Who can catch St Mary’s who are the early pace setters and remain the only unbeaten side following UCC defeating Highfield in the Cork Derby at the weekend. Blackrock and Old Belvedere both made ground in the race for top four.
Blackrock College (2T) 17-7 Queens University (1T), Stradbrook
Blackrock were victorious in a rematch with their 2A adversaries from last season with Oliver Coffey’s second half try decisive in giving victory to Rock.
Tries from Graham Curtis converted by scrum half Coffey and Lukas Kenny converted by James Humphreys certainly made for a tight and entertaining first half of rugby in Stradbrook, but like the contest overall it was Coffey’s influence that shaded the outcome for Blackrock. His penalty was enough to see Rock ahead 10-7 at the break.
These contests have been closely fought from their two previous meetings, Rock would win the third meeting, the first we have seen a double digit margin on the board by the finish. Odhran Ring off the bench on his AIL provided the offload for Coffey to snipe over for the second Blackrock try in the second stanza, moving them to third in the standings as Queens fell to sixth.
Buccaneers (3T) 19-45 Old Belvedere (7T), Dubarry Park
Old Belvedere take up fourth spot in the table with a second win of the campaign as the troubles continue for Buccaneers.
Mick Kennedy crashed through the Buccs rearguard after 11 minutes for the opening score, the conversion proved unsuccessful. On the half hour mark however he would convert their second try with Adam Howard crossing for a 12-0 lead. Five minutes later a pick and go from Peter O’Beirne brought the third try and O’Kennedy split the posts, Belvo were not done there, Patrick Dowling and Calum Dowling led the charge for the fourth try with Calum crossing for the bonus. 26-0 at the break with O’Kennedy making his third attempt from four.
The second half certainly started cagey but after the hour mark it opened up with a handling error from the Buccs defence seeing Jack Keating cross for the fifth try for the Dubliners. Mark Earle got Buccaneers on the board after 67 minutes played, Stephen Mannion converting but the deficit was 26 points.
With ten minutes to go Buccaneers captain Frankie Hopkins saw yellow for a deliberate knock on and the visitors were awarded a penalty try, they soon followed that up with Calum Dowling finding Keating out wide, he carried well before Joseph White carried the offload to the line to score, 45-7 as the conversion tailed wide.
Buccaneers kept fighting and had their second try minutes later with Oisin Dolan getting under the posts. Belvo were reduced to 14 men when Jacob Barrett was shown a straight red for a high tackle on Cian McCann. It would not hinder Belvo in the contest, they would cough up a further try late on as Hopkins went over for the Athlone side.
Garryowen (2T) 18-12 Old Wesley (0T), Dooradoyle
Despite the best efforts of Eoin Monahan from the tee, Garryowen had enough in the tank to claim an important win to move them out of the relegation zone.
A titanic battle between these two with Monahan’s boot the only difference for large parts of the opening half, penalties on the 19 and 37 minute mark had Wesley ahead 6-0. Jack Oliver replied to cut the gap to six before Bryan Fitzgerald powered over for a 8-6 lead. Monahan struck another penalty at the death to restore Wesley’s lead at the interval.
Niall Fitzgerald scored a quick ten minute second half brace of tries to put advantage the way of the hosts, named on the replacements he certainly proved a fruitful addition off the bench as his tries on the 48 and 58 minute mark had the Dooradoyle faithful ahead 18-9. Monahan added a fourth penalty five minutes after the hour mark, enough for a losing bonus point as Garryowen held out for important points.
Naas 14-25 St Mary’s College, Forenaughts
Mary’s continued to set the pace in 1B with their fourth win in a row, building up a six point lead from the chasing pack.
In this Leinster derby between Kildare and Dublin, it was the Dubliners that controlled the opening half and laid the foundation for the win early. Mick O’Gara kicked a 17th minute penalty to put Mary’s ahead before Mick McCormack and Jamie Harding crossed for unconverted tries, building up a 13-0 lead at the break.
Ben Taylor added the third try six minutes into the second half with O’Gara converting for a 20-0 lead. Naas tried to fight back throughout the half but opportunities only presented themselves in the final ten minutes. Donal Conory had his try converted by Sam Cahill to get the hosts on the board after 71 minutes.
Ethan Baxter added the bonus point try a short few minutes later as Mary’s,once again showed their incredible scoring prowess. Jack Sheridan crossed late for a consolation try for the hosts with Bryan Croke cutting the gap to 11 with the conversion.
UCC 23-19 Highfield, The Mardyke
After two previous defeats to their near neighbours, UCC picked up an important result over Highfield with Daniel Squires again proving a major influence for UCC, inflicting a first defeat on Highfield this year.
Sean Condon gave the advantage to UCC in the early minutes with the games opening try, Cian Whooley kicked a penalty to touch and following the well taken lineout, UCC powered over for an unconverted try after five minutes. The lead remained in place until the 24th minute when Miah Cronin powered over and Shane O’Riordan’s extras gave them a two point lead. Squires landed a late penalty however to restore UCC’s lead and take an 8-7 scoreline to the break.
Three minutes into the second half and the hosts were in for a second try, Killian Coghlan with a terrific kick return to put Squires over for a try, the conversion just wide from the try scorer, he is human after all. Highfield hit back in the 51st minute with their maul producing a second try, Travis Coomey going over and with O’Riordan splitting the posts the lead was back with the neighbours from down the road.
Momentum was with the visitors as two minutes later they crossed again, Tim Duggan with the try the missed conversion only extended the lead to six, 19-13. UCC hit back with Sean Edogbo cleaning up a lineout and then racing over the whitewash for their third try, converted by Squires it was UCC back ahead but this contest was far from over.
Highfield pushed on to try to find a score to restore the lead but it just would not come. Squires landed a pivotal penalty in the 74th minute to keep a margin of four between the teams. Moving UCC to seventh in the standings in the process.
More Info on Division 1B here.
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.