St Conleth's withstand rally

St Conleth's survived some anxious moments before emerging worthy winners at Malahide

St Conleth's survived some anxious moments before emerging worthy winners at Malahide. Number eight James O'Brien scored their first try in the ninth minute following a jinking run by John Doherty. Five minutes before the break scrumhalf Keith Donnelly burrowed his way through for their second try and Shane O'Connell converted for a 12-0 half-time lead.

St Mary's got back into the game when centre James Moran scored a superb individual try, running the length of the pitch and evading several tackles. Outhalf Stephen Murphy kicked an easy conversion, but St Mary's failed to build on this.

ST CONLETH'S: S O'Connell; H Kirwan, R Bouchier Hayes, W McQuillan, P Browne; J Doherty, capt, K Donnelly; S Kelly, R Cassidy, H Nolan, T Arnold, N Marron, D Kiely, J O'Brien, E Kiely. Replacements: W Hynes, R Sexton, N Byrne, B O'Beirne, M Cosgrave, K Halloran, S Greif.

ST MARY'S, DUNDALK: B Murnaghan; C Loughran, S Quigley, J Moran, R Matthews; S Murphy, F Duffy; J O'Callaghan, R Arthur, D McCann, G Dollard, S Coleman, D Lyons, G O'Reilly, capt, S Higgins. Replacements: S Faulkner, P McWilliams, K Farrell, J Quinn, I Hoey, R Moore.

Referee: G Ferrick (Leinster Branch).

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