AIL Roundup: Division 2A Week 10

The title race in 2A takes another twist as Queens move four clear the top after Cashel defeated Blackrock, elsewhere Barnhall strengthened their hold on top four as Nenagh Ormond were held to a draw.

Old Crescent 18-17 Dolphin, Takumi Park

Old Crescent scored consecutive wins over their Cork neighbours to move them up to sixth place in the table, as another late penalty from Ronan McKenna saw them grab a late win.

Inside five minutes McKenna landed a penalty for a 3-0 advantage for the hosts, the game ebbed and flowed but the visitors were next on the board as Matt Barry crossed for an unconverted try to see them lead 5-3 after 20 minutes. Tomas Quinlan extended the visitors lead to five with a penalty before the half hour mark. 

The remainder of the half was a tight battle between the two, Crescent were given a penalty try after their maul was brought down shy of the line, putting them 10-8 ahead as the minutes ticked by toward the break, Quinlan landed another penalty off the tee for an 11-10 lead at half-time.

Both tussled after the restart but the visitors drew first blood in the second half as Quinlan was successful with his second penalty attempt as the weather had turned nasty, just two minutes later the hosts hit the jugular as Jack O’Mahony crossed to put them ahead by a single point, the try did little to knock Dolphin as Quinlan was ice cold from the ee to restore their lead toward the final 15 minutes of play. Like the week previous it was McKenna in the dying seconds to win the game with the last kick of play.

Blackrock College 8-14 Cashel, Stradbrook

For the second week in a row Blackrock have seen their title ambitions dented by Cashel as they were handed their second defeat of the year.

Rock took an early 3-0 lead as Cashel were penalised for offside, a game of intensity and drama as both were looking to hit a big score, the hosts kept the momentum and powered over for a try in the corner to move 8-0 clear. Just before the break Cashel came back into the tie, Freddy Bergada crossing for their opening try and Ryan O’Sullivan converted to leave a point between them at the interval 8-7.

The second half was a slog fest between the two as Rock tried to breakdown Cashel and put the game to bed while the visitors from Tippeary were out for the win, cards were shown, chances came but not hit by either side but three minutes from time Cashel won a scrum outside the Blackrock 22, James Ryan picked and went and made a considerable distance he offloaded to Conor Cashman and with two defenders hanging off him trying to stop him in his tracks he dived over for the winning score, with O’Sullivan making an astonishing conversion attempt into the stiff breeze to add the extras.

MU Barnhall 42-29 UL Bohemian, Parsonstown

MU Barnhall made up for last week’s defeat away in Limerick, to edge a high scoring encounter with the Robins in Parsonstown.

The weather conditions made life difficult in the early stages of the tie but the hosts weathered the storm early and added two converted tries to lead 14-0, Bohs hit back with an unconverted try however Banrhall would breach them for a third converted try after 25 minutes. The hosts hit their bonus point as we neared the end of the half four converted tries had them in good condition, but Rory White crossed for a converted try just before the end of the half this was added by a late penalty for a 28-15 deficit at the break.

Into the second half the conditions remained difficult as both sides pressed onwards, a try a piece left Banrhall ahead 35-22 into the final ten minutes, the hosts capped off a great display with another well worked try in the dying minutes, but Bohs left with a bonus point after their maul was pulled down close to the line the referee signalled for a penalty try.

Navan 10-10 Nenagh Ormond, Balreask Old

Navan came from behind to rescue a home draw with Nenagh Ormond but have dropped down to seventh place in the table as a result.

Weather conditions made life tough for both but Navan displayed their skill and quality to snatch the opening score as Paddy Fox dived over in the corner for the games opening score just before half an hour went by, Mark Farrell missed the conversion as the wind just did not play ball with the Navan man, Nenagh have a powerful pack and just before the break it worked wonders in getting them right back onto the game, Kevin O’Flaherty crossed for a try with Conor McMahon converting for a 7-5 margin at the interval.

After the restart O’Flaherty kicked a penalty to make it a five point game between the teams, Navan had chances in the second half and will feel like this game was one they left behind, despite equalising after 67 minutes as Hardus Van Eeden raced in for a try, Farrell again missed the kick and would miss a late penalty to decide matters.

Queens University 43-25 Ballymena, Dub Lane, 

Queens have a four point cushion at the summit of the 2A table after a bonus point win in a thriller of a tie at the Dub.

David Whitten crossed for an early try after seven minutes with the conversion giving them a 7-0 lead, Ross McKay reduced the lead with a penalty but after 20 minutes Queens were in again for their second converted try. 

Simon McMaster further extended their lead with their third try in the 28th minute with Adam Mitchell cancelling it out as Ballymena notched their first try of the game to make it 21-10 minutes later. McKay helped narrow the gap again before the break as he notched another penalty. 

The hosts showed their lethal attacking threat after the restart to get their bonus point try as Ballymena were reduced to 14 men, Alexander Clarke was next to cross for the Ulster students his try putting the scoreboard up to 36-13 in their favour as we headed to the last 20 minutes, Callum Patterson added a second Ballymena try to make it a 16 point game as Queens saw a man head to the sin bin. 

James Howe capitalised on the extra man advantage to get the third Mena try as we neared the end of the half, the gap however was still 11 points and right at the death ust minutes left Queens hit another converted try to make sure they would not let the game slip.

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.

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