It was another exciting and unpredictable weekend in 1B with four out of the five fixtures being decided by seven points or less. Buccaneers provided the shock of the round against Old Wesley to register their first win of the league campaign.
BUCCANEERS 35 OLD WESLEY 7, Dubarry Park
Where else to start but in Athlone where Eddie O’Sullivan’s Buccs pulled of a wonderful 35-7 win over last season’s table toppers Old Wesley.
Oisin McCormack, Shane Jennings, Darren Brown, Will Reilly all crossed the line for the hosts as they secured the full five points. It was a real statement of intent from the newly promoted team.
The visitors only try came Alex Molloy. The performance was uncharacteristic from a team that got beat very few times last season.
BANBRIDGE 14 OLD BELVEDERE 13, Rifle Park
Banbridge held on to get their first win in front of a home crowd on Saturday in what was really a game of two halves.
The Ulstermen raced into a 14-0 at the break, thanks to tries from Conor Field and Robin Sinton. James Humphreys kicking the two conversions.
To their credit, Old Belvedere almost produced the perfect comeback. Kyle Thatcher and Joe White leading the charge with unconverted tries. However, they came up short by the smallest of margins.
NAAS 22 HIGHFIELD 24, Forenaughts
Highfield maintained their 100% winning record with a hard fought 24-22 victory over Johne Murphy’s Naas.
Outside centre Cian Bohane is in great form, scoring two more tries. He’s been a standout player for them so far.
Substitute Oscar Cawley made a big difference when he entered the fray for Naas. He scored two tries almost inspiring a big comeback. It will be interesting to see when former Irish international Sean O’Brien makes his debut for the club, could it be next week against Old Belvedere.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 41 MALONE 27, Templeville Road
Recently retired Irish international Sean Cronin got his first win since taking over at the helm over Malone at Templeville Road over the weekend.
Their out-half Mick O’Gara contributed nineteen points on the day, with Steven Kilgallen, Conor Hickey, Tim MacMahon and Hugo Conway, getting the other tries.
Malone scored three tries of their own through Dan Kerr, Ben Gibson, Dave Cave, with right wing Rory Campbell kicking twelve points from the kicking tee. They are still yet to get off the mark this season, now sitting at the foot of the table.
UCC 15 CITY OF ARMAGH 14, The Mardyke
Life back in 1B is so far going to plan for UCC who join Highfield as the only other unbeaten team in the league so far.
The hosts had to score twelve unanswered points in the second half to claim victory. Sean Condon and Jacob Sheahan scoring the all-important tries.
City of Armagh will be devastated to be only come away with a losing bonus point from the game. Converted first half tries from Nigel Simpson and Neil Faloon put them in the driving seat at the break. Ultimately disappointed, there’s plenty of positives for them to take from their opening two games
