Division 1A
UCD 23
St Mary’s College 20
UCD ERASED AN 11-point deficit to eventually edge out St. Mary’s College 23-20 in a lively Ulster Bank League Division 1A opener at Belfield tonight.
Two late converted tries, the second of which was a penalty try, saw the students prevail in a game that was live streamed on the IRFU website.
St. Mary’s looked odds-on to win when replacement Keelan McKenna’s 63rd-minute try and a subsequent penalty from full-back Gavin Dunne had them leading 20-9.
But UCD showed impressive resilience – and a good deal of confidence in their young athletic pack – to create a close range try for tighthead prop Liam Hyland, and the match winner followed from a 76th minute lineout maul that had Mary’s in all sorts of trouble.
Ireland Under-20 out-half Ross Byrne converted both tries to complete a tidy 13-point haul for himself, as Bobby Byrne’s youngsters rescued a tight win from the jaws of defeat.
Mary’s exerted the early pressure in near perfect conditions with British & Irish Cup-winning number 10 Cathal Marsh and Ryan O’Loughlin both probing for openings in midfield, but St Mary’s couldn’t convert their dominance into points.
UCD proved clinical on their first visit to the Mary’s 22 as a clean break by Bobby Holland teed up a central penalty for his half-back partner Byrne who duly obliged.
A harsh penalty against Robbie Hudson for not releasing allowed Byrne – one of the key members of last season’s Ireland Under-20 squad – to double UCD’s advantage to 6-0 in the 28th minute.
Dunne opened Mary’s account with a penalty from just outside the 22, but the visitors were soon down to 14 men – centre Ryan O’Loughlin was yellow carded for going offside following a fine 30-metre charge by UCD’s Josh van der Flier.
Byrne landed the resulting penalty but he blotted his copybook on the stroke of half-time, holding back Marcus O’Driscoll as the Mary’s winger was poised to gather his own chip kick and score in the left corner. Referee Andy Brace awarded the penalty try with Dunne tapping home the conversion for a 10-9 interval scoreline.
14-man Mary’s looked comfortable in defence and after getting back to their full complement, they pounced for their second try. Sheahan attacked off the base of a scrum, linking with Jamie Glynn who darted into space and flipped a reverse pass for McKenna to crash over wide out on the right.
Dunne added the extras and Peter Smyth’s side seemed to have the match within their grasp when their scrum got on top and Dunne rewarded them with three more points for 20-9.
UCD fought on and although second row Gavin Thornbury was held up from a quick tap penalty, the ball was recycled swiftly for Hyland to rumble over from a couple of metres out. Byrne converted to close the gap to four points.
Mary’s had more defending to do as the students pressed for the match-winning try and it duly arrived in the dying minutes – much to the annoyance of the visitors who felt aggrieved at a high penalty count against them.
Mary’s had a couple of attempts to collapse the UCD drive from a lineout on the left. The students failed to score but referee Brace decided the successive infringements amounted to a penalty try and Byrne converted to give the hosts a three-point lead that they never relinquished.
Scorers:
UCDTries: Liam Hyland, Penalty try;Cons: Ross Byrne (2);Pens: Ross Byrne (3)
St. Mary’s College
Tries: Penalty try, Keelan McKenna;
Cons: Gavin Dunne (2).
Pens: Gavin Dunne (2).
Division 1B
Garryowen 21
Shannon 3
Meanwhile, Garryowen gave early notice that they plan to spend as little time as possible in Division 1B as they proved far too strong for Shannon in a one-sided Limerick derby at Dooradoyle.
Tonight’s comprehensive 21-3 win gave them double bragging rights as the game was also, by mutual agreement, the Charity Cup semi-final between the clubs.
Munster’s Shane Buckley, Neil Cronin (brother of Ireland international Sean) and Ed Rossiter got the tries for Garryowen.
It was a highly satisfying start for their new head coach Conan Doyle and a big wake-up call for Shannon who repeatedly coughed up possession with needless mistakes.
Scorers:
Garryowen: Tries: Shane Buckley, Neil Cronin, Ed Rossiter;Cons: Jamie Gavin (3).Shannon:
Pen: Tadhg Bennett.
