ENERGIA MEN’S ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE ROUND-UP -
CONNACHT WING PETER Sullivan chipped in with two tries as Lansdowne bounced back with an impressive 29-5 victory over Garryowen at Dooradoyle.
Mark McHugh’s men remain second in Energia All-Ireland League Division 1A, two points behind leaders Clontarf and five ahead of a resurgent Cork Constitution side.
Colm Quilligan’s fourth try of the campaign was all Garryowen could muster as they fell to their third straight defeat.
Despite facing into a strong wind, Lansdowne dominated possession and territory in the first half to open up a 13-point lead.
Out-half Charlie Tector landed the second of his initial penalty attempts to put the visitors ahead. Sullivan struck for his opening try in the 26th minute, seizing upon Andy Mark’s fly-hack to score in the left corner.
Barely a minute later, Sullivan jinked through from the restart, passing inside to Jack Dwan who then found Luke Thompson on his shoulder and the hooker sped away to score a quick-fire second try.
Garryowen responded in swift fashion as Quilligan showed great feet to initially beat Sullivan on the 22 and then power through two more tackles to dot down in the right corner, closing the gap to 13-5.
Neither side could get a hold of the game in the third quarter, but Tector broke the deadlock with a 42-metre penalty after Garryowen failed to roll away from a ruck.
Any hope of a Garryowen comeback disappeared on 63 minutes. Bryan Fitzgerald’s powerful run brought the Light Blues into the Lansdowne half but a turnover was jumped on by Sean Galvin who sprinted from his own 10-metre line to score Lansdowne’s third try.
Sullivan made sure of the bonus point 12 minutes later when another Garryowen attack broke down and he took off down the left wing to score in the corner. Tector added his third penalty to seal a comprehensive away win.
Cork Constitution survived a nail-biting finish against bottom side Ballynahinch, taking a 19-17 verdict thanks to tries from Rob Jermyn, Aidan Moynihan and tireless flanker John Forde.
Cork Con’s fourth straight win looked a good way away at half-time, with ‘Hinch’s South African winger Shane Ball breaking through in the 34th minute to hand them a 10-5 lead.
The Ballymacarn Park faithful were brimming for a big upset, however back-to-back converted scores from captain Aidan Moynihan and Forde had the visitors in a strong position, 13 minutes into the second half.
Centre Tagen Strydom, another South African recruit, picked off a superb 64th-minute intercept try to rally Ballynahinch. Replacement Greg Hutley’s conversion made it a two-point game.
However, in a frantic finish and in a similar scenario to last week against UCC, Adam Craig’s charges could not muster a match-winning score as Con came away with a hard-earned four points.
Meanwhile, table toppers Clontarf overcame a tricky challenge posed by UCC, pulling clear in the second half at the Mardyke to win out 36-17.
Clontarf’s pack power was again a vital ingredient and UCC were left to rue their failure to profit from ‘Tarf lock Ed Kelly’s sin-binning on the hour mark.
The visitors’ well-organised defence got them out of some difficult positions, and they were able to kick on with tries from Cathal O’Flynn and Cian O’Donoghue settling the issue.
Even though replacement John Willis replied with UCC’s second try of the game, ‘Tarf made sure to have the final say with a 77th-minute effort from Tadhg Bird, one of their own bench men.
Andy Wood’s charges were quickest to settle, second row Cormac Daly driving over from a ruck in the third minute after the north Dubliners’ lineout maul had done the initial damage.
Another forwards drive, midway through the first half, was well defended by UCC, but ‘Tarf managed to get the ball away to winger O’Donoghue who finished well in the corner, making it 14-0.
UCC enjoyed their best spell approaching the break, with captain Rob Hedderman landing a penalty and the home pack, which included Munster Academy hooker Scott Buckley, forcing a penalty try following a collapsed maul.
A Conor Kearns penalty steadied the ship for the league leaders at 17-10, but Hedderman missed a penalty and UCC, now with the wind behind them, left further chances behind them during the third quarter – they were held up over the line and had a maul sacked.
Clontarf were clinical when they got back into range, hooker O’Flynn breaking down the short side of a maul to touch down. Good footwork from O’Donoghue earned him the bonus point score and there was no catching them from there.
