The title race in 2A takes another twist after a dramatic weekend as Blackrock move three points ahead of Queens, while Navan pick up a much-needed win after dropping down the table.
MU Barnhall 34-19 Dolphin, Parsonstown
MU Barnhall remained fourth after a strong display to defeat Dolphin on home soil at the weekend.
The hosts were behind early as the Cork side went 12-5 ahead, but two tries before the break saw Barnhall lead 17-12. The scores kept coming for the hosts, another try into the second half moved them, 24-12 clear, before the bonus point try came for a 29-12 lead with a quarter of an hour left to play. A further exchange of tries occurred at the end but Banrhjall were unphased in the contest.
Blackrock College 17-14 Nenagh Ormond, Stradbrook
Blackrock produced a stunning late comeback win to remain top of the Division by three points.
Nenagh controlled the opening half as three penalties saw them move 9-0 ahead, as Kevin O’Flaherty’s first half try had them in control of a large part of the game, going in 14-0 ahead by the interval.
Back came the Rock into the second half with Mattie Dwan getting them on the board after 55 minutes, that spurred the hosts on as a vocal home support spurred them to trail by two points after 66 minutes, Matt Cosgrave getting over to make it 14-12 as this effort was converted. Right at the death it was Brian Colclough that proved to be the match winner as his try was enough for Blackrock to take the points.
Navan 15-0 UL Bohemian, Balreask Old
Navan rose to fifth place after a controlled win over UL, that saw the visitors unable to score a point in a tight contest in Meath.
The hosts controlled the contest from the off and pushed 10-0 clear by the break, as UL struggled to chip away at the deficit, an unconverted try in the second half proved to be the only score, as Navan will be full of optimism after picking up some much needed form.
Old Crescent 32-14 Ballymena, Takumi Park
Old Crescent moved eight points clear of the relegation battle, as they put in a stunning display to defeat Ballymena in Limerick.
It was a dramatic start to proceedings with Owen Murphy crossing for an unconverted try after one minute of play, while Ballymena replied to lead 7-5 by the fifth minute with an opening try. Crescent came back by the ninth minute through Ruadhan Quinn, the conversion moving them 12-7 ahead. The tempo slowed down for the remainder of the half but Cathal O’Reilly crossed in the 39th minute for their third try of the half, extending their lead to 19-7 by the interval.
Into the second half and Crescent remained in the driver’s seat, Ronan Mckenna landing a penalty five minutes into the half to move them ahead 22-7, after the hour mark Ballymena looked to spark a comeback as their second converted try of the day reduced the deficit to 22-14. However the Shannonsiders finished with a flurry, Jack O’Mahony getting the bonus point try after 75 minutes, while the boot of Ronan McKenna landed the conversion and a penalty to put the result beyond doubt in the dying minutes.
Queens University 38-31 Cashel, Dub Lane
In a gigantic tussle in Ulster, Queens edged Cashel in a dramatic game full of twists and turns to move into second place and reignite their title hopes.
The Ulster side showed their dominance to move 21-0 clear of their opponents by the 22nd minute mark their try scoring has always been a key strength to their game, Cashel got on the board a short while later to reduce the gap to 21-5, but Queens got into the corner with a grubber kick in behind for the bonus point. Brendan Ryan would snatch a try at the end under the posts to make it 28-12 at the break.
Queens were down to 14 men after a yellow was brandished, their ill discipline sowing again as they infringed on the Cashel maul from the penalty lineout, with the Tipp side awarded a penalty try, another man sent to the bin as Cashel trailed 28-19. They used the extra man advantage well with Ciaran Ryan beating the Queens defence after a lineout move to make it 28-24.
The students replied with their fifth converted try almost instantly to pull back into the lead, it would set up a dramatic ending with Cashel over once more as Ryan managed to cross for a second try to make it 35-31, the Tipp side went at it went unfortunately for them Queens had a penalty right in front of the posts to take the win in the end.
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.