ULSTER BANK LEAGUE DIVISION 1A/Old Belvedere 9 Lansdowne 16:AN 11-POINT HAUL from out-half Craig Ronaldson, and an opening period try from Cian Ahern, would prove decisive in Anglesea Road last night, as Lansdowne got the better of local rivals Old Belvedere in a keenly-fought tie.
The visitors made a bright start to the proceedings, and Ronaldson kicked them into an early lead with a fourth minute penalty, but this was cancelled out seven minutes later by a similar effort from Belvedere’s Josh Glynn.
Lansdowne continued to threaten on the counter, and they registered the only try of the evening on 17 minutes, when Ahern broke through for a five-pointer that was easily converted.
Belvo responded well to the concession of this score, but Glynn was off-target with a brace of penalties, and full-back Danny Riordan was forced into touch when a try looked on after 32 minutes. Glynn did finally get it right in first-half stoppage time, though, as his second successful penalty brought the Lansdowne lead down to four (10-6).
In a rather scrappy and low-key second period, Belvo managed to reduce the margin to the bare minimum on the hour mark when Glynn split the posts with a tricky kick on the right. The 2011 champions gathered some momentum as a result of this score, but Lansdowne held firm and the ever-reliable Ronaldson restored their seven-point advantage with well-taken penalties in the 69th and 77th minutes respectively.
Replacement Belvedere scrum-half Aaron Sheehan went close to getting through for a try in the closing stages, but the stern Lansdowne rearguard held firm for a hard-earned victory.
OLD BELVEDERE: D Riordan; J Glynn, J Kennedy, A Wynne, D Mongan; G McDonald, F Lawlor; G Duffy, P Hogan, P O’Reagan, D Moore, D White, J Eden-Whatiri, M Oyuga, J Conan. Replacements: A Sheehan for McDonald (h-t), A Howard for Duffy (h-t), K Buckley for Hogan (49), C Mallen for White (51), Duffy for Howard (64).
LANSDOWNE: R McCarron; C Ahern, S Gahan, S Carey, M Healy; C Ronaldson, P O’Driscoll; J O’Connell, S Collins, M Moore, W Earle, T Beirne, C Ross, C Butterworth, R Boucher. Replacements: D O’Reilly for Moore (40+4), D Mannion for Earle (64).
