THERE WERE THREE Division 1A fixtures of the Ulster Bank League played yesteray, while Division 1B had a full schedule of fixtures.
Lansdowne host Young Munster at 14.30 in Div 1A today, while UCD welcome Cork Constitution to the Belfield Bowl at the same time.
DIVISION 1A
NORMAL SERVICE WAS resumed in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League today as leaders Terenure College and defending champions Clontarf both got back to winning ways.
Two tries apiece from winger James O’Donoghue and Stephen O’Neill helped Terenure beat Old Belvedere 34-27 in an exciting round 8 encounter at Lakelands Park.
‘Nure’s 29-match unbeaten run was ended by Lansdowne last week and they fell behind here to a fifth minute penalty from Josh Glynn, before scrum half Charlie Rock intercepted a pass to run in ‘Belvo’s opening try out wide on the right.
The hosts managed to respond within three minutes, a well-worked move across the ‘Belvo 22 seeing out-half James Thornton put outside centre O’Neill over for an unconverted effort in the right corner.
Old Belvedere countered in impressive fashion with number 10 Aaron Sheehan, who normally operates at scrum half, touching down for his second try in as many league games.
Glynn added a majestic conversion from the left touchline for a 15-5 lead and following a mixed start to the season, ‘Belvo’s confidence was really up.
The concession of two converted tries before half-time brought Paul Cunningham’s side back down to earth, though, with a dangerous lineout maul being finished off by Terenure hooker Kevin Buckley.
Thornton converted and also added the extras to O’Donoghue’s first of the day in the dying minutes of the half. Brilliant build-up play from Kevin and Stephen O’Neill set up the winger and suddenly ‘Nure were 19-15 ahead.
The pendulum was starting to swing in the table toppers’ favour, with ‘Belvo also losing the influential Glynn to injury, and Graham Coffey’s hard work teed up his centre partner Stephen O’Neill for ‘Nure’s bonus point effort five minutes into the second period.
Daniel Riordan, the 2013/14 Division 1A Player of the Year, dragged Old Belvedere back into contention when bravely reaching over the line in the 59th minute.
As play continued to swing from end to end, a Thornton penalty nine minutes later settled the anxious home support. However, Glynn’s replacement David Mongan grabbed a converted score to narrow the gap back to just two points – 29-27.
That was ‘Belvo’s fourth try of the afternoon which meant they would return to Anglesea Road with at least two points to their name. They had enough possession to press for the win but following patient work in defence, Terenure pounced for the match-winning try as O’Donoghue ran in a breakaway effort to confirm his side’s superiority.
Clontarf moved back up to third place in the table thanks to a 27-16 victory at home to Ballynahinch, however they will be frustrated that they missed out on a bonus point.
‘Tarf, winless in their three previous matches, scored three first half tries through backs Michael Brown, Matt D’Arcy and Rob McGrath, the brother of Leinster winger and Castle Avenue favourite Mick McGrath.
Blindside flanker Karl Moran got the plaudits for his efforts in the build-up to Brown’s opening score, with out-half David Joyce converting and kicking a penalty before Ballynahinch’s Chris Quinn replied with a three-pointer of his own.
D’Arcy and ‘Hinch hooker Jonny Murphy then swapped tries, and the north Dubliners finished the opening half in good stead by creating an opening for right winger McGrath’s touchdown to lead 24-10.
The second period was a slow-burning affair with defences on top for long spells. ‘Hinch tightened up in defence to cut down the opportunities for the north Dubliners whose only score came from a Joyce penalty.
Their Co. Down opponents reduced the arrears to 11 points thanks to two more penalties from Quinn’s boot but ‘Tarf prevented them from picking up a late losing bonus point.
Meanwhile, Dolphin’s search for their first win goes on after they were defeated 27-18 by St. Mary’s College at Irish Independent Park.
This was a battle between the division’s bottom two sides and a week on from Cathal Marsh’s goal-kicking heroics against Young Munster, Gavin Dunne took on the mantle of match winner down in his native Cork.
Dunne took over the St. Mary’s number 10 jersey and place-kicking responsibilities from Marsh and finished this afternoon’s game with a handsome 17-point haul from five penalties and a conversion.
Dolphin’s discipline let them down early on as they allowed Dunne to convert three penalties for Mary’s inside the opening 10 minutes.