Just before half-time at College Park, Young Munster replacement Conor Moloney saw red for a dangerous tackle on Gavin Jones during Dublin University’s 38-3 bonus point triumph over the Cookies.
Trinity were leading 7-3 at that stage, prop Giuseppe Coyne showing his dynamism again with high-quality 33rd-minute try. That came in response to a 40-metre penalty from Young Munster out-half Evan Cusack.
Nonetheless, the sending-off had a huge impact and Ulster Academy forward Harry Sheridan crashed over in the 49th minute to kick off a run of 31 unanswered second half points.
With Ronan Quinn fizzing with intent out wide, the students kept pressing and their physicality up front led to number 8 Diarmuid McCormack making it 19-3.
Some crisp handling put out-half Aran Egan, last week’s goal-kicking hero at Lansdowne, over in the corner for the bonus point score.
The extra man continued to hurt Munsters, as further converted efforts from Marcus Kiely and lively replacement Ronan Murphy, who crossed from a dominant scrum, turned it into a six-try rout.
On Friday night, Terenure College drew closer to the top four with a well-judged 20-12 success at UCD. Number 8 Jordan Coghlan touched down twice as ‘Nure registered their third win in a row.
Busy full-back Chris Cosgrave ran in an early try and converted Ronan Foley’s rampaging 28th-minute effort, in response to a Coghlan score off a powerful counter-ruck.
UCD were leading 12-5 in bitterly cold conditions until Coghlan used a well-executed maul to complete his brace against his former club. Caolan Dooley’s conversion drew the sides level.
Into the second half, full-back Adam La Grue came up in the line and backed himself to score out wide for ‘Nure, moving them ahead for the first time.
UCD piled forward in a bid to end their long scoreless spell, but the visitors’ reinforced defence stopped them in their tracks. Jake Swaine’s 74th-minute penalty gave ‘Nure a crucial cushion and they held on to lift the Eddie Thornton Memorial Trophy.
DIVISION 1A:
BALLYNAHINCH 17 CORK CONSTITUTION 19, Ballymacarn Park
Scorers: Ballynahinch: Tries: Shane Ball, Tagen Strydom; Cons: Greg Hutley 2; Pen: Jack Milligan
Cork Constitution: Tries: Rob Jermyn, Aidan Moynihan, John Forde; Cons: Aidan Moynihan 2
HT: Ballynahinch 10 Cork Constitution 5
BALLYNAHINCH: Yasser Omar; Shane Ball, Tagen Strydom, Rory Butler, Aaron Cairns; Jack Milligan, Conor McAuley; Ben Cullen, Zack McCall (capt), Kyle McCall, John Donnan, Thomas Donnan, Bradley Luney, Reuben Crothers, Callum Irvine.
Replacements: Josh Hanlon, Nacho Cladera Crespo, Diego Vidal Souza, Ryan Wilson, Ruairi Meharg, Greg Hutley.
CORK CONSTITUTION: Tomás Quinlan; Billy Crowley, Bruce Matthews, Niall Kenneally, Rob Jermyn; Aidan Moynihan (capt), Gerry Hurley; Brendan Quinlan, Jack Dinneen, Paddy Casey, Eoin Quilter, Cathal O’Flaherty, John Forde, Michael Casey, David Hyland.
Replacements: Luke McAuliffe, Dylan Murphy, John O’Callaghan, Luke Cahill, Gary Bradley, Johnny Murphy.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 38 YOUNG MUNSTER 3, College Park
Scorers: Dublin University: Tries: Giuseppe Coyne, Harry Sheridan, Diarmuid McCormack, Aran Egan, Marcus Kiely, Ronan Murphy; Cons: Aran Egan 4
Young Munster: Pen: Evan Cusack
HT: Dublin University 7 Young Munster 3
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: Matthew Jungmann; Hugh Twomey, Marcus Kiely, Gavin Jones, Ronan Quinn; Aran Egan, Louis O’Reilly (capt); Giuseppe Coyne, Mark Nicholson, Thomas Connolly, Joe McCarthy, Harry Sheridan, Anthony Ryan, Alan Francis Diarmuid McCormack.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Bart Vermeulen, Ronan Murphy, Aaron Coleman, Cormac King, Mick O’Kennedy.
