Bective Brimming With Belief For Second Shot At Junior Cup Glory

It was not to be for Bective last January, but will Ashbourne RFC prove a happier hunting ground for them this weekend? A titanic Leinster-Ulster tussle awaits, with the action getting underway at 2.30pm (live on irishrugby+).

Bective have been knocking on the door for success in recent seasons, but it has failed to materialise in either the Energia All-Ireland Junior Cup or in their bid for promotion back to the Energia All-Ireland League.

That being said, 2024/25 has seen a renewed sense of confidence around the Donnybrook club. New head coach Ben Manion has started his tenure on a positive note. Although they lost their first game in Division 1A of the Leinster League, they are unbeaten since late September.

Along with Australian Manion bringing a wealth of experience, forwards coach Peter O’Donnell, who has worked with the likes of Buccaneers, Naas, Old Belvedere, and the Ireland Women’s team, and backs coach Rory O’Loughlin have also been astute additions.

Following in the footsteps of his dad Mick, O’Loughlin’s playing days began with the Bective minis and reached the heights of lining out with Leinster and Exeter Chiefs, while representing Ireland at senior level in both Sevens and 15s.

As well as that impressive coaching ticket, Bective also recruited well to bolster their squad for the current campaign. Speaking to IrishRugby.ie, their director of rugby Ben Kealy reckons they are ‘a far better side’ than they were over the last two or three seasons.

“We’re really looking forward to Saturday, we’ve put together a really good side,” he said. “We’ve got a really good coaching ticket in place with Ben, Peter, and Rory, who is a Bective man through and through.

“We’ve got a good set-up, really got good support behind that then on the medical side with Sarah Jane (McInerney), the physio, and Sean O’Reilly on the S&C side.

“So, yeah, we’re coming into the game with confidence, you know. But it’s going to be a bit of a 50/50 by the time we get there on Saturday.”

Kealy is another real son of Bective, having been the second member of his family to hold the position of club President. His dad, also named Ben, joined the club back in 1969 from Railway Union and became a permanent fixture at Energia Park until his passing in May of 2021.

Less than a decade after his father was Bective’s President, Kealy junior held the position after a long stint as director of rugby, a role he returned to having spent time overseas with work.

While Ben and his brother Paul got their love of rugby from their dad, David and Benji Kealy are now the next generation at Bective. Ben’s son David has lined out in the Junior Cup this season, while nephew Benji underwent shoulder surgery and may make the squad for the final.

There are also strong family ties to the Spencer Cup, with Ben’s dad being part of the first team to ever win that Leinster junior competition back in the 1964 when he played for Railway Union.

That is another trophy the family would like to lift for obvious reasons. Notably, it is 100 years since Bective last won All-Ireland silverware in the form of the historic Bateman Cup, and Kealy feels it would be ‘a dream come true’ if they got over the line in Ashbourne.

“We won the Bateman Cup back in 1925, our last All-Ireland trophy, so that’s going give us a little bit of an extra incentive to try to win this competition 100 years later.

“I’m Bective through and through. I went to school in Terenure and when I left there, my dad was in Bective. I joined Bective in 81/82 after playing in Terenure in school. I played with Bective all through, on the first team.

“I then did a three-year stint in St. Mary’s, when the AIL started back in 1990, and when I sort of finished playing rugby around 97/98, I was involved as director of rugby (at Bective) for about 15 years.

My dad was President in 2003/04, and then I was President in 2012/13. It was nice to be able to follow in his footsteps, he was alive at the time.

“David is my son and I would have been involved in the minis set-up when he was growing up. So David’s there and my nephew Benji is too, my brother’s son. He’s just coming back from a shoulder operation – he’s been doing okay and might make the bench.

“I’ve got two Kealys there anyway and my late father would be a proud man. He passed away three years ago now, and he’d be a proud man going up to Ashbourne to watch on Saturday.”

