Ulster Bank League Roundup

Young Munster and Cork Constitution kept up the pressure on the leaders in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League as Cashel extend their lead in Division 2B, but it looks grim for several Munster clubs in Divisions 1B and 2A as they battle against relegation.

Young Munster 25, Blackrock College 10 (Cormac Liddy)
After two defeats in succession Young Munster bounced back to winning ways at Clifford Park.
Once again fly half Willie Staunton was their scorer in chief and he bagged a total of fifteen points starting with a third minute penalty from almost the halfway line.
He doubled his tally with another good strike after eleven minutes but Darragh Fitzpatrick kept Blackrock in contention with a penalty after fourteen minutes when a Young Munster player was penalised for going in at the side of a ruck.
Staunton steadied the Young Munster ship with a drop goal following a line-out after seventeen minutes and he raised a huge cheer from the home supporters when he landed a penalty from near the left hand touchline midway through the half.
Just on half time Young Munster had their only try. Staunton lofted a high kick which was fielded by Rob Keogh. He, in turn, kicked back but the ball broke in midfield to Mike Kelleher and he gave the vital pass to Mark Doyle to make it 17-3 at the interval.
Another penalty by Staunton pushed the home side to 20 points.
When Blackrock were awarded a kickable penalty they opted to kick to touch in the corner. They won the line out which enabled Fitzpatrick to grab a try which he also converted.
Young Munster had Ger Flaherty sin binned but the visitors could not capitalise and it was Young Munster who had the final say when Shane Hassett, soon to emigrate, got a try in what was his last game for the club.

Scorers Young Munster: M Doyle, S Hassett try each, W Staunton 4 pens 1 drp gl.
Blackrock: D Fitzpatrick try, pen, con.
Young Munster: Aaron Carroll; Craig O’Hanlon, Andrew Burke,Mike Kelleher, Mark Doyle; Willie Staunton, mike Prendergast; Ger Flaherty, Ger Slattery, Alan Cotter; Darren Gallagher, Sean Duggan; Liam Og Murphy, James O'Neill, Nevile Melbourne.
Replacements: Ger Bourke, Hugh McGrath, Shane O'Neill, Shane Hassett, Declan Bannon.
Blackrock College: Andrew Lethan, David Rowan, Brendan Macken, Rob Keogh, Simon Byrne; Darragh Fitzpatrick, Alan McGinty; Sean Byrne, Ryan Fisher, Arthur Lyons; Des.Dillon, Alex Dunlop; Cian Carroll, Richard Marsh, Daniel Mannion.
Replacements: Tyronne Moran, Colin Coyle, Micheal McKeever, Marcus Walsh, Mark Scott Lennon

Cork Constitution 19, Lansdowne 13.
Cork Constitution halted Lansdowne’s recent revival with a deserved victory at Temple Hill.
In an evenly contested opening half Constitution led 9-6 at the break with Gerry Hurley kicking three penalties for the home side and Craig Ronaldson replying with two for Lansdowne.
The visitors went ahead with a try from Matt Healy which Ronaldson converted early in the second half but two tries from Cathal Quinn mid way through the half secured the points for Constitution.
Scorers: Cork Constitution: Cathal Quinn 2 tries, Gerry Hurley 3 Pens.
Lansdowne: Matt Healy try, Craig Ronaldson 2 Pens, Con.
Cork Constitution: Sean Scanlon; Niall O’Driscoll, Cathal Quinn, Ivan Dineen, Robert Clune; Johnny Holland, Gerry Hurley; Brian Cagney, Andrew Cudmore, John Ryan; Brian Hayes, Joe Mc Swiney; Colm Flaherty, Brian O’Hara, James Ryan.
Lansdowne: Ross McCarron; Cian Aherne, Sean Carey, Greg Stafford, Matt Healy; Craig Ronaldson, John cooney; Jack O’Connell, Tom Sexton, Martin Moore; Marc Feely, Willie Earl; Kieran Essex, Jason Kelly, Jordi Murphy.
Replacements: Stephen Collins, Darren O’Reilly, Ron Boucher, Alan Mathews, M Roche.

