Athlone take four in a row

Irish Colleges finals: Athlone IT completed their four-in-a-row of Irish Colleges Division One titles by beating University of Limerick in a 13-try thriller at Railway Union yesterday. A hat-trick of tries from UL centre Ronan Likely could not prevent Athlone easing away in the third quarter. Niall Smullen's two early touchdowns helped build a 29-15 half-time lead.

Scrumhalf Karl Turley and blindside Adrian Hughes put the issue beyond doubt and Likely's third could do little to camouflage Athlone's superiority.

SCORERS: Athlone IT: N Smullen 2 tries; K O'Gorman, A Hughes, K Turley, H Meyer, S Quinn try each; P Moloney 4 cons. UL: R Likely 3 tries; T Ryan, J Healy, D Nicholas try each; J Leonard con.

ATHLONE IT: O Grennan; S Quinn, H Meyer, W Wallace, C Lavelle; P Moloney, K Turley; B Moore, K O'Gorman, E Bracken, J Tormey, T Grey, A Hughes, R Bowe , N Smullen. Replacements: C Galvin for Moore (21 mins); A Downey for Lavelle, M Brandon for Turley (71 mins); P O'Donnell for Bowe (73 mins); G Moodley for Quinn (74 mins).

UL: T Hall; D Nicholas, R Likely, A O'Boyle, I Dowling; J Leonard, B Fitzgerald; M Adams, T Ryan, DJ Collins, P Quinn, C Duggan, J Healy, C O'Beirne, S Roycroft. Replacements: P Treacy for Hall (half-time); Paul O'Connor for Fitzgerald (54 mins); P O'Connor for Adams (63 mins).

Referee: Rogan (Leinster Branch).

Tallaght IT will look to be promoted after defeating Dundalk IT in the Division Two final at Railway Union yesterday.

SCORERS: Tallaght IT: P de Barra try, 4 cons; C McGinn, E O'Reilly, D Page try each. Dundalk IT: P Cooney, S O'Keeffe try each; D Quirke con.

TALLAGHT IT: M Quinn; E Smith, R Devlin, D Page, A Coughlan; P de Barra, E O'Reilly; K Molloy, O McCormack, R Patterson, D Burke, B Moroney, J Barretto, C McGinn, A Dunlop. Replacements: S Cusack for Moroney (half-time); S Corcoran for Patterson (61 mins); T Sweeney for Smith (65 mins); J Walsh for Molloy (75 mins).

DUNDALK IT: C Finnigan; S O'Keeffe, M O'Gorman, A Kissane, R Gearnan; D Quirke, T Campbell; C Reynolds, S Burton, P Cooney, M Dorian, T O'Brien, P Meegan, B Murphy, B Muldowney. Replacements: B Lee for O'Brien (32 mins)

Referee: J Clancy (Leinster Branch).