Ulster Bank League Roundup

Young Munster have extended their lead at the top of Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League.

DivisIon 1A

Cork Constitution 16, Young Munster 23
Young Munster go into the Christmas break with a four point margin at the top of the table after their victory at temple Hill on Saturday.

Willie Staunton had the visitors 6-0 ahead with two early penalties, before Gerry Hurley opened Cork Constitution’s account with a penalty after fifteen minutes. Shane O’Neill scored a try for Munster’s on the half hour mark and Staunton converted. On the stroke of half time Jonny Holland kicked a drop goal for the home side but Staunton replied with a penalty immediately to leave it 16-6 at the break.

Munster’s were awarded a penalty try after Con’ were penalised for collapsing the scrum and Staunton again converted on fifty three minutes.

Hurley kicked a second penalty for Con’ and a try three minutes from time by Niall O’Driscoll converted by Hurley saw the home side earn a losing bonus point.

Scorers Cork Constitution: Niall O’Driscoll try, Gerry Hurley con, 2 pens, Jonny Holland drp gl.
Young Munster: Shane O’Neill try, Pen try, Willie Staunton 2 cons, 3 pens.

Cork Constitution: Darragh Lyons; Robert Clune, Alex Ryan, Scott Deasy, Niall O'Driscoll; Jonny Holland, Gerry Hurley; Martin Gatley, Andrew Cudmore, Chris Corkery, Brian Hayes (capt), Cathal O'Flaherty, Brendan Cuttriss, Brian O'Hara, James Ryan. Replacements Used: Ian Nagle for Cuttriss, Brian Cagney for Corkery, Kieran Stokes for Cudmore, Joe McSwiney for O'Hara, Cathal Quinn for Ryan.

Young Munster: Ray Maloney; Aaron Carroll, Matthew Costelloe, Andrew Burke, Darragh O'Neill; Willie Staunton, Mike Prendergast; Ger Flaherty, Ger Slattery, Alan Cotter, Shane O'Neill (capt), Darren Gallagher, Liam Og Murphy, Shane Hassett, Neville Melbourne. Replacements: Sean Duggan for O'Neill, Ger Bourke for Slattery, Hugh McGrath for Flaherty, James O'Neill for Hassett, Brian Haugh for Moloney.

Shannon 16, Lansdowne 25 (Cormac Liddy)
Lansdowne leapfrogged Shannon in the table thanks mainly to three first half tries which saw them comnfortably 19-9 in front at the interval.

But the Dubliners failed to grab a bonus try win though they will be happy to have denied Shannon a bonus point after Paddy Butler had a late try which was converted by Tadgh Bennett five minutes from the end. However Craig Ronaldson landed a late penalty to leave the Limerick men empty handed.

Shannon got off to the best possible start when Tadgh Bennett landed a penalty from 35 meters and just to the right of the posts after a Lansdowne player was penalised for holding the ball on the ground. That came after only two minutes but the lead lasted only six minutes.

A good back movement after turning over possession brought Lansdowne close to the Shannon lane and Jason Kelly burrowed his way over for a try that out half Craig Ronaldson converted.

But Bennett kept Shannon in touch with a splendid penalty from ten meters in from touch when Lansdowne were penalised for offside and to the relief of the home supporters Bennett restored Shannon's lead when he kicked another penalty from almost the same spot to make it 9-7 in a game when the first scrum did not come until the 19th minute.

Lansdowne finished the half in style. Poor Shannon tackling allowed fullback Ross McCarron got over for a try which was too far out for Ronaldson to convert but he was on target following a try by scrum half John Cooney to make it 19-9.

That try came two minutes before the break and for Shannon to have any chance they needed to score first on the resumption. They were fortunate not to concede a fourth try two minutes in when they had the overlap but the final pass went astray and a certain try was lost.

Butler's try two minutes from the end looked to have salvaged the bonus point for Shannon but Ronaldson put that out of reach with his late goal kick.

Scorers Shannon: Paddy Butler try, Tadhg Bennett con, 3 pens.
Lansdowne: Jason Kelly, Ross McCarron, John Cooney; Craig Ronaldson 2 cons, 2 pens.