Garryowen 19, Dolphin 13 (Cormac Liddy)
Garryowen followed their Bateman Cup semi-final win with a significant success against Dolphin at Dooradoyle.
This win lifts them above Dolphin in the table and it came mainly via the accurate penalty kicking of Declan Cusack.
Garryowen did all their scoring in the first half with their only try being scored by the outstanding Paul Neville after 27 minutes. Cusack added the conversion and he also kicked four penalties in the half to make it 19-3 at the interval.
Barry Keesham kicked Dolphin's points with a penalty and he had another in the second half which Dolpin dominated.
Their only reward, though, was a try by John Quill which Keeshan also converted.
Scorers Garryowen: P Neville try, D Cusack 4 pens 1 con.
Dolphin: J Quill try, B Keesham 2 pens 1 con.
Garryowen: Ronan O’Mahony; Adam O’Loughlin, Corey Hircock, Conan Doyle, Ian Hanley; Declan Cusack, Fergal Lawlor; JP Cooney, David Rowley, Peter O’Shea; Mark Melbourne, Frank McKenna; Paul Neville, Conor Hartigan, Dave Sherry.
Replacements: JM Griffin, Declan Lavery, Lemeki Viapulu, Kieran O’Gorman, N Cronin.

Dolphin: Eamon Mills; cian Bohane, Eric Moloney, Kevin Lynch, Chris Nolan; Barry Keeshan, Chris Bannon; James Cronin, John Cleary, Christy Condon; Rob O’Herlihy, Chris Rowe; Dave O’Callaghan, John Quill, Ryan Murphy. Replacements: Gavin Duffy, Andy O'Driscoll, Kyle O’Dwyer, Dave O’Mahony, Steve Collins.

Shannon 14, Clontarf 22. (Cormac Liddy)
Shannon gave youth a fling for their game against Clontarf at Coonagh by starting with four of their under 21 side but by half time the home side trailed by 22-0.
Shannon made the brighter start but it was the visitors who scored the opening points. Hooker Jan Larbey made the initial break which led to Barry O'Mahony getting over.
Shannon's Tadh Bennett saw his penalty come back off the woodwork after eighteen minutes.
Richie Lane was off target with a 50 metre penalty effort but when Shannon roamed offside after 25 minutes Lane tapped over the penalty from in front of the posts.
Ben Reilly, Clontarf, was yellow carded and while he was out of the action the Shannon pack gained the upper hand. But the home side wasted a glorious try scoring chance on the half hour. With nobody to beat a pass went astray and they took a lot of the enthusiasm out of the side.
They paid a hefty proce for not scoring on that occasion when 'Tarf had their second try two minutes later in the 33rd minute. A Shannon defender tried a cheeky chip out of defence but it backfired and the ball broke to Tim McCoy who touched down. To add to Shannon's misery Lane's conversion went over off the crossbar to make it 15-0.
Shannon lost Luke O'Dea with a shoulder injury and it took a great tackle by Shane McNamara to deny Conor Keegan a try after he was given the chance by Sam Cronin.
In the final action of the half Shannon lost their own line-out throw and O'Mahony was credited with the touchdown for their third try which Lane again converted to make it 22-0.
By that stage Clontarf must have fancied their chances of picking up a bonus point with a fourth try but it was Shannon who dominated the second half.
Richie Mullane got over the line but could not manage to touchdown but four minutes from the end the home side were rewarded when Kevin Griffin barged his way over.
Shannon struck again in the final minute with Dave Quinlan touching down. Tadgh Bennett converted both tries but it was too little too late and Shannon ended with nothing for their efforts while 'Tarf wonder why they did not add to their first half tally.
Scorers Shannon: Kevin Griffin, Dave Quinlan tries, Tadgh Bennett 2 cons.
Clontarf: Barry O'Mahony 2 tries, Tim McCoy try, Richard Lane pen 2 cons.
Shannon: Luke O’Dea; Shane McNamara, Richie Mullane, Mossie Lawlor, Willie O’Connor; Tadgh Bennett, Alan Bennie; Les Hogan, John Deegan, Kevin Griffin; Dan Heffernan, Fergal Walsh; Stephen Keogh, James Murphy, David Quinlan.
Replacements: Aaron O'Brien, Garry McNamara, John Sheerin, Aaron Spring, Rob Guerin.
Clontarf: Richard Lane; C Keegan, K Lett, C O’Shea, T McCoy; Noel Reid, Sam Cronin; B Barclay, J Larbey, N Treston; C O’Keefe, B Reilly; S Crawford, Barry O’Mahony, Frank Cogan.
Replacements: C O’Flynn, D Lambert, A D’Arcy, M Dufficy, D O’Meara.

