SECOND ROW DEAN Moore marked his Dooradoyle debut with a try as Garryowen battled past Division 1A rivals Buccaneers for a 29-17 bonus point victory this afternoon.
The 31-year-old former Ireland Club international, who is back on the Irish club scene after a spell with French club Auch, muscled over in the 10th minute, in response to a Buccs penalty from Alan Gaughan.
Bill Johnston starred for Garryowen today. Tommy Dickson / INPHO
Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO
Munster’s Bill Johnston converted Moore’s try and was also successful with a well-struck penalty but, in between, busy Buccaneers winger Rory O’Connor crossed for a converted score. There was nothing between the sides at the break – 10-10.
With captain Shane Layden and recent Ireland Under-20 skipper Paul Boyle standing out for the Pirates, they retook the lead thanks to another slick finish from the pacy O’Connor. Gaughan converted again.
However, just like last week against Lansdowne, the scoring dried up for Buccs in the closing quarter. A sin-binning proved particularly costly, ten minutes from the end. Initially, flanker Darren Ryan’s unconverted effort closed the gap to 17-15 and Garryowen, who gave a start to Munster’s returning centre Sam Arnold, used their sudden numerical advantage to tee up further tries for James McInerney and Mike Sherry.
Scrum half and captain Neil Cronin converted both and from a Munster perspective, it was particularly pleasing to see Sherry cross the whitewash in his second successive appearance off the bench for Garryowen. The 29-year-old Ireland-capped hooker played for Munster in pre-season and against Benetton recently, having come back from a long-term back injury that, at one stage, looked like it might end his career.
The five-point return for Conan Doyle’s charges moves them into the top half of the table, ahead of next week’s visit of Clontarf, while Buccs have fallen to eighth and remain pointless despite two solid performances on their return to the top flight.
Garryowen scorers:
Tries: Dean Moore, Darren Ryan, James McInerney, Mike Sherry Conversions:Bill Johnston, Neil Cronin [2] Penalty: Bill Johnston
Buccaneers scorers:
Tries: Rory O’Connor 2 Conversions:Alan Gaughan [2] Penalty: Alan Gaughan
GARRYOWEN: David Johnston; Liam Coombes, Sam Arnold, Peadar Collins, James McInerney; Bill Johnston, Neil Cronin (capt); Niall Horan, Liam Cronin, Andrew Keating, Aaron McCloskey, Dean Moore, Tim Ferguson, Darren Ryan, Sean Rennison.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, JP Cooney, JP Phelan, Mikey Wilson, Jamie Gavin, Dara Shanahan.
BUCCANEERS: Luke Carty; Rory O’Connor, Shane Layden (capt), Danie Poolman, Thomas McGann; Alan Gaughan, Conor McKeon; Martin Staunton, John Sutton, Conor Kenny, Peter Claffey, Cian Romaine, Dan Law, Simon Meagher, Paul Boyle.
Lansdowne strung together three second half tries to run out convincing 25-5 winners over Young Munster in a game that was played on the Aviva Stadium’s main pitch.
Young Munster's James O'Connor in action against Lansdowne at the Aviva Stadium. Oisin Keniry / INPHO
Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO
Munsters will feel aggrieved at the margin of their second defeat of the new Ulster Bank League campaign, as they were competitive throughout and a late first half try from winger Craig O’Hanlon had them 5-3 ahead.
O’Hanlon’s well-taken effort came quickly after Scott Deasy’s lead penalty for Lansdowne. With defences on top for most of the opening 40 minutes, Mike Ruddock’s men immediately sharpened their attack on the restart.
The visitors were caught cold by try in the corner from Daniel McEvoy, last season’s top try scorer in Division 1A who was opening his account for 2017/18. Out-half Deasy swept over the touchline conversion to take Lansdowne into double figures.
Ian Prendiville’s home pack gradually made further inroads, winning a 56th minute penalty which Deasy converted. The Cookies were now beginning to struggle, Lansdowne’s other winger Mark O’Keefe showing impressive speed and strength to touch down straight from the restart.