He added: “We’re also in the Spencer Cup final as well, against Suttonians. But the first Spencer Cup that was won back in 1964, my dad was on it, he was playing for Railway Union. So we’re looking forward to it.

“We’re in a good place. Hopefully we can get the win on Saturday, and then that will drive us on to win the Leinster League, and we will take it from there – just taking one game at a time.”

Last year was a tough one for Bective, who were back challenging for titles and promotion during Bernard Jackman’s five-year reign. They reached the All-Ireland Junior Cup final for the first time, beating Richmond, Gorey, and Seapoint along the way, before going down 48-8 to Ballycare.

Monkstown also pipped them to the post in the Leinster League, going on to earn promotion to the All-Ireland League where they are now battling it out with Ballyclare in Division 2C. Regaining their senior status has been Bective’s main aim since being relegated in 2018.

In 2022 it was Instonians who got the upper hand, winning the AIL promotion decider 25-21, and a year later Clogher Valley ended the Dubliners’ hopes at the semi-final stage (35-19). Those two Ulster sides are currently pushing for promotion again in their respective AIL divisions.

Reflecting on last year’s Junior Cup final, Kealy admitted that Ballyclare were much the better team on the day, but that fine margins have cost them in those previous promotion play-offs.

“Ballyclare deservedly won it last year, they beat us well. We just felt we didn’t throw a punch, (it) just was a very lacklustre performance,” he explained.

“Then after that, the rest of our season, with injuries, kind of fell apart. We lost the Leinster League, and it was Monkstown who eventually went back up to the AIL.

“The last sort of two minutes of that Instonians game, we had a penalty in their 22. Just kicked it dead instead of kicking it to touch, which would have been a five-metre lineout, and they were down to 14 men at the time. It’s fine margins.

“The following year, we were well beaten by Clogher Valley in the semi-final. They played very well and have gone from strength of strength in the AIL.

“Last year by the time we got to the Junior Cup final, Ballyclare beat us well and they obviously went on to get promotion against Monkstown (in the All-Ireland Provincial League Championship final). Fine margins.

“One core objective for us this year is to get back up to the AIL. We’re top of the Leinster League, five points clear of Seapoint, albeit that after the final Saturday, we’ve got to play Suttonians away, and then Seapoint at home on February 15. That will be a crucial game in the league.

“Then, as you know, from there you’ve got to go into the play-offs on April 5, and a play-off final on April 12 if you get there. If you lose that final, you go into a play-off on April 26. So a lot of rugby to be played.”

While winning Leinster League Division 1A remains a key goal for them in the coming months, Saturday will be a big one for Bective as they bd to collect the club’s first All-Ireland trophy since that 1925 Bateman Cup success.

Their route to the Junior Cup final saw them prevail 43-30 in Mallow and post an 11-7 semi-final victory away to Dromore, who are fighting it out with Enniskillen to be crowned league champions in Ulster. Sandwiched in between was a 50-27 dismissal of Connemara on home soil.

Bective will be without their club captain Tiarnan McCloskey, who misses the final after breaking his hand during a recent league game. Fellow back rower Mattie Keane will deputise for him, having skippered the team last season.

Kealy acknowledged: “One of the good things this year is that we’ve had little or no injuries, although unfortunately Tiarnan is out for Saturday. He broke his hand against Athy, but we still have really good cover.

“Mattie actually missed the final last year because he broke his leg in January, so it’s good for him to be back and captaining the side this time as well. We’re just focused on Saturday, we’re focused on Enniskillen.

“It could be a bounce of the ball in it. Hopefully it’s a good and entertaining game. I think it will be. If they like to play the ball and throw it around, we do too. I think it’s going to be an interesting battle.

“They’ve got a good team, and they’re also performing really well in Ulster. Win, lose, or draw, we will still push on to try and win the Leinster League. But the icing on the cake now would be just to take that trophy back to Donnybrook on Saturday evening.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news in our dedicated website hub at www.irishrugby.ie/energiaail, and follow #EnergiaAIL on social media channels.