Cork Con in control

Young Munster - 10 Cork Constitution - 38: Last year's runners up Cork Constitution took another giant step towards regaining the All-Ireland League trophy when they crushed Young Munster by 38-10 at Clifford Park yesterday.

The Cork side move up to third place in the table having secured a bonus point thanks to two tries in the dying minutes by Donnacha O'Callaghan.Young Munster continue to prop up the table and are in danger of being relegated. They had no answer to the greater skills and speed of Cork Con for whom the Mahony brothers, Conor and Cian, were outstanding.

Conor kicked his side ahead after 11 minutes and although Ken Casey got in for a Young Munster try, which Mike Lynch converted, to give them a short-lived lead, there was never any doubt as to the outcome.

The home side didn't help their cause by having two players, Donal McNamara and Dara Payne yellow-carded in each half. Two penalties by Conor Mahony restored Con's lead and he converted a try by his brother Cian to make it 16-7 before Lynch landed a penalty to leave six points separating the sides at the interval.

However, Con sprinted away in the second half with a try by Gerry Murray and two by O'Callaghan, along with a penalty and two conversions by Conor Mahony.

Scoring sequence: 11 mins: Conor Mahony pen 3-0; 16 mins: C Casey try, M Lynch con 3-7; 19 mins: Conor Mahony pen 7-9; 23 mins: Conor Mahony pen 9-7; 28 mins: Cian Mahony try 14-7; Conor Mahony con 16-7; 37 mins: Lynch pen 16-10 Half-time: 16-10; 55 mins: Conor Mahony pen 19-10; 62 mins: J Murray try, Conor Mahony con 26-10; 74 mins: D O'Callaghan try 31-10; 79 mins: D O'Callaghan try, Conor Mahony con 38-10;

CORK CONSTITUTION: F O'Gara; D Dillon, Cian Mahony, R O'Donovan, A Sherrard; C Mahony, A O'Sullivan; Murray, J Fogarty, J O'Driscoll, K Murphy, D O'Callaghan, J Murray, J Sheehan, U O'Callaghan (capt). Replacements: S O'Connor for Murphy 52 mins; F Cogan for U O'Callaghan 74 mins; J Stringer for O'Sullivan 76 mins; D Murray for Sheehan 79 mins.

YOUNG MUNSTER: M Connolly; F Hogan, C Casey, M Lynch (capt), C Doyle; E Buckley, E Reddan; D Clohessy, B Cantrell, M Fitzgerald, D Peters, C Power, D McNamara, K Gallagher, H O'Neill. Replacements: T Cronin for Reddan 55 mins; S McGrath for McNamara 59 mins; D Payne for Power 65 mins; R Flanagan for Fitzgerald 75 mins.

Referee: Alain Rolland (Leinster)