Ten minutes later, the third member of the hosts’ back-three – full-back Eamonn Mills – reached over in the corner to sew up the result. A bonus point try would have been the icing on Lansdowne’s cake, but a fine second half performance has moved them up to third in the standings.
Young centre Harry Brennan, who has come up through the underage ranks with Gonzaga College and Lansdowne, has an assured league debut and was a deserved man-of-the-match winner. Best on the day for Munsters were talismanic forwards Ger Slattery and Gavin Coombes.
Lansdowne scorers:
Tries:Mark O’Keefe, Eamonn Mills, Daniel McEvoy Conversions: Scott Deasy [2] Penalties: Scott Deasy [2]
Young Munster scorers:
Try: Craig O’Hanlon
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LANSDOWNE: Eamonn Mills; Daniel McEvoy, Harry Brennan, Fergal Cleary, Mark O’Keefe; Scott Deasy, Charlie Rock; Ian Prendiville (capt), Tyrone Moran, Adam Boland, Philip Donnellan, Josh O’Rourke, Jack Dwan, Charlie Butterworth, Willie Earle.
Replacements: Jack Dinneen, Ntinga Mpiko, Barry Fitzpatrick, Alan Bennie, Tom Roche.
YOUNG MUNSTER: Jason Kiely; Daniel Hurley, James O’Connor, Ben Swindlehurst, Craig O’Hanlon; Shane Airey, Jack Lyons; Peter Meyer, Ger Slattery (capt), Colm Skehan, Marc Kelly, Michael Madden, Alan Kennedy, Ben Kilkenny, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Mark O’Mara, Paul Allen, Tom Ryan, Rob Guerin, Joseph O’Connor.
Terenure College 39
Cork Constitution 35
Terenure College claimed the scalp of defending champions Cork Constitution as they came out on the right side of a 10-try thriller, winning 39-35 at Lakelands Park today.
It is not often than a team scores five converted tries and ends up losing, but that is what happened to Cork Con as an exuberant Terenure continued their winning start to the new season.
Niall Lalor, who had a terrific game for the hosts at openside, kicked off the try-scoring with a converted effort on the quarter hour mark. Constitution hit back with seven-pointers from forwards Vincent O’Brien (19 minutes) and Conor Kindregan (22) before Mark O’Neill’s 37th-minute penalty had ‘Nure within striking distance at the interval – 14-10.
Tim Schmidt, the 21-year-old son of Ireland head coach Joe, made his league debut for Terenure and acquitted himself well, directing the forwards and dovetailing nicely with his half-back partner Mark O’Neill. The New Zealand-born scrum half played for the Toulouse Espoirs last season.
The momentum shifted towards the home side on the resumption. Right winger Marc Hiney raided through for a 42nd-minute try and full-back Jake Swaine followed him over the whitewash just three minutes later. Suddenly, Con were 24-14 behind.
A subsequent yellow card had the Leesiders in even more trouble, as Terenure profited with two more tries, pocketing their bonus point by the 59th minute. Eoin Joyce and Lalor were the scorers as a combination of pace behind the scrum and hard graft up front saw ‘Nure rewarded.
Credit to the title holders, they produced a storming finish to leave Terenure scrambling to hold onto their lead in the end. A 36-14 deficit was eaten into with gusto as Tomas Quinlan converted tries from Luke Cahill (68), centre Greg Higgins and Gavin Duffy (78).
However, Brian Hickey’s men had left themselves with too much to do and a 72nd minute penalty from Swaine gave Terenure just enough of a cushion to see out the result. Con left with two bonus points but it is ‘Nure who are riding high at the summit, ahead of next week’s eagerly-awaited local derby with St. Mary’s.