YOUNG MUNSTER: Conor Hayes; Craig O’Hanlon, Jack Harrington, Harry Fleming, Luke Fitzgerald; Evan Cusack, Adam Maher; David Begley, Mark O’Mara, Conor Bartley, Tom Goggin, Sean Rigney, Alan Kennedy (capt), John Foley, Dan Walsh.
Replacements: Mikey Doran, Paul Allen, Eoin O’Connor, Conor Moloney, Jack Lyons, Jason Kiely.
GARRYOWEN 5 LANSDOWNE 29, Dooradoyle
Scorers: Garryowen: Try: Colm Quilligan
Lansdowne: Tries: Sean Galvin, Luke Thompson, Peter Sullivan 2; Pens: Charlie Tector 3
HT: Garryowen 5 Lansdowne 13
GARRYOWEN: Jamie Heuston; Colm Quilligan, Bryan Fitzgerald, Jack Delaney, Jamie Shanahan; Tony Butler, Ed Barry; Mark Donnelly, Dylan Murphy, Darragh McCarthy, Roy Whelan, Kevin Seymour (capt), Tim Ferguson, Dan Feasey, Sean Rennison.
Replacements: Larry Kelly, Niall Horan, Alan fitzgerald, Evan Maher, Tommy O’Hora, Jack Madden.
LANSDOWNE: Eamonn Mills; Sean Galvin, Andy Marks, Corey Reid, Peter Sullivan; Charlie Tector, James Kenny; Frank Kavanagh, Luke Thompson, JJ Hession, Joey Szpara, Jack Dwan, Clive Ross, Jack O’Sullivan (capt), Mark Boyle.
Replacements: Jamie Kavanagh, Ben Popplewell, Daniel Murphy, Ruairi Clarke, Jack Matthews, Peter Hastie.
UCC 17 CLONTARF 36, the Mardyke
Scorers: UCC: Tries: Penalty try, John Willis; Cons: Pen try con, Rob Hedderman; Pen: Rob Hedderman
Clontarf: Tries: Cormac Daly, Cian O’Donoghue 2, Cathal O’Flynn, Tadhg Bird; Cons: Conor Kearns 4; Pen: Conor Kearns
HT: UCC 10 Clontarf 17
UCC: Rob Hedderman (capt); Louis Bruce, Darragh French, Daniel Squires, George Coomber; Cian Whooley, Louis Kahn; Alessandro Heaney, Scott Buckley, Corey Hanlon, Sam O’Sullivan, Mark Bissessar, Aidan Brien, Jack Kelleher, Jack O’Sullivan.
Replacements: Daniel O’Connor, Tom Ormond, John Willis, Patrick McBarron, Luke Kerr, Timothy Duggan.
CLONTARF: Jack Power; Michael Brown, Michael Courtney, Daniel Hawkshaw, Cian O’Donoghue; Conor Kearns, Angus Lloyd; Ivan Soroka, Cathal O’Flynn, Ben Griffin, Cormac Daly, Ed Kelly, Paul Deeny, Vincent Gavin, Max Kearney.
Replacements: Barry Gray, Darragh Bolger, John Carroll, Zach Ryan, Tadhg Bird, James Horgan.
UCD 12 TERENURE COLLEGE 20, Belfield Bowl (played on Friday)
Scorers: UCD: Tries: Chris Cosgrave, Ronan Foley; Con: Chris Cosgrave
Terenure College: Tries: Jordan Coghlan 2, Adam La Grue; Con: Caolan Dooley; Pen: Jake Swaine
HT: UCD 12 Terenure College 12
UCD: Chris Cosgrave; Alex O’Grady, David Ryan, Ben Brownlee, Jack Ringrose (capt); Tim Corkey, Rob Gilsenan; Chris Hennessy, Bobby Sheehan, Evin Coyle, Jonathan Fish, Tom Coghlan, Alec Byrne, Sean O’Brien, Ronan Foley.
Replacements: Richie Bergin, Rory McGuire, Gerard Hill, Richard Fahy, James Tarrant, Dylan O’Grady.
TERENURE COLLEGE: Adam La Grue; Jake Swaine, Colm de Buitléar, Caolan Dooley; Cathal Marsh, Alan Bennie; Campbell Classon, Levi Vaughan, Andy Keating, Luke Clohessy, Michael Melia, Harrison Brewer (capt), Conall Boomer, Jordan Coghlan.
