AIL ROUND-UP:CORK CONSTITUTION put themselves right back into contention in an increasingly tight battle for the Ulster Bank Division 1A title with a hard-earned 9-7 success over Old Belvedere at Anglesea Road on Saturday.

With Old Belvedere fullback Danny Riordan scoring the only try of the game, they needed a penalty goal from outhalf Johnny Holland four minutes from the end of normal time to avenge their defeat in last year’s final.

St Mary’s are the new leaders of the division following a 36-11 success over the previous pacemakers Young Munster at Clifford Park.

It was a fifth win on the trot for St Mary’s after they had opened the season with two defeats in their first three games.

Scrumhalf Matt D’Arcy got two of their four tries, with the others coming from Ciarán Ruddock and Stephen Gissing. The accurate goalkicking of fullback Gavin Dunne was responsible for the remainder of their points.

The result means St Mary’s are a point clear of Young Munster at the top with three teams, Lansdowne, Clontarf and Cork Con, three points further back.

Clontarf’s title hopes hopes were dealt a further blow when they surprisingly lost 9-3 away to Dolphin. They simply could not come to terms with the superior work of the Dolphin pack.

Lansdowne continued their march up the table with a comprehensive 30-13 bonus-point success over Garryowen on the back pitch at the Aviva Stadium.

Fullback Ross McCarron scored two of their tries, while Cian Aherne and substitute Willie Earls got the others as Lansdowne moved to third spot in the table.

Garryowen did manage a bit of a rally with Ian Hanly and Paul Neville going over for tries but in the end they were well beaten.

Shannon have gone into freefall after a promising start to the season, their latest 30-15 defeat coming at the hands of lowly Blackrock at Stradbrook.

It was an important success for Blackrock as it moved them off bottom spot in the table. What’s more, they secured the bonus point with four tries from Rob Keogh, Alex Dunlop, Mark Scott Lennon and Jan Simon Byrne.

Shannon could only manage five penalties from Tadgh Bennett in reply.

Ballynahinch are back at the top of Division 1B on points difference from Ballymena, despite only drawing 21-21 at home with UCD. It could have been worse, as the students, inspired by Niall Earls, led 21-5 at half-time.

It eventually took a try from James Thompson in the dying minutes to earn Ballynahinch the draw.

Overall, it wasn’t a particularly good weekend for the top teams.

Ballymena went down 9-0 to Belfast Harlequins on Friday night, while Buccaneers were beaten 22-18 by bottom-of-the-table UCC at the Mardyke.

Luke Duffy scored the crucial try seven minutes from time to give the students their first victory of the season.

Dungannon were the only one of the top four teams to secure a victory, Chris Cochrane scoring two tries in their 28-15 bonus point success over Bruff.

Elsewhere, UL Bohemians ended Galwegains with a 24-22 victory at Crowley Park.