Terenure scorers:
Tries: Niall Lalor [2], Eoin Joyce, Marc Hiney, Jake Swaine Conversions:Mark O’Neill, Jake Swaine [3] Penalties: Mark O’Neill, Jake Swaine
Cork Con scorers:
Tries:Vincent O’Brien, Conor Kindregan, Luke Cahill, Greg Higgins, Gavin Duffy Conversions: Tomas Quinlan [5]
TERENURE COLLEGE: Jake Swaine; Marc Hiney, Stephen O’Neill, Ted O’Donoghue, Sam Coghlan Murray; Mark O’Neill, Tim Schmidt; Schalk Jooste, Robbie Smyth (capt), Oisin Heffernan, Alex Thompson, Michael Melia, Cathal Deans, Niall Lalor, Eoin Joyce.
Replacements: Adam Clarkin, Cian Madden, Kyle McCoy, James Thornton, Willie Devane.
CORK CONSTITUTION: Liam O’Connell; Luke Duffy, Greg Higgins, Ned Hodson, JJ O’Neill; Tomas Quinlan, Jason Higgins; Brendan Quinlan, Vincent O’Brien, Ger Sweeney, Conor Kindregan, Brian Hayes, Evan Mintern, Ross O’Neill, Luke Cahill.
A much-changed UCD team kept up their winning form with a runaway 36-8 bonus point triumph against Dublin University at the Belfield Bowl.
Ireland U20 international Ciaran Frawley lined out for UCD. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
This student derby failed to really catch fire, Trinity showing some promise with an early try from captain and industrious centre Michael Courtney before the home side controlled most of the first half.
An initial scrum penalty launched Tony Smeeth’s youngsters forward, Kyle Dixon posing a threat in midfield before James Fennelly’s well-weighted chip saw Courtney dot down in the corner after just six minutes.
Missing their Ireland Sevens contingent who are training for next week’s DHL Oktoberfest 7s in Munich, UCD hit back with an intercept try from centre Stephen Murphy, which was converted by Ciaran Frawley.
Flanker Keelan McKenna’s score out wide made it 12-5 and Andy Skehan’s side tagged on 10 more points before half-time, Jamie Glynn crossing for his second try of the season in the 20th minute and out-half Frawley converting and adding a penalty.
Frawley’s half-back partner Nick Peters knocked on just short of the try-line as he threatened from a quick tap, with Trinity managing to hang in there despite a yellow card for winger Billy O’Hora.
Although a penalty from Fennelly gave the visitors something to aim for at 14 points down, UCD were able to introduce some quality players off the bench – including exciting Ireland Under-20 talent Tommy O’Brien, who looked sharp on his return.
Number 8 Ronan Foley put his name to the bonus point score for College, and after Stephen Kilgallen was denied a try by an offside call, winger Tim Carroll burst through midfield to close out the scoring. Frawley, who had moved to full-back by that stage, converted to complete his 11-point haul.
UCD scorers:
Tries: Keelan McKenna, Stephen Murphy, Jamie Glynn, Ronan Foley, Tim Carroll Conversions:Ciaran Frawley [4] Penalty:Ciaran Frawley
Dublin University scorers:
Try:Michael Courtney Penalty:James Fennelly
UCD: Tom Fletcher; Stephen Kilgallen, Stephen Murphy, Jamie Glynn (capt), Tim Carroll; Ciaran Frawley, Nick Peters; Rory Mulvihill, Gordon Frayne, Michael Moynihan, Brian Cawley, Emmet MacMahon, Keelan McKenna, Alex Penny, Ronan Foley.
Replacements: Matthew O’Donovan, Liam Hyland, Johnny Guy, Matthew Gilsenan, Tommy O’Brien.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: Michael Silvester; Jack Fitzpatrick, Michael Courtney (capt), Kyle Dixon, Billy O’Hora; James Fennelly, Angus Lloyd; James Bollard, Joe Horan, Darragh Higgins, Jack Burke, Vittorio Mantegazza, Sam Pim, Toby Boyd, David St Leger.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Joe Byrne, Jack Dunne, Rowan Osborne, Evan Dixon.
