Lansdowne move into semi-finals

As expected, Lansdowne made divisional status tell when they comfortably moved to within two more victories of retaining their Leinster Senior Cup crown at a windy, wet and almost ghostly Lansdowne Road last night.

Barely 100 spectators braved the rush hour traffic to shelter together in clusters from the rain and winds which whistled through the old ground, providing echoes of the days not so long ago when midweek Leinster Cup games attracted a few thousand spectators. Alas, nothing is sacred in the modern game.

The old Cup still has a place in some clubs' hearts though, and currently resides in Lansdowne, who are clearly intent on keeping it. In a penalty-scrum-penalty riddled game, it took them a while to subdue an Old Wesley challenge handicapped by the late arrivals of Dave Bursey and Paul Allen.

The holders gradually cranked up the tempo from about mid-way through the first half, with Cormac Egan and Colin McEntee hitting passes from David O'Mahony at pace, while the flankers Gareth Molloy and Stephen Rooney generally provided the link.

With Brian Glennon and Kurt McQuilkin eager to explore the space provided by a sometimes porous Wesley back-line, Lansdowne produced what few fluent passages there were amid the inevitable spillages of the soap-like ball.

The victory did come at a cost in that McQuilkin and Glennon departed with hamstring and thigh injuries, but even though only three backs played the last 35 minutes in the positions they started, Lansdowne continued to pull away. A feisty finale amid the usual plethora of substitutions provided a late edge and stemmed the Lansdowne tide, but in the business end of things the holders scored four unanswered tries.

There were a brace apiece for Colin McEntee, one of the most potent number eight runners about, and Melvin McNamara, one of the more potent left-wingers. The latter kick-started Lansdowne after an early exchange of penalties when a brilliant pick-up, run and looped pass by Glennon gave McNamara sufficient room to sprint in by the corner flag.

The pick of the five Lansdowne tries was their second, when Rory Kearns counter-attacked from inside his own 10-metre line after Simon Mitchell's missed penalty to touch, McNamara, Glennon and McQuilkin continuing the move for McEntee to made the telling support from 22 metres out.

McEntee completed a sustained drive when crashing over from O'Mahony's short pass soon after the resumption, and McNamara pounced on a fumbled attempted break-out by Wesley to score a soft if opportunist try after 68 minutes. That was pretty much that.

Scoring sequence: 4 mins - Mitchell pen 0-3; 17 mins - Kearns pen 3-3; 19 mins - McNamara try 8-3; 21 mins - Mitchell pen 8-6; 31 mins - McEntee try, Kearns con 15-6; 39 mins - Kearns pen 18-6; 45 mins - McEntee try, Kearns con 25-6; 68 mins - McNamara try, Kearns con 32-6.

Lansdowne: R Kearns; W Clancy, B Glennon, K McQuilkin, M McNaamara; N Gunne, D O'Mahony; E Bohan, C Egan, O Ennis, S O'Connor, W Aherne, S Rooney, C McEntee, G Molloy. Replacements: J Woods for McQuilkin (half-time), I Murphy for Glennon (45 mins), J Horgan for Rooney (67 mins), D Dornan for Bohan, R Murray for Egan and G Quinn for O'Connor (all 74 mins).

Old Wesley: P Breedon; D Webb, B Casey, R Moloney, C Henderson; S Mitchell, G Richmond; R Jackson, R Duggan, M Cox, V Ryan, M Wilson, R Gavin, M O'Driscoll, R Jones. Replacements: R Breen for Breeon (54 mins), D Bursey for Ryan (54 mins), P Allen for Webb (60 mins).

Referee: P Saine (Leinster).