Shannon: Gareth Quinn McDonogh; Richie Mullane, Aaron Spring, Mossie Lawlor (capt), David O'Donovan; Tadhg Bennett, Rob Guerin; Les Hogan, Duncan Casey, Gary McNamara, Stephen Keogh, Fergal Walsh, Paddy Butler, James Murphy, David Quinlan. Replacements: Jason Cronin, Killian O'Neill, Emmett McLoughlin, Alan Bennie, Ben Sargent.

Lansdowne: Ross McCarron (capt); Cian Aherne, Foster Horan, Willie Walsh, Matt Healy; Craig Ronaldson, John Cooney; Jack O'Connell, Tom Sexton, Darren O'Reilly, Tadhg Byrne, Marc Feely, Kieran Essex, Jason Kelly, Ron Boucher. Replacements: Martin Moore, David Toomey, Alan Matthews, Charlie Butterworth, Sean Carey.

Garryowen 20, Blackrock College 13 (Cormac Liddy)
Garryowen went into this game at Dooradoyle with a mission to end their three match losing sequence at the venue. Three away wins had them in mid table but the home hoodoo had to be broken and at the end of an ebb and flow contest they did so.

Darragh Fitzpatrick threatened to spoil matters for the home side when he landed an early penalty for 'Rock but Declan Cusack did likewise for Garryowen. Rob Keogh kicked 'Rocks second penalty to have them 6-3 in front at the interval.

Matters looked ominous for Garryowen when Cian Culleton grabbed a try for the visitors which Keogh converted after 44 minutes. That score served as a wake up call for Garryowen and four minutes later Conor Hartigan had a try which Cusack converted.

That great campaigner of many battles Paul Neville had Garryowen's second try after 66 minutes and the icing on the cake came with a late penalty by Fergal Lawler.

Scorers Garryowen: Tries C Hartigan, P Neville, pens D Cusack 1, F Lawler 1, cons D Cusack 2.
Blackrock College: Try C Culleton, pens D Fitzpatrick, R Keogh, con R Keogh.

Scorers Garryowen: Tries: Conor Hartigan, Paul Neville tries, Declan Cusack 2 cons pen, Fergal Lawlor pen.
Blackrock College: Cian Culleton try; Rob Keogh con pen, Darragh Fitzpatrick pen.

Garryowen: Lorcan Bourke; Adam O'Loughlin, Corey Hircock, Conan Doyle (capt), Ronan O'Mahony; Declan Cusack, Fergal Lawlor; JP Cooney, James Rael, Declan Lavery, Mark Melbourne, Frank McKenna, Shane Buckley, Kieran O'Gorman, Lemeki Vaipulu. Replacements: John Mark Griffin, Mick Kennedy, Paul Neville, Conor Hartigan, Alan Gaughan.

Blackrock College: Andrew Letham; David Rowan, Jan-Simon Byrne, Rob Keogh, Mark Scott-Lennon; Darragh Fitzpatrick, Alan MacGinty; Ryan Fisher, Cian Culleton, Sean Byrne, Des Dillon (capt), Alex Dunlop, Daniel Mannion, Tyrone Moran, Richard Marsh. Replacements: Karl O'Riordan, Cian Carroll, Arthur Lyons, Gavin Greene, Sean Treacy

Old Belvedere 13, Dolphin 20.
Dolphin won this bottom of the table clash with the reigning champions after an excellent performance at Anglesea Road.

The Champions raced into an early 10-0 lead but a try by John Quill and conversion and penalty by Barry Keeshan had the sides level with seven minutes remaining in the opening half.

Andy Dunne and Keeshan exchanged further penalties to leave it 13-13 at the break. The only score in the second half was a try by prop Christy Condon which Keeshan converted.

Scorers Old Belvedere: Peter Woods try, Andy Dunne con, 2 pens.
Dolphin: John Quill, Christy Condon tries, Barry Keeshan 2 cons, 2 pens.

Old Belvedere: Daniel Riordan; Peter Woods, John Kennedy, Ben Woods, David Mongan; Andy Dunne, Aaron Sheehan; Vinny Soden, Kevin Buckley, Stewart Maguire, Dean Moore, Alan Trenier, Richie Leyden, Bernard Smyth, Jack Conan. Replacements Used: Michael Oyouga for Smyth (28 mins), Simon Keogh for Mongan (30-39, temp), Simon Keogh for Sheehan (53), Aidan Wynne for P Woods (62), Bernard Smyth for Trenier (62), Brendan O'Dea for Soden (65), Mark Cooney for Buckley (75).