Clontarf 33
St Mary’s College 16
Matt D’Arcy took his early season tally to three tries as his second half brace helped Clontarf carve out a 33-16 bonus point win at home to St. Mary’s College on Friday night.
Matt D'Arcy has enjoyed a blistering start to the season. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
The north Dubliners needed a strong response to last week’s disappointing 30-18 first round defeat at Cork Constitution, and three tries after the break saw them pick up maximum points at Castle Avenue, moving up to sixth place overall in the process.
The first half was a tit-for-tat affair, St. Mary’s showing impressive resilience as they recovered from an early 14-point deficit. ‘Tarf threatened to run amok when young full-back Conor Jennings flew in for a try he converted himself, and he also turned Tony Ryan’s subsequent score into a seven-pointer.
Steadily, and with captain Ciaran Ruddock and David O’Connor the driving forces up front, St. Mary’s got back into contention. The forwards provided the platform for USA Eagle Tim Maupin to break clear for a stylish converted score, while out-half Sean Kearns closed out of the first half with two penalties – making it a one-point game (14-13).
The half-time break came at just the right time for Clontarf, head coach Andy Wood getting them back on track for a superior effort – particularly defensively – in the second period. Ireland Club international D’Arcy showed his class with a slashing run to the line. Jennings tagged on his third successful conversion.
A Kearns penalty kept the visitors in the hunt at 21-16 down, but Clontarf’s attacking firepower on the back on a strong set piece proved too much for Mary’s to handle. New backs coach James Downey would have been delighted to see D’Arcy and Max McFarland cut loose for two more tries, one of which was converted by Jennings.
Clontarf scorers:
Tries: Conor Jennings, Tony Ryan, Matt D’Arcy [2], Max McFarland Conversions:Conor Jennings [4]
St Mary’s scorers:
Try: Tim Maupin Conversion:Tim Maupin Penalties: Sean Kearns [3]
CLONTARF: Conor Jennings; Rob McGrath, Sean O’Brien, Matt D’Arcy, Max McFarland; Mark Sutton, Sam Cronin; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan, Royce Burke-Flynn, Cormac Daly, Ben Reilly (capt), Neil Reilly, Adrian D’Arcy, Tony Ryan.
Replacements: Joe Roe, Vincent Gavin, John Smith, Andrew Feeney, David Joyce.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Tim Maupin; Ryan O’Loughlin, Darren Moroney, Paddy Lavelle, Craig Kennedy; Sean Kearns, Paddy O’Driscoll; Tom O’Reilly, Hugo Kean, Brendan Cullinane, Ciaran Ruddock (capt), David O’Connor, Mark Fallon, Hugh Kelleher, Jack Dilger.
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Here's what happened in the Ulster Bank League today
Ulster Bank League, Division 1A
Garryowen 29
Buccaneers 17
SECOND ROW DEAN Moore marked his Dooradoyle debut with a try as Garryowen battled past Division 1A rivals Buccaneers for a 29-17 bonus point victory this afternoon.
The 31-year-old former Ireland Club international, who is back on the Irish club scene after a spell with French club Auch, muscled over in the 10th minute, in response to a Buccs penalty from Alan Gaughan.
Munster’s Bill Johnston converted Moore’s try and was also successful with a well-struck penalty but, in between, busy Buccaneers winger Rory O’Connor crossed for a converted score. There was nothing between the sides at the break – 10-10.
With captain Shane Layden and recent Ireland Under-20 skipper Paul Boyle standing out for the Pirates, they retook the lead thanks to another slick finish from the pacy O’Connor. Gaughan converted again.
However, just like last week against Lansdowne, the scoring dried up for Buccs in the closing quarter. A sin-binning proved particularly costly, ten minutes from the end. Initially, flanker Darren Ryan’s unconverted effort closed the gap to 17-15 and Garryowen, who gave a start to Munster’s returning centre Sam Arnold, used their sudden numerical advantage to tee up further tries for James McInerney and Mike Sherry.
