IN a disappointing weekend for Irish Rugby, there was little in the way of substantive club fare. At Templeville Road, a somewhat unorthodox approach, forced upon them by late withdrawals, turned out to be a blessing in disguise for De La Salle Palmerstown in their 22-0 awakening for St Mary's. DLSP played no less than five second rows in their pack, and while St Mary's never got to grips with the conditions, they were comprehensively out mauled as Pat Nugent's try and Stephen Gormley's penalty gave DLSP an 8-0 interval lead.
After the half time oranges had been eaten, the visitors continued to suck the energy from St Mary's in the tight. Gormley went on to convert both second half tries by Joe Parkes and Dave O'Riordan.
With the weather conditions taking their toll, referee Michael Tuohy brought the Leinster Senior Club match between Old Belvedere and Buccaneers to a premature end, when, after 43 minutes, he could not distinguish one set of players from the others.
At this stage, the sides were level. Full back Peter McKenna converted his own try to give Old Belvedere a 7-0 lead at half time. However, Buccaneers must have, been disappointed. They drew level thanks to a touchdown by flanker Donal Donnelly, converted by Derek Lalor, only for the game to end two minutes later.
The solitary Munster Senior Club fixture down for decision yesterday at Musgrave Park went the way of Old Crescent, at the expense of Dolphin. Diarmuid O'Malley and Darragh Kirby went over for the crucial scores in, their 15-10 win. In return, Mick Ormond breached the winners line, but with both kickers slotting one penalty and one conversion each, it was the lack of penetration in the home ranks that proved decisive.
Out west, Galwegians easily got the better of a UCG side that is struggling as much this season as they did last.
At this time, the main rugby attraction of the afternoon was taking place at the Sportsground, where Creggs laid the mighty Connemara All Blacks myth to rest in a gruelling 9-3 Connacht Junior League play off win, that lifts them into next season's All Ireland League.
