COLD COMFORTS at Lansdowne Road. A welcome victory over Dungannon. Three tries. Flashes of potential. Obdurate defending when needed. Morale boosting and AIL points giving, but Lansdowne's learning curve will have to steepen if their challenge is to be a realistic one.
Old Crescent next week, Instonians after that and then a visit to Shannon in three weeks' time. Master Spring will have to smarten up his pupils. His team's imperfect performance will have done little to nurture fear in the seasoned winners from around Munster way.
Lansdowne did what they had to do. But, too often, they also did what they can ill afford.
Dungannon second row Keith Walker dominated the line outs and Lansdowne were left to make what they could from untidy ball and, all too often, no ball at all.
Subsequently, the home side lacked rhythm, and any sustained continuity against their challengers. If they are to look critically at their game, they will see that the rugby they played was more Division Two than Division One.
Possibly mortally wounded by the poaching of Jeremy Davidson and Paddy Johns over the summer, and also missing international centre Mark McCall, Dungannon have ready made reasons. They also know that come April, excuses will become irrelevant and with the exception of a few individual performances, most notably scrum half Stephen Bell, their effort was at best mediocre.
"The important thing was to win, but we certainly did not play as well as we would have liked. The players all realised that afterwards. They're realistic about it. They're not fooling themselves. We've an awful lot to work on," said Lansdowne coach Donal Spring.
"When the backs were able to move, I think they did well. We really only produced two movements of any note in the game, only two movements with any continuity. It was obvious that we weren't controlling our own ball or winning our own ball, which you have to do. It's sacrilege not to be winning your own line out balls."
Ashley Blair fleetingly raised hopes with a fourth minute drop goal which gave Dungannon their only lead of the match, before the pivotal figure of Eric Elwood sent Lansdowne fullback Richard Governey over in the corner to highlight some pedestrian Dungannon covering.
From then on, Lansdowne continued to build, if some what haphazardly. Before half time, the best move of the game gave Michael Kearin the first two of his tries.
Elwood released left wing Rody Corrigan, who cut in, but was grounded near the posts. The recycled ball again found Elwood, who then cleverly fed a thundering Kearin on the other side. The conversion was missed, but when Bobby McCoy, who started for the injured Mark McDermott, was tackled high after he chipped on, Elwood further extended the lead to 16-3 on the half time whistle.
Five minutes later, Dungannon's Bell burgled a score when he slipped through a hole at a lineout and went hell for leather. A final wriggle through the cover at the Lansdowne line sent him over.
Despite being somewhat gobsmacked, Lansdowne quickly shrugged it off. Elwood extended the comfort zone to 11 points before Governey chipped on for a galloping Kearin, who skillfully took the score to 23-8 by making the most of a favourable bounce. Elwood converted and the game was over.
Gary Leslie's subsequent setpiece try, and Blair's conversion, simply made the scoreline easier on the eye for a disappointed and disappointing Dungannon.
