Division 1B of the Energia All Ireland League made a dramatic return at the weekend, with the first round of 2025 bringing plenty of thrills and spills across the four derby games. Blackrock and Old Wesley furthered their promotion hopes with wins, while Highfield jumped off bottom spot with another win over Shannon.
Blackrock College 27-22 Dublin University, Stradbrook
Blackrock continue to hold down a place in the top four of Division 1B, getting revenge over their Dublin neighbours Trinity, following defeat before the break.
Ciarán Mangan gave the Stradbrook faithful an early cheer as he crossed for the opening try, Conor O’Shaughnessy slotted the extras for a 7-0 lead. Matty Lynch replied with an unconverted try, but a second Rock try scored by Brian Colclough converted by O’Shaughnessy gave the hosts a 14-8 lead at the break. Despite Lynch’s best efforts with a penalty.
O’Shaughnessy furthered the Rock lead with two penalties, before crossing for a try of his own to stretch the lead to 27-8. Trinity battled right until the end to try and turn the tide. Noah Bryne crossed for a try converted by Lynch, before a penalty try ensured they left with a losing bonus point.
Highfield 36-10 Shannon, Woodleigh Park
Highfield jumped off the bottom spot in the Division at the expense of Shannon, a high scoring performance will be a big boost to their spirits to kick on in the second half of the season.
Shane O’Riordan kicked Highfield into an early lead with a penalty, before Alex Long replied with a try for the visitors. John O’Sullivan’s conversion was enough for a four point lead with nine minutes elapsed. It was a closely fought half and just before the break Highfield were in for their opening try, Travis Coomey dotting down and O’Riordan kicked the conversion for a 10-7 lead at the break.
In the second half Highfield roared to the finish line. Coomey completed his hat trick, while Elliot Smith and Eoin Keating also crossed for tries. O’Riordan slotted three more conversions between the posts for the hosts in that strong second half performance. O’Sullivan’s penalty was all Shannon could manage in the second half.
Nenagh Ormond 38-34 UCC, New Ormond Park
Mikey Doran’s late try saw Nenagh Ormond edge a pulsating contest against UCC, in a Munster derby full of attacking flair and dramatic swings in momentum.
UCC struck first through Gene O’Leary Kareem, who crossed in the third minute and added the conversion to give the visitors an early 7-0 lead. Nenagh responded swiftly with Jack O’Keeffe touching down in the tenth minute, with Charlie O’Doherty adding the extras.
Nenagh then seized control with two quickfire tries from Dylan Murphy, as he powered over in the 26th and 30th minutes to secure a first-half brace. O’Doherty converted both to extend Nenagh’s lead. UCC fought back through tries from Sean Condon and Peter Hyland, with O’Leary Kareem converting the latter to reduce the deficit at halftime to 24-17.
The second half continued in a similarly frantic vein. UCC’s Luke McAuliffe finished a flowing move in the 58th minute, however Nenagh rallied in quick response with O’Doherty stepping up once again. The fly-half scored and converted his own try in the 60th minute, for a seven point lead.
When Conor Ryan dotted down shortly after, O’Leary Kareem’s conversion levelled matters 31-31. As the clock ticked down, UCC edged back in front with a O’Leary Kareem penalty, but Nenagh weren’t finished. Just as it looked like UCC had done it, Doran stormed over for the decisive try in the 79th minute, with O’Doherty nailing the conversion to secure a hard-fought 38-34 win for the home side.
Old Belvedere 23-10 Naas, Ollie Campbell Park
Leaders Old Belvedere claimed a hard-fought victory over Naas in a tightly contested Leinster Derby at Ollie Campbell Park. Another impressive win to aid their title charge, as they kept Naas scoreless for the second half.
Belvo started strong with Sam Wisniewski slotting a penalty in the third minute to give the hosts a 3-0 lead. They extended their advantage in the 15th minute when Gavin Nugent crashed over for the opening try, which Wisniewski converted to make it 10-0.
Naas responded with a try from Paddy Taylor in the 29th minute, following a sustained spell of pressure. Peter Osborne, to bring the visitors within three points. Moments later, Old Belvedere’s Kale Thatcher powered over for a try to further the hosts’ advantage, although the conversion was missed. Osborne added a penalty before the break to leave Naas trailing 15-10 at halftime.
The second half saw Old Belvedere tighten their defence, denying Naas any further scoring opportunities. Wisniewski added his second penalty in the 54th minute to give the hosts an eight-point cushion. Despite Naas’s efforts to mount a comeback, it was Old Belvedere who had the final say, with Andre Ryan crossing for a try in the 80th minute to round off the victory.
Old Wesley 51-38 Queen’s University, Energia Park
Wesley avenged their defeat before Christmas to Queen’s, in a pulsating encounter at Energia Park, their attacking prowess was on full show as they powered home with a dominant second half performance.
The home side started brightly, with Stephen Smyth crossing the line in the eight minute, followed by an Ian Cassidy penalty two minutes later to give Old Wesley an early 10-0 lead. Queen’s responded swiftly through Lorcan McLoughlin, who scored back-to-back tries in the 13th and 18th minutes, both converted by Ben McFarlane, to take a 14-10 lead.
Old Wesley regained momentum as Ian Cassidy added a penalty and Stephen Smyth scored his second try on the stroke of halftime, converted by Cassidy, to give the hosts a narrow 20-19 lead at the break.
The second half saw Old Wesley dominate the early exchanges, with Tom Larke scoring just two minutes after the restart. Tries from Alex Molloy and a second for Larke stretched the lead further. Queen’s University fought back, with Jack Boal and Ben McFarlane crossing the whitewash to keep the visitors within striking distance.
However, Old Wesley maintained their composure, with Thomas O’Callaghan bagging two late tries to seal the victory, despite McLoughlin completing his hat-trick for Queen’s University in that second half.
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.