A record breaking weekend for Instonians as they have set a new record of 30 successive wins in the AIL, elsewhere Sligo furthered their hopes of making the play-offs, while at the foot of the table, Skerries opened a gap to the bottom two.
Belfast Harlequins (3T) 17-25 Sligo (4T), Deramore Park
Sligo were bonus point winners in Belfast, extending their lead over the chasing pack for fourth place in the promotion play-offs.
With Sligo reduced to 14 men temporarily early on, Johnny McCracken crossed for a try to take full advantage. Sligo would waste little time in getting a reply, Hubert Gilvarry powering his way over for the score and Julian Leszczynski converted for a 7-5 lead. Momentum stayed with the Connacht side, after some great hands in the buildup Philip Carter went over in the corner. Leszczynski would see the conversion drift wide of the mark, Quinns would cross just before half-time Henry Boyle with the unconverted score. Sligo’s lead at the break two points, 12-10.
Shortly after the break Brian West furthered the men from the West’s lead, crossing like a freight train to add a third try, Leszczynski’s conversion drifted left and wide. The out-half would convert a penalty, minutes later Brendan Cunningham sealed the point bonus point gliding over in the corner, a touchline conversion from Leszczynski missed the mark. Quinns would add a consolation converted try at the end of the contest.
Dolphin (2T) 15-21 Wanderers (2T), Virgin Media Park
Wanderers kept up their recent winning run having to get past a stern Dolphin side to take the points. Dolphin moving off the foot of the table despite the defeat, the losing bonus point to thank.
The Dubliners struck first blood with Popoai Finau crossing for the lead, it took until 32 minutes of the opening half before the next score, Dolphin crossing through Phil Dowling to equalise, 5-5. Wanderers ended the half in a strong position, David Fitzgibbon striking a penalty for the lead before converting Finau’s second try for a 13-5 lead at the break.
Dolphin would strike early in the second half to cut the gap, four minutes into proceedings Eoghan Herlihy powered his way over and Daryl Foley converted to cut the gap to three. Fitzgibbon and Foley exchanged penalties as the lead remained three points for the visitors, another three from Fitzgibbon would see the visitors leave Cork six point winners.
Malahide (2T) 23-31 Instonians (5T), Estuary Road
Instonians broke the record for successive AIL wins previously set a 29, as they recorded a 30th straight win in a real slogfest in Malahide.
Stones started on top with 11 minutes elapsed scoring the opening try of the contest, great initial build up play by Rhys O’Donnell, Instonians had to recycle the ball and Paul Pritchard was on hand to dot under the posts for the score, Ruairi O’Farrell converting. Six minutes later the lead was doubled, a penalty allowed Stones to find touch inside the Malahide 22, from their traditional strong lineout maul, Malahide were punished for a high tackle.
Going for a scrum, Instonians kept possession and fed Marty Voster to power his way over near the posts for the second try, Farrell making it 14-0 with the conversion. Shy of the half hour mark Instonians made it 19-0, this time the driving maul was able to function after a scrum penalty and Oli Clarke did it once again powering from the back of the maul to score, Farrell seeing the touchline conversion just drag wide.
Malahide would soon get a much needed score, kicking for touch inside the Intonians half, they worked the phases well and spraying the ball left and right, they options wide and the long pass for Daniel hayes saw the winger touchdown in the corner, not an easy conversion for David O’Halloran but he found the mark to score. 19-7.
That score kept Malahide with all the momentum and just minutes later they were in again, a similar try to the opening score, moving left and right to create a sauce, they opted wide once again and Hayes carried over for the score, converted by O’Halloran yet again from the sideline and the gap was just five. O’Halloran would strike a sensational penalty just on half-time cutting the deficit to 19-17 at the interval.
The hosts drew first blood in the second half and O’Halloran it was with a penalty to give the hosts the lead. O’Halloran kept within his range as a further penalty gave the Dubliners a 23-19 lead in the early exchanges of the opening half. Instonians searched for the score to bring them back into the contest and a try from Rhys O’Donnell added their 30th straight try scoring bonus point. Farrell converted to put the visitors ahead 26-23. Instonians finished the contest off with a fifth try late on as Bevan Prinsloo darted over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Skerries (5T) 29-24 Rainey (2T), Holmpatrick
Skerries put a gap between them and the relegation zones with a bonus point win on Saturday afternoon in Holmpatrick.
Rainey started strong with Michael McCusker crossing for the opening try, Scott McLean missed the conversion but added a penalty to make the gap 8-0 between the two. Dara Lowndes cut the deficit for the hosts, crossing for an unconverted try in a breathtaking opening 20 minutes.
McLean furthered the Rainey lead with a second penalty, with two red cards shown in the opening half, the visitors had to finish the tie with 13 players. Skerries who started slower in the opening half would grab a second try before the break. Ross Halligan scored and Ronan Mulcahy converted for a 12-11 lead at the break.
Skerries notched first in the second half as captain Kevin McGrath weaved his way over for their third try, the conversion missing the mark on this occasion. Despite the mathematical disadvantage Rainey were too hot to reply to that score and take the lead once again, Mark Lee notching a try and McLean converted for the lead and then struck a penalty for a four point gap.
McGrath soon added a second try and with Mulcahy dissecting the posts the score was 24-21 in favour of the goats. The bonus try arrived minutes later through Taidgh Keane Boylan in the corner, the conversion wide but Skerries had an eight point cushion in the final minutes. McClean did add a late penalty for Rainey to take a losing bonus point.
Galway Corinthians (6T) 38-0 Dungannon (0T), Corinthian Park
Galway Corinthians produced a statement win over Dungannon returning to winning ways with a powerful showing on home soil despite seeing red in the contest.
Mark Boyle kickstarted their performance with the opening try converted by Dylan Keane in the early minutes, the lead was doubled by Evan Kenny crossing and Keane made no mistake with the conversion. Finn McNulty soon added a third try of the contest after Keane’s conversion the hosts were 21-0 ahead.
Despite a red card for Patrick Fahy, the hosts kept on the front foot and Adam Nash raced in to score the fourth try and with the bonus point secured they took a 26-0 lead to the break as Keane was off with the conversion.
Corinthians powered home in the second half, Michéal O’Reilly with the fifth try before McNulty added his second try and Keane converted to sign off a dominant win for the side sitting third in the standings.
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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.