Dungannon 12, U.L. Bohemian 20.
U.L. Bohemian put a big dent in Dungannon’s promotion hopes in Division 1B with a victory at Stevenson Park.
The visitors led 13-9 at half time with a try by Martin McPhail and a conversion and two penalties by Ed Torrie. Michael Lawton kicked three penalties for the home side.
Rory White added a second try for Bohes in the second half and Torrie converted. Dungannon’s only response was a penalty by Lawton.
Scorers Dungannon: Michael Lawton 4 pens
UL Bohemian: Martin McPhail, Rory White tries; Ed Torrie 2 cons, 2 Pens.
Dungannon: Conor Gaston; Mark O’Shea, Chris Cochrane, Stuart McCloskey, Michael Lawton; Jarryd Bennett, Kieran Campbell; Mark Farquhar, Adam Duhig, Glen Sinnamon; Mark Jenkinson, Tim Barker; James McMahon, Rowan Halsall, Ali Birch.
Replacements: Paul Jackson, Phil Whyte, Calum Threlfall, Derek Hall, Michael Kirkwood
U.L. Bohemian: Darren Moroney; Rory White, Martin McPhail, Niall Kennedy, Finbarr Ahern; Ed Torrie, Cathal Sheridan; Dave Kilcoyne, Eddie Rossiter, Kevin Flanagan; Ed Kelly, Dave Foley; Conor Kindregan, Keith McManus, Sean Rennison.
Replacements: Tadgh Power, Gary Walsh, Brian Walsh, Dale Harris, Derek Farrell.

Galwegians 10, Bruff 5.
Galwegians eased their relegation worries with a two to one try win over fellow strugglers Bruff at Crowley Park.
Tries in each half from Ivan Muldoon and Tadgh Leader to a second half try by Cathal O’Regan saw the Connacht side pick up the points.
Scorers Galwegians: Ivan Muldoon, Tadhg Leader tries
Bruff: Cathal O'Regan try.
Galwegians: John Cleary; Barry Lee, Colin Conroy, Brian Murphy, Paddy Finn; Tadgh Leader, Dave Moore; Jason East, Dermot Murphy, Jamie Stephens; Dave O’Hara, Brian McClearn; TJ Anderson, Ivan Muldoon, Eoin McKeon.
Bruff: Brendan Deady; Tom o’callaghan, Andrew Cashman, Brian Cahill, Mark Cosgrave; Tony Cahill, Eoghan Maher; David Horan, Cathal O'Regan, Stephen Foster; Brian Horan, Brian Morrissey; Alan Bourke, John Shine, Paddy Clery. Replacements: Johnny Hogan, Ger Collins, Paudge Clery, Paul O'Brien, Gary Leonard

U.C.C. 11, UCD 13
Another bad day for U.C.C. at the Mardyke as they lost their their annual Colours game to U.C.D. and now face a big battle against relegation from Division 1B after this defeat.
A try by Dean Lynch after five minutes converted by Niall Earls gave the visitors the perfect start. Brian Kingston hit pack with a penalty two minutes later for U.C.C. but an Earls penalty left the Dublin side 10-3 ahead at half time.
Substitute James Thornton extended the visitors advantage with a penalty but the Cork students rallied with a second penalty from Kingston and a try by Gareth O’Suilleabhain.
Scorers: U.C.C.: G O’Suilleabhain Try; B Kingston 2 Pens.
U.C.D 😀 Lynch Try: N Earls Pen, Con, J Thornton pen.
U.C.C.: Luke Duffy; Gareth O’Suilleabhain, Cyprian Jouve, Patrick Parfrey, Joe Holland; Brian Kingston, Brian Slater; Ronan O’Neill, Wayne Falvey, Shane Moynihan; Brian Quill, James Mulcahy; Willie Ryan, Brian O’Callaghan, Luke Cahill. Replacements: Peter McCabe, Paddy Ryan, Dave O'Connell, Johnny MacCarthy, Kevin Slater.
U.C.D.: Michael Twomey; Andy Boyle, Alex Kelly, David Lynch, Tom Fletcher; Niall earls, Peter DuToit; James Tracey, Risteard Byrne, Kieran Moloney; Brian Cawley, Keelan McKenna; Danny Kenny, David Doyle, Shane Grannell. Replacements: Brian Hall, Richie Bent, Mark McGroarty, Rob Shanley, James Thornton.

