1A returns this weekend with the top two facing difficult away trips, Lansdowne travel to Temple Hill to meet Cork Con while Clontarf are in Limerick to meet Young Munster, who will be top Saturday evening?
Ballynahinch v Shannon, Saturday November 4th, Ballymacarn Park, 2:30pm
Shannon lost ground after round three but remained in the top four and will hope to avoid consecutive defeats and remain in the early title picture.
Hinch suffered their second defeat in the capital last time out with a 26 point defeat at the hands of Landowne, their opening game came in a narrow defeat to Terenure, they bounced back at home and now can they repeat that with their second home tie this weekend. Another Munster side present themselves at Ballymacarn Park will they manage to repeat their success in round two.
It would be a second defeat of the season for Shannon but they will look to put their 12 point defeat to City of Armagh behind them and get back to winning ways this weekend. This venue proved a minefield for Shannon last season, suffering a 41-8 defeat over 12 months ago in their second game back in 1A. They did win the reverse in April last and have been looking strong in recent weeks to claim another success in this tie.
City of Armagh v Dublin University, Saturday November 4th, Palace Grounds, 2:30pm
With Trinity sat bottom of the standings, City of Armagh will fancy their chances of claiming a first home win in the league’s top division this weekend.
Off the back of three defeats, Trinity certainly need to find their feet sooner rather than later should they want to avoid the risk of relegation. We still have 14 more rounds to go after this weekend, they cannot however fall into a slope this early should that continue it will be hard to climb their way back up. Impressive in their opening encounter they struggled in their last two fixtures, can they turn the screw this weekend remains to be seen.
Two weeks ago proved an historic moment for City of Armagh, the 1B Champions claiming a first win as a side in the top division. Now can they turn that into a winning streak and in front of their Palace Ground faithful make more history. Neil Faloon, Tim McNiece and Shea O’Brien were the try scorers that day and the boot of Brayden Laing is another key weapon to their attack.
Cork Constitution v Lansdowne, Saturday November 4th, Temple Hill, 2:30pm
Returning to winning ways last time out Cork Con look to end the winning streak of Lansdowne this weekend and move higher up the standings as a result.
Con raised eyebrows last time out with a 20-0 result over Terenure, defeating the current holders and not just that, limiting them to scoring zero in the contest. Con looked sharp and well disciplined in that tie, Billy Scannell and Daniel Hurley getting the tries that day, while James Taylor joint highest scorer in the division has filled the boots left behind by Aidan Moynihan.
Lansdowne have had quite the fruitful run of form so far this season, taking three bonus point wins they are enjoying themselves thus far and are the early pace setters for a reason. A potent attack with new centre Rory Parata (4), James Kenny (3), Andy Marks (3) and Jack Cooke (2) amongst their top try scorers this campaign. The Dubliners look the business in the early parts of this season.
UCD v Terenure College, Saturday November 4th, Belfield, 2:30pm
A Dublin Derby at Belfield pitting the eight placed holders against sixth placed UCD. Two sides out of form, bonus points separating the two in the standings.
It will be the third all Dublin meeting for UCD in as many weeks, overcoming Trinity they suffered a second defeat of the season last time out at the hands of Clontarf. Whether they avoid a third loss to another side from the capital with an out of form Terenure on their doorstep it remains to be seen. UCD certainly have a threat in their ranks, Michael Moloney the joint highest scorer in the division brings a threat from the tee, while Chris Cosgrave and Ross Deegan bring tries.
It has not quite gone the way Terenure would have liked, with the early stages of their title defence seeing just one win from three. Losing 26-16 to Clontarf and 20-0 to Con, they are well off the pace of where they wanted to be. Nure are still a quality team and will want to turn that screw and still can fight in that top four based on their quality. A result this weekend is a must. Aran Egan is the sides top scoring asset this campaign, his 14 points makes up less than 50% of their scoring output this season, Caolan Dooley joins Egan with points from the tee, as they have just one try this campaign coming from Luke Clohessy. Can they change that output this weekend?.
Young Munster v Clontarf, Saturday November 4th, Tom Clifford Park, 2:30pm
Having managed to claim their first win of the campaign a fortnight ago, can the Cookies move further up the standings by ending the unbeaten run of last year’s finalists Clontarf.
Another test from the capital for Young Munster, defeating Trinity last weekend they scored points for the first time, after Landowne defeated them in round one, will they suffer another loss to Dublin opposition this weekend. It would be their third defeat of the campaign but off the back of their most recent outing they will have confidence restored, their opening home encounter was a one sided defeat to Shannon, they are out to avoid that and pick up a result similar to thor 22-14 result less than 12 months ago.
Tarf are in great form of late and will be looking to keep their 100% record intact and hope Landowne falter on Leeside. Having won their opening two encounters by a margin of ten, they were 24 point winners over UCD two weeks ago. A try bonus point in favour of Lansdowne separates the teams, both have the same points scored and conceded after three games. Dylan Donnellan’s exploits earned him a Leinster debut last weekend, we await to see if he will be made available for Tarf this weekend, his four try haul this campaign has made him a fruitful addition to their scoring exploits.
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Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.