The hosts made some poor handling errors and were unable to fully clear their lines at times, as the Peter Smyth-coached Dubliners maintained their presence within scoring range.
However, a well-taken 18th minute try got Dolphin off the mark as their Munster capped-centre Rory Scannell jinked past the defence to score with assistant-coach Barry Keeshan converting.
9-7 is how it stayed up to half-time and Keeshan briefly put Dolphin ahead with a 43rd minute penalty. Dolphin’s defence let them down, though, when Mary’s replacement Richie Sweeney touched down from a ruck on the hosts’ line.
Dunne converted and then exchanged penalties with Keeshan by the hour mark, before Dolphin flanker Ryan Murphy crossed for the second week running, profiting from some good interplay between backs and forwards.
The game was right back in the melting pot with Mary’s now just 19-18 ahead. The visitors showed their mettle, though, to see out the result. Dunne’s 73rd-minute penalty had them within touching distance of the win and young number 8 Nick Timoney took advantage of a defensive mix-up to claim the clinching five-pointer.
Saturday’s results:
CLONTARF 27 BALLYNAHINCH 16, Castle Avenue
Scorers:
Clontarf: Tries: Michael Brown, Matt D’Arcy, Rob McGrath; Con: David Joyce 3; Pens: David Joyce 2
Ballynahinch: Try: Jonny Murphy; Con: Chris Quinn; Pens: Chris Quinn 3
HT: Clontarf 24 Ballynahinch 10
TERENURE COLLEGE 34 OLD BELVEDERE 27, Lakelands Park
Scorers: Terenure College: Tries: Stephen O’Neill 2, Kevin Buckley, James O’Donoghue 2; Cons: James Thornton 3; Pen: James Thornton
Old Belvedere: Tries: Charlie Rock, Aaron Sheehan, Daniel Riordan, David Mongan; Cons: Josh Glynn, Shane McDonald; Pen: Josh Glynn
HT: Terenure College 19 Old Belvedere 15
DOLPHIN 18 ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 27, Irish Independent Park
Scorers: Dolphin: Tries: Rory Scannell, Ryan Murphy; Con: Barry Keeshan; Pens: Barry Keeshan 2
St. Mary’s College: Tries: Richie Sweeney, Nick Timoney; Con: Gavin Dunne; Pens: Gavin Dunne 5
HT: Dolphin 7 St. Mary’s College 9
DIVISION 1B
Galwegians maintained their seven-point advantage at the top of Division 1B with a strong second half showing as they beat Belfast Harlequins 31-19 at Crowley Park.
‘Wegians trailed 12-10 at half-time and looked sluggish early on as Harlequins full-back David McMaster dotted down from their first attack and winger Mark Glover added their second try from a cross-field kick in the 18th minute.
The hosts improved in the second quarter with winger Matt Dever crossing the whitewash on the half hour mark and five minutes later, they had a second unconverted effort when lock Marty Cummins scored from a lineout maul.
Galwegians tided up their sloppy handling and it paid immediate dividends just after the break when prop Doran McHugh’s excellent offload saw Cummins complete his brace in the 42nd minute.
Ciaran Gaffney added the conversion for a 17-12 scoreline and the table toppers collected their bonus point with 18 minutes remaining – a break-out led by centre Jerome Harimate was finished off by replacement Aidan Moynihan who also converted.
Scrum half Caolin Blade went close to scoring try number five before Moynihan managed to get over again in the 73rd minute to boost his scoring contribution to 14 points.
Harlequins never let their heads drop as they tried to get something out of the game. Ulster’s Michael Allen ran in their third try in the 78th minute but they could not eat any further into the 12-point deficit.
Connacht’s Craig Ronaldson – a Division 1A title winner with Lansdowne in 2013 – returned to Ulster Bank League action this afternoon, lining out in the number 10 jersey for Corinthians against Dublin University.
However, he was unable to inspire the Galway club to victory at College Park as Trinity outscored the visitors by four tries to one to emerge with a terrific 31-13 win – their first bonus point success of the campaign.
The students went ahead on the quarter hour mark thanks to an unconverted try out wide by right winger Bryan Mollen, who was stepping up from the Under-20 grade.
Second row Raef Tyrrell followed him over the whitewash in response to a Ronaldson penalty at the other end, and the latter’s second three-pointer cut the gap to 10-6 for half-time.