Old Crescent travelled to Donnybrook to face Bective Rangers in a Division 2A tie but the home side emerged victorious 29-3. Shane Mullally kicked a penalty for the Rosbrien side.
Thomond are still not clear of relegation after they lost at home to Dublin University 37-3. Wayne Murphy kicked a penalty for the home side.
Clonakilty are still bottom of the table after their 26-22 home defeat by City of Derry. Clonakilty led 8-6 at half time with a try from Ryan Purcell and a penalty by Matt Kirby. The Ulster side hit back early in the second half to lead 18-8 but tries from Kieran Howlin and Gary Shannon both converted by Kirby put Clon’ ahead 22-18 with ten minutes to go. It was City of Derry who finished the stronger and a penalty by Richard McArthur and a try by Stephen Corr saw the visitors take the points.
Midleton are just a point above Clonakilty after they lost away to Greystones 30-12. Paul Daly and Michael Cronin scored tries for Midleton and Jeff Hitchmough kicked a penalty.

Cashel extended their advantage in Division 2B with a 32-0 away win over City of Armagh. Kevin Quinlan scored two tries for the winners and Lloyd Foote and Dave McCormack got one each. Pat O’Connor kicked two penalties and two conversions.
Nenagh Ormond lost valuable ground when they went down at home to Banbridge 24-5.

Highfield 11, Navan 3.
Highfield had to battle hard for their 11-3 home win over Navan at Woodleigh Park.
The game was tied at 3-3 approaching the hour mark. Both penalties came in the first half with Richard van der Vyver opening the scoring for the visitors which was soon cancelled out by Colin Mahony.
The home side took the lead mid way through the second half when following a line out in the Navan Twenty two, the ‘Field pack mauled the ball towards the posts and David O’Hea managed to ground the ball over the line.
Mahony missed the conversion, having a rare poor day with the boot after two first half efforts also dropped short. When a kickable penalty was awarded shortly after the try, Darragh Masterson took over the kicking duties and slotted the vital three points.
Scorers Highfield: D O’Hea try, C Mahony, D Masterson pen each.
Navan: R van der Vyver pen.
Highfield: K Moloney; R Childs, B O’Hea, C Mahony, M O’Driscoll; D Buckley-Barry, K Foley; J Carton, D O’Hea, R Bogue; D Kelly, M Dillane; M Power, D Lucey, D Keogh.
Replacements: J O’Callaghan, C Tuohy, J Murphy, J Sheehan, D Masterson.
Navan: M McCarthy; M Harrington, R van der Vyver, D Sheridan, S Hogan; J Mullins, D Delahunt; E King, J McCaty, D King; P Feeny, J Duffy; T Boyle, S Dawson, L Jackson.
Replacements: M Liddle, C Brady, T Clarke, J DavisScorers:

RESULTS:
Ulster Bank League Division 1A: Cork Constitution 19, Lansdowne 13;
Garryowen 19, Dolphin 13;
Old Belvedere 10, St. Mary's College 27;
Shannon 14, Clontarf 22;
Young Munster 25, Blackrock College 10;

Division 1B: Belfast Harlequins 19, Ballynahinch 13;
Buccaneers 6, Ballymena 8;
Dungannon 12, U.L. Bohemian 20;
Galwegians 10, Bruff 5;
U.C.C. 11, U.C.D. 13;

Division 2A: Bective Rangers 29, Old Crescent 3;
Clonakilty 22, City of Derry 26;
D.L.S.P. 27, Malone 22;
Greystones 30, Midleton 12;
Instonians 20, Seapoint 13;
Queens University 42, Old Wesley 6;
Terenure College 14, Corinthians 0;
Thomond 3, Dublin University 37;

Division 2B: Ards 16, Sligo ;
City of Armagh 0, Cashel ;
Highfield 11, Navan ;
Naas 11, Boyne 11;
Nenagh Ormond 5, Banbridge 24;
Rainey Old Boys 12, Connemara 27;
Sunday's Well v Suttonians Postponed;
Wanderers 16, NUIM Barnhall 16;