Scrum half and captain Neil Cronin converted both and from a Munster perspective, it was particularly pleasing to see Sherry cross the whitewash in his second successive appearance off the bench for Garryowen. The 29-year-old Ireland-capped hooker played for Munster in pre-season and against Benetton recently, having come back from a long-term back injury that, at one stage, looked like it might end his career.
The five-point return for Conan Doyle’s charges moves them into the top half of the table, ahead of next week’s visit of Clontarf, while Buccs have fallen to eighth and remain pointless despite two solid performances on their return to the top flight.
GARRYOWEN: David Johnston; Liam Coombes, Sam Arnold, Peadar Collins, James McInerney; Bill Johnston, Neil Cronin (capt); Niall Horan, Liam Cronin, Andrew Keating, Aaron McCloskey, Dean Moore, Tim Ferguson, Darren Ryan, Sean Rennison.
Replacements: Mike Sherry, JP Cooney, JP Phelan, Mikey Wilson, Jamie Gavin, Dara Shanahan.
BUCCANEERS: Luke Carty; Rory O’Connor, Shane Layden (capt), Danie Poolman, Thomas McGann; Alan Gaughan, Conor McKeon; Martin Staunton, John Sutton, Conor Kenny, Peter Claffey, Cian Romaine, Dan Law, Simon Meagher, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Eoghan Maher, Conan O’Donnell, Ronan Farrell, Frankie Hopkins, Eoin O’Reilly.
Lansdowne 25
Young Munster 5
Lansdowne strung together three second half tries to run out convincing 25-5 winners over Young Munster in a game that was played on the Aviva Stadium’s main pitch.
Munsters will feel aggrieved at the margin of their second defeat of the new Ulster Bank League campaign, as they were competitive throughout and a late first half try from winger Craig O’Hanlon had them 5-3 ahead.
O’Hanlon’s well-taken effort came quickly after Scott Deasy’s lead penalty for Lansdowne. With defences on top for most of the opening 40 minutes, Mike Ruddock’s men immediately sharpened their attack on the restart.
The visitors were caught cold by try in the corner from Daniel McEvoy, last season’s top try scorer in Division 1A who was opening his account for 2017/18. Out-half Deasy swept over the touchline conversion to take Lansdowne into double figures.
Ian Prendiville’s home pack gradually made further inroads, winning a 56th minute penalty which Deasy converted. The Cookies were now beginning to struggle, Lansdowne’s other winger Mark O’Keefe showing impressive speed and strength to touch down straight from the restart.
Ten minutes later, the third member of the hosts’ back-three – full-back Eamonn Mills – reached over in the corner to sew up the result. A bonus point try would have been the icing on Lansdowne’s cake, but a fine second half performance has moved them up to third in the standings.
Young centre Harry Brennan, who has come up through the underage ranks with Gonzaga College and Lansdowne, has an assured league debut and was a deserved man-of-the-match winner. Best on the day for Munsters were talismanic forwards Ger Slattery and Gavin Coombes.
LANSDOWNE: Eamonn Mills; Daniel McEvoy, Harry Brennan, Fergal Cleary, Mark O’Keefe; Scott Deasy, Charlie Rock; Ian Prendiville (capt), Tyrone Moran, Adam Boland, Philip Donnellan, Josh O’Rourke, Jack Dwan, Charlie Butterworth, Willie Earle.
Replacements: Jack Dinneen, Ntinga Mpiko, Barry Fitzpatrick, Alan Bennie, Tom Roche.
YOUNG MUNSTER: Jason Kiely; Daniel Hurley, James O’Connor, Ben Swindlehurst, Craig O’Hanlon; Shane Airey, Jack Lyons; Peter Meyer, Ger Slattery (capt), Colm Skehan, Marc Kelly, Michael Madden, Alan Kennedy, Ben Kilkenny, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Mark O’Mara, Paul Allen, Tom Ryan, Rob Guerin, Joseph O’Connor.