It was Trinity’s turn to trail when Corinthians full-back Conor Murphy scored an early second half try which Ronaldson converted. However, the Tony Smeeth-coached hosts answered back with a brilliant scoring burst of 21 points without reply.
Jack McDermott kicked three successive penalties for a 19-13 scoreline before his half-back partner Angus Lloyd added a fine try which saw his impressive footwork outfox the Corinthians cover.
Replacement Andy Keating bagged the bonus point two minutes later as Trinity finished on a high, with their unbeaten run in Division 1B now standing at five games.
Ballymena moved back into second place with a thumping 43-15 dismissal of Shannon at Eaton Park, with back-three aces Tim Small and Sean Taylor scoring two tries apiece.
The bonus point was enough to see the Braidmen vault back over Garryowen who lost a place despite beating Malone 16-12 in a tight encounter at Gibson Park.
Ireland Under-20 starlet Alex Wootton and Kiwi back rower Josh Hrstich scored first half tries for Garryowen, with the in-form Wootton adding to the hat-trick he ran in against Ballymena last week.
Centre Josh Pentland scored a try and conversion, with replacement Ben McDonnell also touching down, as Malone made it a one-point game – 13-12 – with just seven minutes remaining.
However, a late penalty from Garryowen out-half Jamie Gavin settled the issue as the Light Blues celebrated their sixth victory in eight league outings.
Meanwhile, Garryowen’s Limerick rivals UL Bohemians went down 21-16 to Buccaneers at Thomond Park, as a last-minute try from Connacht full-back Shane Layden punished a tiring Bohs defence.
It looked like an overdue win for the home side who tightened up on earlier indiscipline that had cost them nine points – Buccaneers’ Ross Keller, who deputised at out-half for the injured Alan Gaughan, landed three penalties for a 9-3 interval advantage.
Matters got worse for Bohs when young Buccs prop Jacob Walshe touched down from a rolling maul – it was his fourth try of the league campaign – but it was too far out for Keller to convert.
A terrific try from centre Rory White, who raced in from the 22, got UL back in contention and Airey converted to leave just four points between them.
The reliable out-half then landed penalties after 59 and 77 minutes to edge the Limerick men into a 16-14 lead – only for Layden’s smash-and-grab try to deny them.
Saturday’s results:
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 31 CORINTHIANS 13, College Park
Scorers: Dublin University: Tries: Raef Tyrrell, Bryan Mollen, Angus Lloyd, Andy Keating; Con: Jack McDermott; Pens: Jack McDermott 3
Corinthians: Try: Conor Murphy; Con: Craig Ronaldson; Pens: Craig Ronaldson 2
HT: Dublin University 10 Corinthians 6
BALLYMENA 43 SHANNON 15, Eaton Park
Scorers: Ballymena: Tries: Stephen Mulholland, Tim Small 2, Ricky Andrew, Sean Taylor 2; Cons: Ritchie McMaster 3, Tim Small 2; Pen: Ritchie McMaster
Shannon: Tries: David O’Donovan, Lee Nicholas; Con: Tadhg Bennett; Pen: Tadhg Bennett
HT: Ballymena 14 Shannon 3
GALWEGIANS 31 BELFAST HARLEQUINS 19, Crowley Park
Scorers: Galwegians: Tries: Matt Dever, Marty Cummins 2, Aidan Moynihan 2; Cons: Ciaran Gaffney, Aidan Moynihan 2
Belfast Harlequins: Tries: Mark Glover, David McMaster, Michael Allen; Cons: Mark Best 2
HT: Galwegians 10 Belfast Harlequins 12
MALONE 12 GARRYOWEN 16, Gibson Park
Scorers: Malone: Tries: Josh Pentland, Ben McDonnell; Con: Josh Pentland
Garryowen: Tries: Alex Wootton, Josh Hrstich; Pens: Jamie Gavin 2
HT: Malone 7 Garryowen 10
UL BOHEMIANS 16 BUCCANEERS 21, Thomond Park back pitch
Scorers: UL Bohemians: Try: Rory White; Con: Shane Airey; Pens: Shane Airey 3
Buccaneers: Tries: Jacob Walshe, Shane Layden; Con: Ross Keller; Pens: Ross Keller 3
HT: UL Bohemians 3 Buccaneers 9
