ULSTER BANK LEAGUE: St Mary's College 15 Dolphin 7:ST MARY'S College gave their Division 1A Ulster Bank League ambitions an important boost with a hard-earned success over Dolphin at Templeville Road on Saturday.
Both teams were badly in need of a victory after losing two and winning just one of their opening three games. In the end, it was some resilient defensive work by St Mary’s in the final quarter that proved the difference.
Earlier, St Mary’s led 15-0 after playing with the wind in the first half. Coach Peter Smyth must have been very worried when Dolphin reduced the deficit to 15-7 with a penalty try 16 minutes into the second half.
To complicate matters, St Mary’s had scrumhalf Matthew D’Arcy sin-binned for obstructing Dolphin wing Cian Bohane as he attempted to ground the ball. So, when outhalf Barry Keeshan added the conversion, Dolphin were in position to go on and win.
But a combination of some excellent defending and Dolphin’s inability to make better use of their chances saw St Mary’s hold out. And the fact the game contained plenty of mistakes wasn’t going to worry coach Smyth.
He said: “It was difficult out there as our ground is very open to the wind. Today was really about winning after a couple of defeats. The fact we went down to 14 men following the sin-bin probably galvanised us. We produced a great rearguard action from then on.”
The match contained two penalty tries, the first of which was awarded to St Mary’s towards the end of the first half.
The home side had started well with a well-taken try by right wing Ronan Doherty after good work by Philip Brophy and Mark Sexton. Gavin Dunne added the conversion and also kicked a penalty. But the fact they wasted three other try scoring chances meant St Mary’s were only 8-0 ahead close to half-time.
It was then referee David Wilkinson awarded the penalty try after the Dolphin infringed at the scrum for a third time close to their own line. Furthermore, prop Christy Condon was shown a yellow card. With Dunne converting, St Mary’s had a reasonable total to defend in the second half. They did so successfully until Bohane availed of a loose pass in midfield to kick ahead and set up a penalty try. Trailing by just eight points with plenty of time left, Dolphin had a great chance to win but they failed to make use of their possession as St Mary’s hung on.
ST MARY'S: G Dunne; R Doherty, M Sexton, S Grissing, C Hogan; P Brophy, M D'Arcy; C McMahon, D Kilbride, R Sweeney, G Logan, D Hall, C Ruddock, D Keller, H Hogan (capt). Replacements: C Lilly for D'Arcy (57 mins), G Auston for Hall (68 mins), R Brosnan for Sweeney (77 mins).
DOLPHIN:N Walley; C Bohane, E Moloney, W Devane, H Fleming; B Keeshan (capt), E O'Shaughnessy; G Duffy, A O'Driscoll, C Condon, C Rowe, D O'Mahony, R O'Herlihy, J Quill, R Allen. Replacements: J Leahy for O'Driscoll (38 mins), E Mills for Devane (46 mins), C Bannon for Keeshan (79 mins).
Referee:D Wilkinson.
Young Munster triumph
CLONTARF are the only unbeaten team in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League following Young Munster’s 9-3 derby success over Shannon at Tom Clifford Park on Saturday. It was quite an achievement as Young Munster captain Ger Slattery was sent off following an altercation with Shannon player-coach Stephen Keogh with 50 minutes left.
The win moves them up to second in the table behind Clontarf. Shannon drop to third. At the time of the sending off, Young Munster led 6-3 though a drop goal and a penalty from Willie Staunton with Gareth Quinn McDonagh replying with a penalty but it was Young Munster who had the last word with a penalty from Staunton.
Apart from Clontarf, who have won four on the trot following Friday night’s 25-13 win over Lansdowne, every team has lost at least one game. Cork Constitution have lost two following their 13-9 home defeat to Garryowen in what was their second successive home loss.
Garryowen scored an opportunist try through wing Alan Gaughran just before half-time. Fergal Lawlor added the conversion and also added two second half penalties, while Gerry Hurley kicked three penalties for Cork Con.
Ballynahinch lead the way in Division 1B with a 31-11 home success over UCC. They picked up a bonus point with five tries from Aaron Ferris (2), David Nicholson, Willie Faloon and James Simpson.
Second-placed Buccaneers have also four straight wins after beating UL Bohemians 12-8 in Limerick, with substitute Martin Staunton getting the second-half try.
Ballymena are third following a 31-11 victory over bottom-placed Galwegians at Eaton Park, Dungannon got the better of Belfast Harlequins 27-15 at Deramore Park, while UCD defeated Bruff 21-8 at the Belfield Bowl.