Dolphin: Niall Walley; Willie Devane, Cian Bohane, Kevin Lynch, Harry Fleming; Barry Keeshan, Chris Bannon; James Cronin, Niall Scannell, Christy Condon, Chris Rowe, Kyle O'Dwyer, Rob O'Herlihy, John Quill, Robbie Allen.
Replacements used: Ryan Murphy for Devane (54 mins), Gavin Duffy for Cronin (59), David O'Mahony for O'Dwyer (67).

Division 1B

Bruff 10 Belfast Harlequins 6 (Cormac Liddy)
Bruff got back to winning ways at Kilballyowen Park with this victory in Division 1B.

Belfast Harlequins squandered a last minute try scoring chance when the ball was knocked on in the touchdown.
Owen McMurray kicked two first half penalties for the visitors who led 6-5 at the interval with the Bruff try being scored by Paul O'Brien.

Bruff missed two easy penalty chances in the closing minutes of the half but they grabbed victory thanks to a try by rolling substitute scrumhalf Andrew Cashman. It followed a break by Paddy Cleary who offloaded at the right moment to enable Cashman become the hero.

Bruff Scorers: Paul O'Brien, Andrew Cashman tries.
Belfast Harlequins: Michael Heaney 2 pens.

Bruff: Brendan Deady; Paul O'Brien, Andrew Cashman, Brian Cahill, Tom O'Callaghan; Tony Cahill (capt), Eoghan Maher; David Horan, Cathal O'Regan, Ger Collins, Brian Morrissey, Maurice O'Connell, Alan Bourke, Peter Malone, Paddy Clery. Replacements: John Horgan, Stephen Foster, Mike Carroll, Marc Cosgrove, John Carroll.

Belfast Harlequins: Rory Scholes; Michael Allen, Mark Kettyle, Willie Stewart, Matt Holmes; Owen McMurray, Michael Heaney; Richard Lutton, Niall Annett, Mark McGrath, Gareth Rourke (capt), Michael Ferguson, Paul Rea, Lawrence Babe, Neil McComb. Replacements: Robert Logan, Paul Greenaway, Alistair Heatlie, Alister Scott, Stuart Olding.

U.C.D. 24, UL Bohemian 20.
U.L. promotion ambitions received a major setback with this defeat at Belfield.

The home side led 21-5 at half time with Martin McPhail scoring a try for Bohes. The Limerick side came back into the game with tries from Dave Kilcoyne and Ed Kelly. JJ Hanrahan kicked a conversion and penalty.

UCD Scorers: Andrew Boyle, David Doyle tries, Niall Earls con, 4 pens.
U.L. Bohemian: Martin McPhail, Dave Kilcoyne, Ed Kelly tries, JJ Hanrahan con, pen.

UCD: Andrew Boyle; Sam Coghlan Murray, Andy Cummiskey (capt), Alex Kelly, Tom Fletcher; Niall Earls, Rob Shanley; Kieran Moloney, David Doyle, Brian Hall, Brian Cawley, Mark Flanagan, Keelan McKenna, Mark McGroarty, Richie Bent. Replacements: James Tracy, Neil Foley, Eoin Joyce, Peter du Toit, Michael Twomey.

U.L. Bohemian: Aidan McNulty; Rory White, Martin McPhail, Niall Kenneally, Ed Torrie; JJ Hanrahan, Cathal Sheridan; Gary Walsh, Eddie Rossiter, Dara Cantillon, Ed Kelly (capt), Dave Foley, Brian Walsh, Tommy O'Donnell, Sean Rennison. Replacements: Tadhg Power, Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Kindregan, Dale Harris, Terry Quick.

Galwegians 41, U.C.C. 18.
UCC are still looking for their first win after another defeat at Crowley Park.

The students lost five players through injury but the students were leading 15-3 before injuries to James Mulcahy, Oscar O’Suilleabhain, Cormac O’Flynn saw the home side hit back with a three try blitz to lead 24-15 at the break.