Terenure College 39
Cork Constitution 35
Terenure College claimed the scalp of defending champions Cork Constitution as they came out on the right side of a 10-try thriller, winning 39-35 at Lakelands Park today.
It is not often than a team scores five converted tries and ends up losing, but that is what happened to Cork Con as an exuberant Terenure continued their winning start to the new season.
Niall Lalor, who had a terrific game for the hosts at openside, kicked off the try-scoring with a converted effort on the quarter hour mark. Constitution hit back with seven-pointers from forwards Vincent O’Brien (19 minutes) and Conor Kindregan (22) before Mark O’Neill’s 37th-minute penalty had ‘Nure within striking distance at the interval – 14-10.
Tim Schmidt, the 21-year-old son of Ireland head coach Joe, made his league debut for Terenure and acquitted himself well, directing the forwards and dovetailing nicely with his half-back partner Mark O’Neill. The New Zealand-born scrum half played for the Toulouse Espoirs last season.
The momentum shifted towards the home side on the resumption. Right winger Marc Hiney raided through for a 42nd-minute try and full-back Jake Swaine followed him over the whitewash just three minutes later. Suddenly, Con were 24-14 behind.
A subsequent yellow card had the Leesiders in even more trouble, as Terenure profited with two more tries, pocketing their bonus point by the 59th minute. Eoin Joyce and Lalor were the scorers as a combination of pace behind the scrum and hard graft up front saw ‘Nure rewarded.
Credit to the title holders, they produced a storming finish to leave Terenure scrambling to hold onto their lead in the end. A 36-14 deficit was eaten into with gusto as Tomas Quinlan converted tries from Luke Cahill (68), centre Greg Higgins and Gavin Duffy (78).
However, Brian Hickey’s men had left themselves with too much to do and a 72nd minute penalty from Swaine gave Terenure just enough of a cushion to see out the result. Con left with two bonus points but it is ‘Nure who are riding high at the summit, ahead of next week’s eagerly-awaited local derby with St. Mary’s.
TERENURE COLLEGE: Jake Swaine; Marc Hiney, Stephen O’Neill, Ted O’Donoghue, Sam Coghlan Murray; Mark O’Neill, Tim Schmidt; Schalk Jooste, Robbie Smyth (capt), Oisin Heffernan, Alex Thompson, Michael Melia, Cathal Deans, Niall Lalor, Eoin Joyce.
Replacements: Adam Clarkin, Cian Madden, Kyle McCoy, James Thornton, Willie Devane.
CORK CONSTITUTION: Liam O’Connell; Luke Duffy, Greg Higgins, Ned Hodson, JJ O’Neill; Tomas Quinlan, Jason Higgins; Brendan Quinlan, Vincent O’Brien, Ger Sweeney, Conor Kindregan, Brian Hayes, Evan Mintern, Ross O’Neill, Luke Cahill.
Replacements: Kevin O’Byrne, Gavin Duffy, Shane Duffy, Gerry Hurley, Aidan Moynihan.
UCD 36
Dublin University 8
A much-changed UCD team kept up their winning form with a runaway 36-8 bonus point triumph against Dublin University at the Belfield Bowl.
This student derby failed to really catch fire, Trinity showing some promise with an early try from captain and industrious centre Michael Courtney before the home side controlled most of the first half.
An initial scrum penalty launched Tony Smeeth’s youngsters forward, Kyle Dixon posing a threat in midfield before James Fennelly’s well-weighted chip saw Courtney dot down in the corner after just six minutes.
Missing their Ireland Sevens contingent who are training for next week’s DHL Oktoberfest 7s in Munich, UCD hit back with an intercept try from centre Stephen Murphy, which was converted by Ciaran Frawley.
Flanker Keelan McKenna’s score out wide made it 12-5 and Andy Skehan’s side tagged on 10 more points before half-time, Jamie Glynn crossing for his second try of the season in the 20th minute and out-half Frawley converting and adding a penalty.
Frawley’s half-back partner Nick Peters knocked on just short of the try-line as he threatened from a quick tap, with Trinity managing to hang in there despite a yellow card for winger Billy O’Hora.
