Clontarf saw their unbeaten run end at the hands of Lansdowne this weekend, Terenure furthered their hold on fourth spot, while elsewhere Trinity got their first week of the campaign.
City of Armagh 13-37 Terenure College, Palace Grounds
Terenure produced another strong performance to keep on track to defend their title, proving a stern test for City of Armagh in the end.
Nure started much the better of the sides, Conor Phillips with the opening try converted by Callum Smith, Smith would notch a penalty soon after for a 10-0 lead. Smith made it 13-0 with a second penalty before he converted a Colm de Buitléar try for a 20-0 margin. Brayden Laing did get the hosts on the board with a penalty in the final minutes of the opening half.
With three minutes gone in the second half, Nure saw cheese and City of Armagh struck their opening try a short while later, Dylan Nelson powered over to reduce the gap to 12 points. Smith again delivered from the tee to sink three more points for Nure, on the hour mark Alan Bennie came back from the naughty step to cross for the third Terenure try and Smith had the gap pushed out to 30-8 following the conversion.
Finn Fehnert struck a second try for the hosts as the minutes ticked by to full time, Nure wrapped the game up with a bonus point as Luke Clohessy powered his way over from close range to cap a strong showing.
Clontarf 26-29 Lansdowne, Castle Avenue
Lansdowne ended Clontarf’s unbeaten streak in 1A, Rory Parata with a try right at the death to help Lansdowne score a massive result.
Dylan Donnellan gave Tarf the lead early on from a tap go penalty, Conor Kelly converting to give the home crowd an ideal treat early on. Lansdowne hit back as Stephen Madigan struck a penalty and minutes later Peter Sullivan crossed in the corner for their opening try and the lead.
It was nip and tuck stuff in Castle Avenue, Tony Ryan powered over for Clontarf with Kelly making it 14-8, however Andy Marks would do similar for Lansdowne and Madigan had the visitors one point ahead from the conversion. Tarf would strike again to lead at the break, Mark O’Sullivan dotting down the conversion wide this time but the lead in the hands of the hosts at the break.
Bonus points arrived for Clontarf early in the second half as Donnellan powered over again and Kelly struck a sweet touchline conversion to pull the hosts clear 26-15. Lansdowne fought until the bitter end to take something from this game, Jack Matthews’ try along with a Madigan conversion cut the gap to four as the end was near.
A breath-taking game needed a breath-taking finish and the final try was mesmerising, Madigan chipping over the Tard rear-guard, Marks gathering and carrying well into the tackle, before Parata took the offload and raced in for the try. Madigan converted and for the final minutes Lansdowne held firm to take the win.
Dublin University 38-9 Shannon, College Park
Trinity are on the board and did do with a phenomenal second half showing to earn their first win of the campaign against Shannon.
Shannon started the better of the two as Mike Cooke dispatched two early penalties for a 6-0 lead. Trinity did hit back with the opening try as Dan Barron went over from their maul and the conversion from Matthew Lynch brought the lead. Cooke on the half hour mark put Shannon back ahead from the tee, only for Diarmuid McCormack to add a second try for the hosts before the break, Trinity three to the good at the interval.
From the second half restart Louis McDonagh blocked down the kick off and raced under the posts for their third try, Lynch converting for a ten point lead. Trinity kept this ruthless streak up for the remainder of the half, James Dillon and two Davy Colbert specials seeing Trinity on their way to a statement win.
UCD 24-34 Cork Constitution, Belfield
Cork Con are just four points behind Clontarf after they produced another high scoring result to get past UCD.
Michael Moloney gave UCD a strong start with an early penalty, a short while later Ross Deegan went over in the corner and with Moloney converting UCD were 10-0 ahead after 15 minutes. Within seconds Con were on the board, Billy Scannell crossing from their strong lineout. James Taylor soon levelled matters from the tee.
Con stayed on the front foot as the opening half wore on tries from Scannell and Daniel Hurley converted by Taylor put the visitors 24-10 to the good at the interval.
Into the second half and UCD did get the next crucial score in the contest, Tim Corkery going over in the corner after some soft hands in the build up. Moloney cut the deficit further with a penalty. Rob Hedderman replied with the bonus try for Con as Taylor kept his record to keep the Leesiders firmly ahead.
Harry Donnelly kept UCD within an arm’s length of Con as he added their third try and Moloney cut the gap to seven with his deadly accurate boot. UCD kept fighting to take something but left without a bonus point as George Coomber struck a penalty late on to deny a losing bonus point
Young Munster 26-25 Ballynahinch, Tom Clifford Park
A late Stephen McLoughlin try converted by Cian Casey gave Young Munster a late win at home to Hinch.
Callum Irvine gave the visitors the lead after two minutes with an unconverted try, Munsters did not drop their heads going behind early on and with six minutes elapsed Cian Casey crossed for a try and added the conversion for the lead.
Hinch struck not once, not twice, but thrice in response, Aaron Sexton, Jack Milligan and Aaron Cairns notching before the half hour mark, the lead 22-7 as Conor McKee struck one conversion on course to Hinch having their bonus point. Just after the half hour mark Keynan Knox crossed over the whitewash for the Cookies and Casey converted to cut the gap to eight and the lead for Hinch remained 22-14 to the break.
A wet afternoon in Tom Clifford Park, the elements testing but into the second half Munsters started the better Donnchadh O’Callaghan breaking down the blindside after a solid scrum and he cut the cap to three points as Casey missed the conversion. McKee extended the advantage for Hinch from penalty, however at the death just as it looked like defeat was on the cards the captain led by example and McLoughlin crossed and Casey was composed to strike the conversion.
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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.