With the first round of 1A completed in 2024, no team gained or lost places this weekend, Ballynahinch are still breathing down the necks of Terenure in fifth, while a losing bonus point for Shannon has them four clear of the drop zone.
Lansdowne (5T) 30-26 UCD (2T), Aviva Stadium Back Pitch
Lansdowne avenged their post Christmasd defeat to UCC with a strong second half performance giving them all the points.
Michael Moloney struck UCD into an early from a penalty, Lansdowne replied well going for the corner they mauled over and Tomm Barry dotted down for the opening try of the contest. The try went unconverted and at the other end Moloney kicked UCD back ahead with a penalty, 6-5.
After kicking to the corner and retaining possession, Alan Spicer crashed over for a try, Moloney converted and the visitors had a 13-5 lead. A slice of cheese gave Lansdowne a penalty shy of the break and a tap and go saw Cathal Eddy over for a second Landowne try. The lead remained with UCD and Moloney struck another penalty soon after and the lead was 16-10 at the break.
Moloney kept up his exploits with another penalty after the restart, Lansdowne would soon reply as Sean Galvin gathered the restart which followed and raced into the corner to score another unconverted try. That was the spark Lansdowne needed, after UCD coughed up another penalty and another pick and go saw James Kenny over for the bonus point try, the conversion good for a 22-19 lead.
Galvin soon added his second try of the contest, with Stephen Madigan striking a penalty the gap was pushed out to 30-19. On his AIL debut Dan Campbell broke through for a try near the death, Moloney converted and with cause for concern, Lansdowne held on for the final minutes of play.
Ballynahinch (5T) 36-12 City of Armagh (2T), Ballymacarn Park
Ballynahinch took the spoils in the Ulster derby on consecutive occasions, their second half performance getting a bonus point result in the end.
Conor Rankin struck an early penalty to give Hinch the lead, they continued to build on from that opening score and Aaron Sexton crossed for the opening try after 17 minutes with Rankin converting. Shea O’Brien replied for Armagh five minutes from time and Brayden Laing converted the try to make the score 10-7 at the break.
It took awhile for the opening score to arrive in the second period, tries from Aaron Sexton and Ethan Graham just before the hour mark converted by Conor McKee propelled Hinch into a 24-7 lead.
The visitors replied minutes later as Dylan Nelson crossed for their second try, enough to cut the gap by 12, Hinch finished off the game in style, John Dickson added the bonus try five minutes from time, before Bradley Luney added a sixth seconds later, Paul Kerr with the conversion.
Cork Constitution (2T) 23-13 Young Munster (1T), Temple Hill,
Con returned to winning ways and ended the Cookies recent winning streak in 1A coming out ten point winners in a titanic tussle in Temple Hill.
In a nervy opening half, Tony Butler gave the visitors the lead from a penalty, before Con struck to lead at the break, Rob Hedderman with the score converted by George Coomber for a 7-3 lead.
Rob Jermyn crossed in the second half to further the hosts lead as Coomber struck another conversion. Sean Rigney replied with a Munsters try and Butler closed the gap to four with the conversion.
Coomber struck two further penalties to put a ten point gap between the teams, Butler had the Cookies in range for a losing bonus point as he landed another penalty attempt, however Coomber struck his fifth successful kick of the afternoon to see Munster’s leave empty handed in the end.
Shannon (2T) 20-24 Clontarf (3T), Thomond Park Back Pitch
Clontarf remained unbeaten in 1A surviving a late Shannon onslaught to secure a four point win on Shannonside.
The ever proficient Dylan Donnellan ran in the games opening try converted by Jack Murphy for an early Tarf lead. The Dubliners set the pace in the opening half, Tony Ryan soon added their second try to double the lead with Murphy converting. Murphy struck a penalty for a 17-0 score line, Shannon however through Tadhg O’Brien crossed and with the conversion from Mike Cooke, they trailed 17-7.
Into the second half, Cooke cut the gap to seven points from a penalty as Shannon looked to start and build the better, with a man sent to the bin Tarf pounced and Donnellan crossed for his second try and Murphy added the extras. Shannon replied within seconds Luke Murphy raced over and Cooke converted to close the gap 24-17.
Cooke with his second penalty set up a grandstand finish in the shadow of Thomond Park, four points the margin, Shannon unable to add to their tally as Clonatf were too strong in those final minutes.
Terenure College (4T) 26-17 Dublin University (3T), Lakelands Park
Adam La Grue’s late try ensured Terenure would take all the bonus in a bonus point result over their Dublin neighbours Trinity at Lakelands.
With an intense display on show between the two, it took a moment of quality to break the deadlock shy of the half hour mark, Alan Bennie spotting the gap and rebounding off a Trinity player he went over to score. Callum Smith adding the conversion. Trinity replied before the break as Davy Colbert went under the posts to cross the whitewash and Matthew Lynch converted to tie the game 7-7 at the interval.
Into the second half Trinity had a man sent off and with the numerical advantage Nure mauled over from the lineout resulting from the penalty, Levi Vaughan with the score as the conversion missed the mark.
Trinity had their discipline cost them as another card, spelled more trouble and on his AIL debut Yago Fernandez Velar went over and Smith converted for a 19-7 lead. Off a sparkling crossfield kick Trinity added their second try in response Charlie Beckett cutting the gap to seven.
With Terenure now in the bold corner and two players were sent to the bin, Trinity pounced off a dangerous lineout maul and Zach Baird added their third try which went unconverted, the gap just two.
Squeaky bum time indeed for both teams as we neared full-time, magic moments win games and a Callum Smith break sent Nure into a 3v1 with Colm de Buitléar breaking and La Grue gathered the offload from his centre to race in the bonus try, a real beauty and that showcased the incredible talent this side possesses.
More Info on Division 1A here.
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.