Replacements: Conor McCormack, Adam Tuite, Matthew Caffrey, Rob Lalor, Mark O’Neill, Sam Coghlan Murray.
DIVISION 1B:
BANBRIDGE 19 HIGHFIELD 26, Rifle Park
Scorers: Banbridge: Tries: Conor Field, Michael Cromie, Stuart Cromie; Cons: Adam Doherty 2
Highfield: Tries: Eddie Earle 2, Ben Murphy, Sam Burns; Cons: James Taylor 3
HT: Banbridge 5 Highfield 21
BANBRIDGE: Adam Doherty; Conor Field, Joseph Finnegan, Josh Cromie, Ross Cartmill; Andrew Morrison, Neil Kilpatrick; Michael Cromie (capt), Peter Cromie, Stuart Cromie, Alex Thompson, Brendan McSorley, David O’Connor, Matthew Laird, Robin Sinton.
Replacements: Adam Hanna, Josh Chambers, Max Lyttle, Chris Allen, Aaron Kennedy, Jonny Little.
HIGHFIELD: Shane O’Riordan; Gavin O’Leary, Paddy O’Toole, Mark Dorgan, Paul Stack; James Taylor, Chris Banon (capt); James Rochford, Travis Coomey, Daragh Fitzgerald, Dave O’Connell, Fintan O’Sullivan, Eddie Earle, Cathal Gallagher, Ryan Murphy.
Replacements: Robert Murphy, Ian McCarthy, Sean Garrett, Ronan O’Sullivan, Ben Murphy, Sam Burns.
CITY OF ARMAGH 20 MALONE 14, Palace Grounds
Scorers: City of Armagh: Tries: Neil Faloon, Kyle Faloon; Cons: Kyle Faloon 2; Pens: Kyle Faloon 2
Malone: Tries: James McAlister, Sean Lynch; Cons: Callum Smith, Rory Campbell
HT: City of Armagh 20 Malone 0
CITY OF ARMAGH: Kyle Faloon; Andrew Willis, Chris Colvin, Matthew Hooks, Tim McNiece (capt); Harry Boyd, Gerard Treanor; Peter Lamb, Jack Treanor, Paul Mullen, Josh McKinley, John Glasgow, James Hanna, Ryan Morton, Neil Faloon.
Replacements: Jonny Morton, Philip Fletcher, James Crummie, Nigel Simpson, Alex Johnston, Evin Crummie.
MALONE: Andy Bryans; Sean Lynch, David McMaster, Nathan Brown, Rory Campbell; Callum Smith, Lewis Finlay; Tommy O’Hagan, Claytan Milligan, Aidan McSwiggan, Adam McNamee, Stewart McKendrick, James McAlister, Dan Kerr, Dave Cave (capt).
Replacements: Harry Andrews, Ricky Greenwood, Daryl Maxwell, Conor Spence, Shane Kelly, Gary Crawford.
OLD BELVEDERE 18 OLD WESLEY 34, Ollie Campbell Park
Scorers: Old Belvedere: Tries: Colm Hogan, John McKee; Con: Justin Leonard; Pens: Justin Leonard 2
Old Wesley: Tries: Reuben Pim, Ben Murphy 2, Josh Pim, David Poff, Charlie O’Regan; Cons: Ian Cassidy, Paddy McKenzie
HT: Old Belvedere 10 Old Wesley 12
OLD BELVEDERE: Colm Hogan; James McKeown, Robbie Deegan, Jack Gilheany, Jack Keating; Justin Leonard, Aaron Atkinson; Jerry Cahir, John McKee, Ryan McMahon, Connor Owende (capt), Fionn McWey, Paddy Dowling, Jack Breen, Tom Ryan.
Replacements: Joe Horan, Hugh Flood, Dean Moore, Jack Culligan, Tommy Whittle, David Butler.
OLD WESLEY: Conor Gaston; Tommy O’Callaghan, Jack Costigan, Eoin Deegan, David Poff; Ian Cassidy, Ben Murphy; Cronan Gleeson, Ben Burns, Rob O’Donovan, JJ O’Dea, Iain McGann (capt), Will Fay, Josh Pim, Reuben Pim.
