AIL Roundup: Division 1A Round 16

Clontarf, Terenure and Cork Con are all semi-final bound in the coming weeks, who out of Lansdowne and Ballynahinch will meet them as Hinch claimed a win over the Dubliners at the weekend. City Of Armagh moved four clear of the drop zone with an important win over Shannon.

Ballynahinch (1T) 10-5 Lansdowne (1T), Ballymacarn Park

In a closely fought game in Ballymacarn Park a second half Conor Rankin penalty ensured that Ballynahinch would take the points against Lansdowne and remain in contention to make the 1A semifinals this season.

Elements made the contest even more testing and with 25 minutes gone we had the opening score as Cathal Eddy crossed the whitewash for the visitors. 15 minutes later, just on half time, the hosts grabbed their opening score, Bradley Luney touching down and Conor Rankin converted for the lead, 7-5 at the break.

The second half was a titanic battle between these two and just as the half was ending, Rankin slotted a penalty and Hinch took the spoils and will need to build from this in the final rounds.

City Of Armagh (5T) 36-26 Shannon (4T), Palace Grounds

With four points now separating them from the drop zone, City Of Armagh are looking to build on from their win over Shannon to remain in 1A for another season.

Shannon got off to the better start with John O’Sullivan crossing for the opening try converted by Mike Cooke. Armagh hit back with Neil Faloon going over for a converted try by Shea O’Brien. O’Brien added a penalty on the half hour mark for the lead and minutes later James McNabney was over for their second try and O’Brien converted for a 17-7 lead.

The visitors replied before the break, Kelvin Brown going over and Cooke put three points between the teams at the interval. Faloon added his second try early in the second half and O’Brien put ten between the teams with the conversion. Lewis Finlay soon added the bonus point try again converted by O’Brien, the lead 31-14.

Shy of the hour mark Dan Hurley powered over for Shannon as they grabbed an unconverted try to cut the deficit. No sooner had they scored that Armagh went up the other end and Paul Mullen was in for a 36-19 lead. Lee Nicholas crossed for a bonus try for Shannon, despite the conversion being successful they were unable to take a second bonus point or more in the final ten minutes.

Cork Constitution (2T) 23-26 Terenure College (4T), Temple Hill

Both Terenure and Cork Con punched tickets to the semi-final stage after a dramatic encounter in Temple Hill. Alan Bennie crossed for a late try converted by Aran Egan enough to seal five points for Nure.

Con were impressive in the early exchanges, Jack Kelleher and Matthew Bowen went over for tries converted by Rob Hedderman for an early 14-0 lead. Nure got back into the tie as Craig Adams and Bennie crossed for opening half tries, Egan converting both to level matters. Hedderman would strike a penalty at the death of the opening half to shade the lead at half-time, 17-14.

Hedderman struck first blood in the second half as he pushed Con six clear with a second penalty. Levi Vaughan soon added a third Nure try that went unconverted, cutting the gap to a single point. Hedderman struck his third penalty to put Con four clear as time was running out. As Nure camped near the line with minutes left they put Con under pressure and just as they looked to have held on, scrum-half Bennie went from a ruck on the line to score. Incredible scenes before Egan dinked over the extra two.

UCD (5T) 38-32 Clontarf (6T), Belfield

UCD confirmed their safety as they held on in the dying embers to inflict a third defeat of the season on leaders Clontarf.

The students laid the marker down in the opening half. Ruairi Shields crossed for the opening try after Matt Healy kicked in behind for the winger to race in and score. Michael Moloney converted and minutes later Shields was in again as he robbed Tarf of possession and pumped the legs to score a brilliant intercept try. Moloney made it 14-0 after 15 minutes.

Moloney slotted a penalty to further the lead before Ross Deegan was next to rob Tarf and score another intercept try pumping the legs from halfway to score, Moloney converted again and it was all one way traffic 24-0. Dylan Donnellan added a try before the break for Tarf that went unconverted. 24-5 at the break and soon after the restart Donnellan was over again and again it went unconverted.

James Tarrant wrapped up the bonus points minutes later as the full-back slid under the posts for their fourth try, Moloney converting for the 31-10 lead. While Shields got his hat trick and Moloney converted the try, Clontarf produced a stunning surge to almost change the outcome.

Peter Maher, Conor Kelly, Aitzol King and Jim Peters all crossed the whitewash, Kelly scored one conversion along with his try, a first in six attempts, two bonus points for Clontarf enough to stay top seed.

Young Munster (4T) 26-10 Dublin University (2T), Tom Clifford Park

Should Trinity lose their home tie with UCD next weekend they will be relegated to 1B, should Shannon lose and bonus points come into play they may have in there. A 14th defeat of the season at the weekend has them in a tricky spot.

Trinity started on top with Zach Baird going over for an unconverted try but as the opening half wore on The Cookies set the tempo. A penalty try put them in the lead, Gearoid Mulcahy sped away down the left wing and added their second try minutes later for a 12-5 lead. Their third third finished off the opening stanza in fine form, Fionn Gibbons going over and Tadhg Bennett converted for a 19-5 lead at the break.

Into the second half and Trinity would again draw first blood, Paddy McCarthy cutting the gap to nine points. Trinity kept on the charge but could not find the scores to cut the gap, the win secured when Aaron Roulston dotted down from a lineout maul, Cian Casey converting for the final score of the day.