Ulster Bank League Roundup

Young Munster have moved to the top of Division1A of the Ulster Bank League after a second Limerick derby win, as leaders Clontarf lost their unbeaten record at Temple Hill.

Garryowen 6, Young Munster 10 (Cormac Liddy).
The Melbourne brothers were in opposition in this rousing battle under the Dooradoyle lights at the end of which Young Munster were successful with the younger of the two brothers, Neville, having reason to celebrate as his side held out persistent late pressure to take full points which puts them top of the table.
Making it back to back wins in successive weeks in local derbies as they beat Shannon last week, giving Young Munster very much the bragging rights going into the break.
A try by scrumhalf Mike Prendergast ten minutes from the end made all the difference and while both sides squandered scoring chances Young Munster just about deserved the win.
A player from each side, Alan Cotter, Young Munster, and Liemiki Via’pulu, Garryowen, were binned on separate occasions in a game which was tied at 3-3 at half time.
Willie Staunton kicked a first half penalty and crucially converted Prendergast's try which came following sustained pressure on the Garryowen line.
Young Munster had an early chance when Garryowen were penalised for collapsing a scrum but Willie Staunton's penalty from the right and near the touchline drifted wide.
Young Munster's Alan Cotter was sin binned after 28 minutes and centre Alan Gaughan put Garryowen in front with the penalty.
The lead lasted only four minutes. Garryowen were penalised in rapid succession and when one of their players gave back chat they gained an extra advantage from which Willie Staunton landed the penalty to make it 3-3.
Just on the hour Lawler made it 6-3 to Garryowen and then came Prendergast's try which Staunton improved on to clinch a famous double for Young Munster.
Garryowen: L Bourke; I Hanley, C Hircock, A Gaughan, R O’Mahony; C Doyle, F Lawler; M Kennedy, J Rael, D Lavery; F McKenna, M Melbourne; P Neville, K O'Gorman, L Via’pulu. Replacements: S Buckley for McKenna, JP Cooney for Kennedy.
Young Munster: M Costello; C O'Hanlon, M Kelleher, A Bourke, D O'Neill; W Staunton, M Prendergast; A Cotter, G Slattery, H McGrath; D Gallagher, S Duggan; J Moroney, S Hassett, N Melbourne. Replacements: G Bourke for Slattery, G Flaherty for McGrath, L Og Murphy for Moroney.
Referee, O Hodges, MAR.

Cork Constitution 26, Clontarf 18.
Cork Constitution ended Clontarf’s unbeaten run with a deserved victory at Temple Hill.
The home side went ahead after two minutes with a penalty from Gerry Hurley. At the mid way point of the half the home side extended their lead with a try from Brian O’Hara which Hurley converted. Former Con’ player Richard Lane kicked a penalty for the visitors, but Hurley added another penalty for a 13-3 interval lead.
Lane and Hurley exchanged penalties early in the second half before Clontarf’s Adrian Darcy was shown a red card on fifty eight minutes. Hurley and Niall O’Driscoll added tries for Con’ and in a late rally Noel Reid and Barry O’Mahony scored tries for the visitors and Lane converted one but missed the second to deny Clontarf a losing bonus point.
Scorers Cork Constitution: G Hurley, try, con, 3 pens, B O’Hara, N O’Driscoll tries,
Clontarf: N Reid, B O’Mahony tries, R Lane 2 pens, con.

Shannon 18, Old Belvedere 18. (Cormac Liddy)
Both coaches will be wondering just how this thriller at Coonagh ended all square.
Shannon had a great start and went 8-0 clear after thirteen minutes. By halftime Old Belvedere had stormed into an 18-8 advantage but with quarter of the game still remaining it was all square and in a hectic finish neither side could score again.
Shannon got off to an ideal start. Their forwards turned over possession on the Old Belvedere 22 and moved the ball quickly with Mossy Lawler making the final pass to winger Richie Mullane who scampered in at the corner. Tadgh Bennett could not add the conversion but he made amends after thirteen minutes when it landed a penalty to make it 8-0 and all seemed well for Shannon.
A Shannon knock-on by Luke O'Dea culminated in a penalty but Andy Dunne was off target and it took a powerful tackle by Mullane to deny Leo Auva’a a try.
The Dublin side got back in the game courtesy of a drop goal by Andy Dunne and Shannon suffered a big blow when their player coach Stephen Keogh had to retire injured and was replaced by Ken Hanley.
Old Belvedere were well on top at this stage and went in front when winger Peter Woods had a try which Dunne converted to make it 10-8.
Shannon were penalised for a scrum infringement after 36 minutes and Dunne made no mistake with the penalty, 13-8.
Worse was to follow for Shannon just at the end of the half. Woods gathered a loose ball inside his own 22 and raced the length of the pitch for a try to leave it 18-8 at the end of a half which Shannon started so well.
Whatever was said in the Shannon dressing room at the break worked a dream. Nine minutes in and Bennett put over a penalty to leave seven between them.
Just on the hour it became all square. Shannon were awarded a penalty for a deliberate knock-on and they took a quick tap which culminated with O'Dea getting in at the corner and Bennett superbly converted to tie it up.
Old Belvedere opened a hole in the Shannon defence but with the try line in sight they knocked on, Dunne had a drop goal effort charged down, Danny O'Riordan was halted by Luke O'Dea and right at the death Old Belvedere were camped ten metres from the Shannon line and the siege was lifted to leave the sides deservedly level.

Lansdowne 38, Dolphin 21.
Another bad day in the capital for Dolphin as they lost for the second successive week, this time it was Lansdowne on the back pitch in the Aviva Stadium that did the damage.
The home side led 21-0 at half time and although the Cork side rallied after the break with tries from Chris Rowe, Cian Bohane and Gary O’Keeffe all of which were converted by Eamon Mills, the home side replied with two converted tries and a penalty to secure maximum points.

