With a week break in place Lansdowne remain the pace setters in 1A with three wins on the trot bringing a maximum points haul, Clontarf just a point behind breathing down their necks.
Shannon (1T) 13-25 City of Armagh (3T), Thomond Park
City of Armagh picked up their maiden win in 1A on the road in Limerick with a solid outing against Shannon.
Bryaden Laing gave them the lead after a cagey opening 15 minutes from the tee, before Neil Faloon went over ten minutes later with Laing converting. Four minutes from the break Mike Cooke cut the deficit to seven from a penalty but with the last act of the half Armag broke through a ruck and Tim McNiece crossed for their second try, laing with the extras made it 17-3 at the interval.
It took until just after the hour mark for the first score of the second half, John O’Sullivan with a penalty for the hosts to make it an 11 point game. Six minutes later Tony Cusack crossed for the hosts and O’Sullivan’s conversion left four between them. Another Laing penalty six minutes from time left seven between them and with the game still in the balance Shea O’Brien got over in the corner for the final act of the contest.
Clontarf (6T) 43-19 UCD (1T), Castle Avenue
Clontarf made it three wins from three with a strong showing against UCD in Castle Avenue.
Despite Michael Moloney kicking two early penalties for UCD, Hugh Cooney crossed in the corner with Jack Murphy converting from the touchline. Ben Murphy added the second try as he sprinted from halfway to cross, one brother notched the try the other landed the extras.
Diarmuid Mangan led the comeback for UCD as he crossed for their opening try and Moloney added the extras before striking a penalty to dissect the uprights UCD were ahead by three at the break 16-14.
Into the second half great pressure from a Tarf scrum saw a penalty try awarded and the lead was back with the hosts. It never left. Despite Moloney cutting the gap to two with his fourth penalty, Tarf took control.
Dylan Donnellon and Declan Adamson added tries to grab the bonus point while Conor Kelly converted two conversions and a penalty to put the hosts ahead 38-19. Aitzol King capped the win with the sixth try near the end of normal time.
Dublin University (1T) 8-22 Young Munster (3T), College Park
Ger Slattery gets his first win as Young Munster coach in 1A as the Cookies came from behind to produce a stellar second half display in College Park.
In a low scoring first half Jules Fenelon crossed for Trinity to give them an early 5-0 lead, Harry Colbert made it 8-0 from a penalty, before Aidan Shortall struck a penalty to leave the score 8-3 at the break.
Stephen McLaughlin started the second half in strong fashion for the Cookies as his try combined with Shortall’s conversion put the visitors ahead by two. From a strong maul Ruadhan Quinn powered over for the second Young Munster try and the conversion left nine between them.
James Horrigan capped the result off with the second maul try of the afternoon for the Limerick side, an important victory for them moving them off bottom as a result.
Lansdowne (7T) 45-19 Ballynahinch (3T), Aviva Stadium
With three maximum point hauls in as many games, Lansdowne remain top of 1A after another high scoring contest with Ballynahinch.
Rory Parata gave the hosts an ideal start with two quick tries for a 12-0 lead, Stephen Madigan converting the first of two tries. Andy Marks furthered the lead with a third try minutes later. After half an hour and with two men yellow carded Hinch did get their opening score as Shay Story crossed with Conor Rankin converting. 19-7 at the break.
Parata completed his hat trick three minutes into the second half, diving over in the corner and the bonus point was achieved as the conversion missed the mark. Hinch pulled one back through Claytan Millgan with Rankin converting, however Marks scored his second try soon after and James Kenny ran in number six on the 70 minute mark. The lead 38-14.
Milligan added a second near the end of normal time but in stoppage time George Kenny crossed for try number seven in a dominant display by Lansdowne.
Terenure College (0T) 0-20 Cork Constitution (2T), Lakelands
Cork Con returned to winning ways with a 20 point shut out on the road to defending champions Terenure.
A result that raised a few eyebrows this weekend, maybe not so much the outcome but the fact Terenure failed to notch a score. Two James Taylor penalties gave Con a six point cushion before Billy Scannell crossed and with Taylor adding the extras it was a 13-0 lead.
With eight minutes to go until half time, Daniel Hurley crossed for the second try Con managed on a domain opening half, Taylor left 20 on the board at the break. A first half Con controlled and did all the work with the second bringing no further scores.
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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.