St Mary’s are 18 points clear in 1B after 10 rounds of action, Highfield moved up a place while Oliver Coffey inspired Blackrock to a late win keeping them in the top four. Old Wesley moved further away from the drop zone winning the D4 derby.
Buccaneers (2T) 21-23 Blackrock College (2T), Dubarry Park
A late Oliver Coffey penalty gave Blackrock the points in a dramatic finish to proceedings in Dubarry Park, it looked like Rock had left their half-time lead slip, only for Coffey to strike at the death.
Roy Whelan struck the opening try of the contest and Coffey converted for a 7-0 lead. It was a half finished by both kickers having attempts at the posts, Coffey and Michael Hanley striking two each for a 13-6 scoreline at the break.
Coffey powered his way over for the opening try of the second half and the conversion put 14 points between the two. Cian McCann and Shane Layden added tries to cut the gap to two points, Hanley converting the former.
Hanley struck a penalty his third of the afternoon to put Buccs ahead, it would however not be the day for the Pirates as Coffey with a man of the match performance struck his third penalty to secure the win. Buccs losing bonus point saw them jump off bottom spot as Queens moved bottom with defeat at the weekend.
Highfield (7T) 50-12 Naas (0T), Woodleigh Park
Highfield moved third in the 1B standings with a dominant seven try haul against Naas, building up a winning streak to start 2024 on the optimum path.
Out of the blocks much better of the two sides, tries from Ben Murphy and Daragh Fitzgerald gave Highfield a 14-0 lead after just six minutes of action in Woodleigh Park. Sam Cahill struck two penalties to get Naas on the board and help cut the gap by the 15 minute mark.
Cahill struck a third penalty in succession on the 21st minute mark to cut the gap to five points, Highfield had not scored since the sixth minute but with 31 minutes gone Buckley struck a penalty of his own for a 17-9 lead. Murphy added a second try at the death and Buckley struck the conversion to put the hosts 24-9 to the good at the break.
Cahill drew first blood in the second half with his fourth penalty, the final score Naas would pick up in the contest. Highfield would soon kick into gear, a penalty try furthered their lead, Ross O’Neill added their fifth try after 62 minutes with Buckley accurate from the tee. Tries from Rob Murphy and Miah Cronin which Shane O’Riordan converted, capped off the bonus point win.
Old Belvedere (0T) 3-20 Old Wesley (2T), Ollie Campbell Park
In a tight tussle in the D4 derby in Ollie Campbell Park, Old Wesley took the spoils and moved to seventh in the table as a result.
After a closely fought opening 15 minutes, David Wilkinson had Belvedere on the board with a penalty. On the stroke of halftime Stephen Smyth powered his way over from close range off a powerful driving lineout maul, Eoin Monahan converting for a 7-3 half-time lead.
Monahan kept the Wesley tails up in the second half, striking two penalties to extend the gap as the half wore on. Alex Molloy would seal the result with the second Wesley try minutes from time, a flowing move with Molloy spitting a gap and dancing left and right before crossing for the try, Ian Cassidy with the conversion.
St Mary’s College (5T) 36-14 Queens University (2T), Templeville Road
St Mary’s extended their unbeaten run into 2024 as a five star performance saw them overcome Queens University in Templeville Road.
Mary’s had a fruitful start with Adam McEvoy scoring the opening try of the contest, Mick O’Gara converting for a 7-0 margin. Mick McCormack doubled the lead with their second try converted by O’Gara. Queens hit back with James Wright crossing and Ben McFarlane’s conversion made it a seven point game. Mark Fogarty struck shy of the break for the third try for the Dubliners, O’Gara sending them 21-7 clear to the break.
Queens would strike first in the second half, Alexander Clarke crossing for a try and McFarlane again dissected the posts to cut the gap back to seven. Mary’s would soon wrap up the contest, Ronan Watters added the bonus point try before Conor Hayes struck the fifth to wrap up another sparkling performance.
UCC (1T) 10-23 Garryowen (3T), The Mardyke
After their stalemate in Dooradoyle, Garryowen took the spoils in the rematch at The Mardyke with their opening half performance laying the foundation for the result.
A game that was tight from the word go, both sides were putting on a serious amount of pressure in pursuit of a score. It took until the 20 minute mark for the opening score to arrive, Jack Oliver striking a penalty in front of the posts.
Colm Hogan kept the momentum firmly with Garryowen as he went over in the corner for the opening try, putting the visitors 8-0 ahead as the conversion missed the mark. Andrew O’Mahony got UCC on the board with a penalty a short while later, Garryowen would end the half with a flurry as JJ O’Neill crossed for a second try that went unconverted, Oliver would add a second penalty for a 16-3 half-time lead.
UCC started the second half the better and from their driving lineout maul Luke McAuliffe powered his way over, O’Mahony cutting the gap to six with the conversion. UCC kept pressing trying to overturn the deficit, near the death Garryowen hit a hammer blow, Jeronimo Ureta Saenz Pena adding their third try, Oliver converted and Garryowen could breathe knowing the result secured.
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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.