Although a penalty from Fennelly gave the visitors something to aim for at 14 points down, UCD were able to introduce some quality players off the bench – including exciting Ireland Under-20 talent Tommy O’Brien, who looked sharp on his return.
Number 8 Ronan Foley put his name to the bonus point score for College, and after Stephen Kilgallen was denied a try by an offside call, winger Tim Carroll burst through midfield to close out the scoring. Frawley, who had moved to full-back by that stage, converted to complete his 11-point haul.
UCD: Tom Fletcher; Stephen Kilgallen, Stephen Murphy, Jamie Glynn (capt), Tim Carroll; Ciaran Frawley, Nick Peters; Rory Mulvihill, Gordon Frayne, Michael Moynihan, Brian Cawley, Emmet MacMahon, Keelan McKenna, Alex Penny, Ronan Foley.
Replacements: Matthew O’Donovan, Liam Hyland, Johnny Guy, Matthew Gilsenan, Tommy O’Brien.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: Michael Silvester; Jack Fitzpatrick, Michael Courtney (capt), Kyle Dixon, Billy O’Hora; James Fennelly, Angus Lloyd; James Bollard, Joe Horan, Darragh Higgins, Jack Burke, Vittorio Mantegazza, Sam Pim, Toby Boyd, David St Leger.
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Joe Byrne, Jack Dunne, Rowan Osborne, Evan Dixon.
Clontarf 33
St Mary’s College 16
Matt D’Arcy took his early season tally to three tries as his second half brace helped Clontarf carve out a 33-16 bonus point win at home to St. Mary’s College on Friday night.
The north Dubliners needed a strong response to last week’s disappointing 30-18 first round defeat at Cork Constitution, and three tries after the break saw them pick up maximum points at Castle Avenue, moving up to sixth place overall in the process.
The first half was a tit-for-tat affair, St. Mary’s showing impressive resilience as they recovered from an early 14-point deficit. ‘Tarf threatened to run amok when young full-back Conor Jennings flew in for a try he converted himself, and he also turned Tony Ryan’s subsequent score into a seven-pointer.
Steadily, and with captain Ciaran Ruddock and David O’Connor the driving forces up front, St. Mary’s got back into contention. The forwards provided the platform for USA Eagle Tim Maupin to break clear for a stylish converted score, while out-half Sean Kearns closed out of the first half with two penalties – making it a one-point game (14-13).
The half-time break came at just the right time for Clontarf, head coach Andy Wood getting them back on track for a superior effort – particularly defensively – in the second period. Ireland Club international D’Arcy showed his class with a slashing run to the line. Jennings tagged on his third successful conversion.
A Kearns penalty kept the visitors in the hunt at 21-16 down, but Clontarf’s attacking firepower on the back on a strong set piece proved too much for Mary’s to handle. New backs coach James Downey would have been delighted to see D’Arcy and Max McFarland cut loose for two more tries, one of which was converted by Jennings.
CLONTARF: Conor Jennings; Rob McGrath, Sean O’Brien, Matt D’Arcy, Max McFarland; Mark Sutton, Sam Cronin; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan, Royce Burke-Flynn, Cormac Daly, Ben Reilly (capt), Neil Reilly, Adrian D’Arcy, Tony Ryan.
Replacements: Joe Roe, Vincent Gavin, John Smith, Andrew Feeney, David Joyce.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Tim Maupin; Ryan O’Loughlin, Darren Moroney, Paddy Lavelle, Craig Kennedy; Sean Kearns, Paddy O’Driscoll; Tom O’Reilly, Hugo Kean, Brendan Cullinane, Ciaran Ruddock (capt), David O’Connor, Mark Fallon, Hugh Kelleher, Jack Dilger.
Replacements: Richard Halpin, Emmet Ferron, Daragh McDonnell, Robbie Glynn, Myles Carey.
Division 1B results
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AIL AIL round-up ulster bank league