Replacements: Robert Byrne, Sam Kenny, Sam Pim, Alastair Hoban, Paddy Mckenzie, Charlie O’Regan.
SHANNON 29 NAAS 35, Thomond Park back pitch
Scorers: Shannon: Tries: Darren Gavin 2, Lee Nicholas 2, Killian Dineen; Cons: John O’Sullivan 2
Naas: Tries: Will O’Brien, Connor Halpenny, Donal Conroy, Peter Osborne; Cons: Peter Osborne 3; Pens: Peter Osborne 3
HT: Shannon 10 Naas 29
SHANNON: Jamie McGarry; Ikem Ugwueru, Killian Dineen, Alan Flannery, Darren Gavin; John O’Sullivan, Ethan Coughlan; Kieran Ryan, Jordan Prenderville, Luke Rigney, Lee Nicholas (capt), Sean McCarthy, Kelvin Brown, Charlie Carmody, Daniel Okeke.
Replacements: Declan Moore, Darragh McSweeney, Alex Long, Richie Mullane, Ian Leonard, Jade Kriel.
NAAS: Peter Osborne (capt); Donal Conroy, Gary Kavanagh, Matt Stapleton, Sam Cahill; Bryan Croke, Connor Halpenny; Jack Barry, John Sutton, Adam Coyle, Patrick O’Flaherty, David Benn, Ryan Casey, Will O’Brien, Paulie Tolofua.
Replacements: Connor Johnson, Stephen Lackey, John Waters, Cillian Dempsey, Tim Murphy, Shane Fata.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 45 NAVAN 26, Templeville Road
Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Tries: Richie Halpin, Ronan Watters 2, Mick McCormack, Myles Carey, Ruairi Shields; Cons: Mick O’Gara 6; Pen: Mick O’Gara
Navan: Tries: Evan Dixon, Sean McEntagart, Shane Faulkner, Hardus van Eeden; Cons: Ben Daly 3
HT: St. Mary’s College 21 Navan 14
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Mark Fogarty; Matt Timmons, Myles Carey, Mick O’Gara, Dave Fanagan; Conor Dean, Colm Reilly; Daniel Lyons, Richie Halpin (capt), Mick McCormack, Liam Curran, Liam Corcoran, David Aspil, Niall Hurley, Ronan Watters.
Replacements: Steven O’Brien, Tom O’Reilly, Padraig Dundon, Ian Wickham, Ruairi Shields, Daniel Leane.
NAVAN: Paddy Fox; Rory Gordon, Sean McEntagart, Evan Dixon, Ben McEntagart; Ben Daly, Keith Kavanagh; Niall Farrelly, Jack Nelson, Eoin King, Colm Carpenter, Conor Hand, Shane Faulkner, Conor Farrell (capt), Hardus van Eeden.
Replacements: David Clarke, Liam Carroll, Conor Ryan, Andrew Doyle, Colm O’Reilly, Harry Hester.
DIVISION 2A:
- Ballymena 46 Nenagh Ormond 12, Eaton Park
- Buccaneers 36 Rainey Old Boys 21, Dubarry Park
- Dolphin 28 MU Barnhall 20, Musgrave Park
- Old Crescent 19 Cashel 40, Takumi Park
- Queen’s University 40 UL Bohemians 8, Dub Lane
DIVISION 2B:
- Dungannon v Ballina, Stevenson Park (Covid-19-affected match cancelled – 0-0. Both teams are awarded two points)
- Galwegians 0 Greystones 59, Crowley Park
- Malahide v Galway Corinthians, Estuary Road (Covid-19-affected match cancelled. An allocation of points and the scoreline applied will be determined at a later stage)
- Sligo 20 Belfast Harlequins 16, Hamilton Park
- Wanderers 29 Blackrock College 31, Merrion Road
DIVISION 2C:
- Bangor 12 Enniscorthy 36, Upritchard Park
- Bruff 13 Tullamore 16, Kilballyowen Park
- Clonmel v Omagh Academicals, Ardgaoithe (Covid-19-affected match cancelled – 0-0. Both teams are awarded two points)
- Midleton 31 City Of Derry 10, Towns Park
- Skerries 33 Sunday’s Well 5, Holmpatrick