Bruff 12, U.L. Bohemian 25 (Cormac Liddy)
Bruff believed they had made the perfect start in this Division 1B clash under the lights at Kilballyowen Park, when Brian Cahill put over a penalty after only five minutes when the visitors were punished for a scrum infringement.
But Bruff had scarcely drawn their breath when JJ Hanrahan was on target just a minute later with a penalty for the visitors.
Hanrahan kicked his second penalty after twelve minutes as UL Bohes began to force the home side into defence.
Thirteen minutes before the interval the Bruff defence was all over the place as UL Bohemian created a series of moves. A superb tackle by Brian Cahill halted one such move but the ball went back on the UL Bohemian side and they had a three man overlap as prop Dave Kilcoyne had the simplest of tasks in touching down. Hanrahan made no mistake with the conversion and when, once again, the Bruff forwards were penalised Hanrahan put over the penalty to make it 16-3 at the interval.
As in all local derbies a lot of pride was at stake and matters got a little heated which forced referee Leo Colgan to sin bin a forward from each side, Dave Horan the Bruff prop and Sean Henry the UL Bohemian hooker during what was a lively opening period.
As in the first half Brian Cahill had the opening score on the resumption and Hanrahan and Cahill exchanged penalties. Cahill's fourth successful kick made it 12-19 but Hanrahan had the final say when he dropped a goal to bring his personal haul to 20 points on what was a disappointing night for Bruff who had wisely brought the kick-off forward an hour which paid dividends in the clubhouse as patrons had time to view the Munster-Leinster game on television.

U.C.C. 20, Belfast Harlequins 23.
U.C.C. are now bottom of Division 1B after a second half rally by Harlequins saw the visitors snatch a late victory as College had to settle for a losing bonus point at the Mardyke.
The students led 10-6 at half time. Denis Hurley scored a try for College and Brian Kingston kicked a conversion and penalty. Michael Heaney replied with two penalties for the visitors.
Brian Quill added a second try for the students and Kingston converted and also added a penalty. Two tries from Niall McComb, and two conversions and a penalty by Heaney saw Harlequins go home with the points.

Dublin University 28, Old Crescent 10.
Trinity delivered a big blow to Old Crescent’s promotion hopes in Division 2A with this victory at College Park.

Thomond 10, Greystones 15.
Thomond’s recent revival was halted at Fitzgerald Park when Greystones leaped forged their opponents with this victory.
Warren Kelly scored a try for the home side and Wayne Murphy kicked a conversion and penalty.

Seapoint 42, Midleton 15.
Midleton slipped back into the relegation zone after this defeat at Kilbogget Park.
Matenga Baker scored Midleton’s first try which Peter Brougham converted. Glen Deacon scored the visitors second try and Jeff Hitchmough kicked a penalty.

Instonians 39, Clonakilty 32.
Clonakilty are still searching for their first win of the season after this defeat at Shaw’s Bridge against the side just above them in the table.
Billy Woof and Darragh Lynch scored tries for Clonakilty and Matt Kirby converted both and also added six penalties.

Cashel 51, Boyne 7.
Cashel maintained their unbeaten run in Division 2B with a big win over last season’s Leinster Junior league winners at Spafield.
The Tipperary side scored seven tries. Pat O’Connor, Rory O’Connor, Emmett Hall, Kevin Leamy, Ed Leamy and Kevin Quinlan were their try scorers and they were also awarded a penalty try. Pat O’Connor kicked five conversions and two penalties.

NUIM Barnhall 21, Nenagh Ormond 18.
Nenagh Ormond’s promotions hopes received a setback at Parsonstown with this narrow defeat.
Conor Brislane and David Walsh scored tries for Nenagh and Donal Fogarty kicked a conversion and two penalties.

Sunday’s Well 23, Ards 16.
Sunday’s Well maintained their unbeaten home record with a second half comeback at Musgrave Park to defeat bottom side Ards.
The visitors led 13-3 at half time and the home side looked in all sorts of trouble, but the home side upped their performance after the break with their pack scoring three tries and came very close to securing a bonus point in the final minute.
Shane Walsh MJ Doyle and Barry Dwyer were try scorers for the ‘Well and Shane O’Riordan kicked two penalties.

Sligo 13, Highfield 20.
Highfield bounced back to winning ways after two successive defeats with this victory at Strandhill.
John Murphy and john Sheehan scored tries for the visitors and Colin Mahony converted both and also added two penalties.

Results:
Ulster Bank League Division 1A: Blackrock College 18, St. Mary's College 19;
Cork Constitution 26, Clontarf 18;
Garryowen 6, Young Munster 10;
Lansdowne 38, Dolphin 21;
Shannon 18, Old Belvedere 18;

Division 1B: Ballymena 11, U.C.D. 11;
Buccaneers 24, Ballynahinch 17;
Bruff 12, U.L. Bohemian 25;
Galwegians 28, Dungannon 24;
U.C.C. 20, Belfast Harlequins 23;

Division 2A: D.L.S.P. 29, Bective Rangers 12;
Dublin University 28, Old Crescent 10;
Instonians 39, Clonakilty 32;
Malone 31, Corinthians 13;
Old Wesley 29, City of Derry 30;
Queens University 46, Terenure College 13;
Seapoint 42, Midleton 15;
Thomond 10, Greystones 15;

Division 2B: Banbridge 39, Naas 10;
Cashel 51, Boyne 3;
Connemara 35, City of Armagh 20;
NUIM Barnhall 21, Nenagh Ormond 18;
Sligo 13, Highfield 20;
Sunday's Well 21, Ards 16;
Suttonians 25, Navan 19;
Wanderers 8, Rainey Old Boys 30;