Scorers Galwegians: Barry Lee, Penalty try, John Cleary, Calum O'Connell, Ivan Muldoon tries, Matthew Jarvis 5 cons, 2 pens.
U.C.C.: Willie Ryan, Oscar O Suilleabhain tries, Cormac O'Flynn con, 2 pens.

Galwegians: John Cleary (capt); Barry Lee, Brian Murphy, Tadhg Leader, Colin Conroy; Matthew Jarvis, David Moore; Ja Naughton, Dermot Murphy, Jamie Stephens, Eoin Tarmey, Brian McClearn, Isaac O'Grady, Ivan Muldoon, Eoin McKeon. Replacements: Jason East, Conor Muldoon, Calum O'Connell, Paddy Finn, Ross Shaughnessy.

U.C.C.: Gavin Nugent; Oscar O Suilleabhain, Cyprien Jouve, Luke Duffy, Olan Dennehy; Cormac O'Flynn, Brian Slater; Ronan O'Neill, Wayne Falvey, Paddy Ryan, James Mulcahy, Brian Quill, Willie Ryan, Brian O'Callaghan (capt).
Replacements: Mark O'Mahony, Shane Moynihan, Johnny MacCarthy, Brian Kingston, Pat Parfrey.

Division 2A

In Division 2A Thomond had an 11-10 home win over Terenure College. Geoff O’Shea scored a try for Thomond and Wayne Murphy kicked three penalties.

Three penalties by Shane Mullally was not enough for Old Crescent who lost away to Queens University 18-9.

Midleton also lost in Belfast going down to Malone 20-15. The sides were level 7-7 at half time Fionn McSwiney scoring a try and Geoff Hitchmough converted. However the home side dominated the second half and Midleton’s reward was a Hitchmough penalty and a last minute try from Glen Deacon.

Clonakilty are still searching for their first win after loosing at home to Greystones 50-23. Matt Kirby, Mike Keohane and Aidan Foley scored tries for the West Cork side and Denis McCarthy kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Division 2B

Cashel remain top of Division 2B after their 38-8 away win over Ards. Ed Leamy scored two tries for the Tipperary side and Sean Walsh, Brian Silke and Darragh O’Brien also ran in tries. O’Brien kicked four conversions and three penalties.

Nenagh Ormond maintained their challenge with a 22-17 home win over Navan. Shane Quinlan, Ger Harmse and Stephen Carey scored tries for the winners and Donal Fogarty kicked two conversions and a penalty.

Highfield came from 12-3 down at half time to defeat Naas 21-12 at Woodleigh Park. Two tries by Don Keogh and one by Maurice Power and two penalties by Ricki Jacobs saw the home side take the spoils.

Sunday’s Well suffered their first home defeat of the season after Connemara emerged convincing winners 30-16. Conor Nagle and Shane Walsh scored tries for the ‘Well and Shane O’Riordan kicked two penalties.

RESULTS:
Ulster Bank League Division 1A: Cork Constitution 16, Young Munster 23;
Garryowen 20, Blackrock College 13;
Old Belvedere 13, Dolphin 20;
Shannon 16, Lansdowne 25;
St. Mary's College 22, Clontarf 20;

Division 1B: Ballymena 6, Ballynahinch 3;
Bruff 10, Belfast Harlequins 6;
Buccaneers 33, Dungannon 20;
Galwegians 41, U.C.C. 18;
U.C.D. 24, U.L. Bohemian 20;

Division 2A: Clonakilty 23, Greystones 50;
D.L.S.P. 17, Corinthians 13;
Dublin University 32, City of Derry 21;
Instonians 17, Bective Rangers 7;
Malone 20, Midleton 15;
Queens University 18, Old Crescent 9;
Seapoint 17, Old Wesley 23;
Thomond 11, Terenure College 10;

Division 2B: Ards 8, Cashel 38;
City of Armagh 15, Boyne 16;
Highfield 21, Naas 12;
Nenagh Ormond 22, Navan 17;
Rainey Old Boys 3, Banbridge 15;
Sunday's Well 16, Connemara 36;
Suttonians 12, NUIM Barnhall 26;
Wanderers 5, Sligo 14;