over the final points of the half, a moment of inspiration broke the mould and changed the game’s outlook forever. A quick tap and go stunned a Munster side regrouping under the posts and produced a score even Geraghty himself may not have foreseen just before the half.

His grace and magic continued in the second forty. A move that started with the ten was switched inside, then moved right through the hands of Foden, and after finding its way back infield, the sea of Munster red was parted for Geraghty to fizz through and offload to Chris Ashton who snuck over the whitewash for a second time only five minutes in.

By the sixty-second minute O’Gara had propped up six more points on the Munster scorecard and a Munster try from the reintroduced rolling maul then brought them back. Tomas O’Leary peeled off the maul to split a topsy defensive line with twelve minutes remaining and O’Gara converted to cut the deficit to a point.

Northampton, like for most of the match, again rediscovered their presence. Persistent pressure overwhelmed a mature and experienced Munster pack shaken at the scrum. A penalty was then awarded for its collapse. Geraghty converted with familiar comfort.

With four points the seperation, Munster now needed a try as the clock hit red. A penalty was given meters from the Northampton line in favour of the visitors and with the losing bonus point already won, Captain O’Connell had no choice but to go for the win. The score failed to succumb to a rampant Munster forward effort and Northampton stood firm to head Pool One in a continuation of good home form.