St Mary’s lead by 11 points in 1B and continue to set the pace, Highfield moved back into the top four, while Naas, Garryowen and Old Wesley picked up valuable wins.
Garryowen (4T) 32-26 Blackrock College (4T), Dooradoyle
Garryowen ended a four game losing streak to overcome Blackrock in a game we waited 12 years to occur again on Shannonside in the AIL.
A game very much tit for tat for large parts, JJ O’Neill put Garryowen 7-0 ahead after Jack Oliver converted the winger’s try, Blackrock struck back minutes later as Matthew Dwan powered over and in the battle of the Oliver’s, Oliver Coffey struck the conversion to level.
Tries from Bryan Fitzgerald and Gordon Wood converted by Oliver put the hosts 21-7 to the good before Brian Colclough went over and the conversion from Coffey had the half time score 21-14 in favour of the Dooradoyle men.
Rock struck the next score minutes into the second period, Odhran Ring grabbing their third try which Coffey struck over to level proceedings. Peter Quirke had Blackrock ahead after his unconverted try cancelled out a penalty prior from Oliver. Oliver regained the lead for Garryowen before Colm Hogan crossed and the conversion from Oliver secured the outcome and a vital bonus point also will go a long way for them.
Queens University (4T) 26-34 Highfield (4T), Dub Lane
Highfield moved back into fourth spot after a hard earned bonus point win in Belfast against Queens.
Shane O’Riordan put three on the board early for Highfield, Queens who have shone with their attacking exploits powered over their opening score crossed after 16 minutes Lukas Kenny the scorer and James Humphreys conversion made it 7-3. Tries from Dave O’Connell and Miah Cronin converted by O’Riordan saw the Cork side lead 17-7 at the break.
A penalty try gave the visitors another boost into the second half, with just three elapsed Queens needed to dig deep. James Wright replied with a converted try, Highfield did however seal the bonus minutes later through Dave O’Sullivan. The lead 31-14 after another O’Riordan conversion. Cameron Hillis and Alexander Clarke added the bonus point for Queens in between O’Riordan kicking a second penalty.
St Mary’s College (5T) 34-27 Old Belvedere (3T), Templeville Road
Mary’s lead at the summit is now 11 points after they prevailed in a classic meeting with their Dublin neighbours Old Belvedere.
Belvo did lead the contest 14-10 at the break, tries from Ariel Robles and Peter O’Beirne enough to see them four ahead at the break. Mary’s through the boot of O’Gara and a Jamie Harding try kept their side in the game.
Mary’s would prove stronger in the second stanza. David Wilkinson extended the Belvo lead Leroy Jack would hit the break and his try converted by Mick O’Gara levelled the tie. Fionn McWey swung momentum back the way of Belvedere after Wilkinson converted the try. 25-18.
Tries from Ronan Watters, Hugo Conway and Leandro Ramirez helped Mary’s power their way home to take another bonus result, their seventh of the campaign as it looks like they will take serious stopping this season.
Old Wesley (3T) 27-26 UCC (4T), Energia Park
Wesley jumped out of the bottom two places with a narrow win over UCC, the Cork side dropped out of the top four and also will be looking at the injury picked up by Daniel Squires.
Wesley started strong and tries from Tom Larke and Stephen Smyth put the hosts 14-0 ahead with Eoin Monahan converting. UCC did get on the board through a penalty try, however Monahan struck two penalties and the lead was 20-7 for the Dubliners. Mike Colgan crossed shy of the break and his try went unconverted to leave eight between them at the break.
Into the second half Wesley saw red and Jack O’Sullivan sniped a third UCC try and Andrew O’Mahony converted to make it a one point game. Alex Molloy hit the break for Wesley with 20 left as Monahan converted the try. Louis Bruce did take a vital losing bonus and try scoring bonus point back to Leeside, breaking from their own 22, the captain crossed and Ben O’Connor converted the try.
Naas (4T) 35-29 Buccaneers (4T), Tullow RFC
Despite their game with Buccaneers delayed by two hours and moved to Tullow, Naas secured a hard earned result to move sixth in the table, two points off the top four.
Gavin Daly went over early for Buccaneers and the conversion from Michael Hanley gave the Pirates an early margin. Fionn Higgins had a quick reply for Naas, crossing the whitewash and after Craig Ronaldson levelled matters from the tee, he gave Naas the lead ten minutes later from a penalty.
Donal Conroy furthered the hosts lead with the second try soon after and Ronaldson struck the resulting conversion for a 17-7 lead. Michael Hanley cut the gap to ten with a penalty for Buccs, tries meanwhile from Conor Doyle and Jack Sheridan secured the bonus point for Naas and Ronaldson added both conversions for a 29-17 lead shy of the break. The pirates through Liam McNamara and Josh O’Connor hit late tries for a 29-22 score at the interval.
Shy of the hour mark Ronaldson dispatched another penalty, Buccs meanwhile never went away and added their bonus point through Matthew Victory, two bonus points for Buccs as they failed to score in the final 12 minutes to take the win.
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.