UCC were the only moves in the top four, taking the place of local outfit Highfield. Buccaneers claimed a second win in succession but remain bottom, while Mary’s still remain unphased at the summit.
Blackrock College (4T), 32-29 Naas (4T), Stradbrook
Blackrock remained in second spot in the standings after a late Oliver Coffey penalty edged them past Naas in a classic encounter in Stradbrook.
Coffey gave Rock the lead after five minutes crossing for a try and then converting for a 7-0 lead. Sam Cahill reduced arrears to four with a penalty before Blackrock charged over for a second try Liam Turner crossing. Coffey converted to put the hosts ahead 14-3.
Graham Curtis soon added a third try after the 20 minute mark to stretch the lead to 21-3 as Coffey is showing great strength from the kicking duty this season. Naas were resurgent in the final proceedings of the first half, Peter King and Aidan O’Kane had tries converted by Cahill to make it 21-17 at the break.
Coffey kicked an opening half penalty to further Blackrock’s lead in the early stages of the second half, Peter Osborne crossed for a third Naas try after the hour mark, a big moment to brung Naas within two as Cahill’s conversion missed the mark.
Five minutes later Blackrock answered that score as Curtis raced in for the bonus point try putting seven between them as Coffey had his conversion miss the mark. Three minutes from time Naas had a penalty try awarded and just like it looked we had a draw in Stradbrook, Coffey split the posts with a penalty in stoppage time for the win.
Buccaneers (0T) 9-3 Old Wesley (0T), Dubarry Park
Buccaneers remain bottom despite their second win of the campaign giving them some much needed points, they remain adrift of safety.
Three Michael Hanley penalties gave the hosts a 9-0 lead at the break. A low scoring contest played in difficult conditions with Wesley getting on the board from a Eoin Monahan penalty in the second half in a low scoring contest in Athlone.
Garryowen (3T) 22-31 St Mary’s College (5T), Dooradoyle
St Mary’s kept their unbeaten run alive as they overcame the stern test of Garryowen in Dooradoyle on Saturday.
Jack Oliver drew first blood for the Treaty men with an early penalty before Marys replied in strong fashion. Two Hugo Conway tries and one from Ethan Baxter gave the visitors a 17-3 lead shy of the break. Mick O’Gara converted Conway’s second try. Garryowen did run in a try before the interval Oisin Cooke crossing for an unconverted try. 24-8 was the score at the break however as Mary’s notched their bonus try soon after through O’Gara, which he converted.
Mikey Veale kickstarted a second half fightback by the Dooradoyle faithful, crossing in the 53rd minute to cut the hap to none points. Mary’s quenched that quickly as Liam Corcoran crossed for the fifth try which O’Gara converted for a 31-15 lead. Garryowen stayed fighting till the very end and with a third try scored by Johnny Keane converted by Jack Delaney, the nine point gap remained untouched in the final minutes.
Highfield (2T) 14-29 Old Belvedere (4T), Woodleigh Park
A strong showing from Belvedere kept them on the tails of Blackrock with a strong performance inflicting a third defeat in succession on Highfield.
Bevlo started from the off with Fionn McWey crossing after just four minutes and eight minutes later Ariel Robles crossed for the second try, 12-0 after Mick O’Kennedy converted the earlier try. O’Kennedy converted a penalty after 18 minutes to put the visitors 15 ahead, a score they held to the break.
Highfield were quick to get on the board early in the second half as Mark Dorgan crossed and Shane O’Riordan who missed an earlier penalty made no mistake on the conversion. The Cork faithful kept the pressure on and shy of the hour mark were awarded a penalty try, their lineout maul too strong and Kale Thatcher shown a slice of cheese for his troubles.
Belvo were made to work for the result in the final ten minutes they showed their class to take the points. Joe White crossed for their third try before deep in stoppage time Calum Dowling added the bonus point. O’Kennedy converted the latter to cap off the performance.
UCC (4T) 29-27 Queens University (4T), The Mardyke
In The Colours Match at The Mardyke, UCC took the bragging rights and moved fourth in the standings Danny McCarthy’s late try and Daniel Squires subsequent conversion giving them a stunning late comeback win.
Jacob Sheehan and Squires gave UCC an early 7-0 lead before Queens mauled over through Harry Long to cut the gap to two. James Humphreys missed the conversion but a high tackle after 24 minutes allowed the Queens puthalf to kick for the lead minutes later. UCC replied well as Darragh French crossed in the corner for a 12-8 lead for UCC. On the stroke of halftime Robbie Johnston broke the UCC line and raced over for a second Queens try and Humphreys converted for a 15-12 halftime lead.
Squires levelled matters with a penalty four minutes into the second half, Queens showed their hand minutes later with James Wright over for the third try, Humphreys on hand for the extras. Five minutes shy of the hour mark Queens powered over again this time for the bonus point, Lukas Kenny touching town for the unconverted effort.
The hosts were down but far from out and in the final minutes with a home crowd cheering them all the way were awoken to come right back into proceedings. Jack O’Sullivan crossed with ten left, leaving five between them as Squires dissected the posts. With six minutes later Danny McCarthy stretched his away over the line for the bonus point try and pandemonium set in on The Mardyke completing the turnaround with the conversion.
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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.