Nenagh moved eight clear at the summit of 2A following their win in the Tipperary derby, Banbridge and Old Crescent also tasted success in provincial derbies to move closer to the top four. Ballymena also won a provincial derby at the weekend, leaving the relegation zone as a result.
MU Barnhall (5T) 39-32 Navan (5T), Parsonstown
MU Barnhall regained their third spot in the 2A standings after a breathing contest with Navan opened the day of proceedings in 2A.
Navan certainly gave this game a real battle and trailed 22-15 at the break and in the finish despite Jamie Kavanagh, Ryan Healy, Evan Dixon, Sean McEntagart and Jordan Finney crossing for tries with Mark Farrell also adding two conversions they had to settle for two bonus points.
Barnhall showed their strength and for large parts of the opening half were behind but tries near the death of the half gave them the advantage. Nick Doggert and Luke Callinan added further tries in the second half to give the hosts a cushion, Jack Hannon was also impressive from the tee all afternoon.
Cashel (1T) 16-20 Nenagh Ormond (3T), Spafield
Nenagh took the Tipperary derby bragging rights and now lead 2A by eight points going into the break.
Ben Twomey struck the hosts ahead from a penalty, Nenagh soon hit back Josh Rowland crossing and Pope converted for a 7-3 lead. Twomey cut the gap back to one with his second penalty of the afternoon, Nenagh again struck a try however as John Healy powered over, the try unconverted. Twomey and Pope exchanged penalties as the half came to an end, Nenagh ahead 15-9.
Pope added a try as the second half got underway which went unconverted, Cashel however hit back with Tom Tobin going over to cut the gap to four and punish a Nenagh yellow card, Twomey converting the try. Nenagh defended well late on to secure the win.
Greystones (2T) 20-30 Banbridge (4T), Dr Hickey Park
Banbridge kept pressure on fourth placed UL Bohemian as they took the points in an entertaining meeting with Greystones.
A penalty try gave Banbridge an early 7-0 cushion, Ethan Mount would score on his debut shortly after, Andrew Morrison shy of the half hour mark added a third try and Adam Doherty converted for a 19-0 lead. Killian Marmion got Greystones on the board with two late penalties as the Ulster men were ahead 19-6 at the interval.
Less than ten minutes elapsed in the second half Greystones added their opening try, Josh Pyper going over and Marmion made no mistake leaving six between the teams. Doherty kicked three for Banbridge on the 55th minute mark to give them a boost in the half, John Wilson certainly gave them another minutes later as he powered over for the bonus try on the hour mark.
Greystones were not done there Ken Murphy crossed with ten left and Marmion cut the gap to seven. Doherty was again accurate from the tee however as Banbridge moved ten clear in the final minutes of proceedings, a big win on the road for them.
Malone (2T) 16-19 Ballymena (1T), Gibson Park
Ballymena moved out of the drop zone as they weathered a late storm from Malone to seal an important three point win on the road.
Pierce Crowe drew first blood with a penalty for Ballymena, shortly after Roshan Weeraratne dove under the posts for their opening try and Crowe made it 10-0 with the conversion. Crowe with another three coming from a high tackle extended the gap further for Ballymena and would do the same minutes later for a 16-0 lead. Peter Caves got Malone on the board with a penalty at the death of the half to make it 16-3 at the interval.
Caves and Crowe exchanged penalties early in the second half with Malone seeing yellow for their troubles. Mark Galvin and Dan Kerr went over for unconverted tries as Malone cut the gap to three, Ballymena held out for the win, Crowe did go off injured however and if it is serious a massive loss for them going forward giving his contribution this season.
UL Bohemian (3T) 20-24 Old Crescent (2T), Annacotty
Old Crescent took the Limerick bragging rights in 2A as Ronan McKenna was in top form to strike a late penalty to secure the result.
Daithi Byrnes gave Crescent the lead with the opening try of the contest and McKenna made it a full seven point haul. UL Bohs replied through Killian Dineen crossing after 25 minutes to tie the contest as Harry Byrne struck the conversion. Old Crescent regained their lead as Cathal Monaghan crashed over in the corner, the lead five points after the missed conversion.
Paul Clancy showed power and pace to beat three Crescent tacklers and cross for the second Robins try in reply, Byrne’s conversion drew wide of the uprights. Byrne gave UL their only lead of the contest shy of the break with a penalty, McKenna replied to tie the game yet again 15-15 at the interval.
McKenna converted two early second half penalties for a 21-15 advantage, UL having Ben Byrne sent to the bin for a high tackle. Joe Johnson finished well in the corner for a third try for the hosts going into the final ten minutes, Byrne missed the conversion which followed. It needed something special to win this game, McKenna obliged with a monster penalty inside the Bohs half to dissect the uprights and ensure they left with the points, moving to sixth in the table as a result.
More Info on Division 2A 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.