Staunton supplies cutting edge

A team yearning to evolve perhaps more quickly than is possible, struggling Blackrock still believe that they have a future but just which division that might be in is now a vexed question for the Dublin club.

At Dooradoyle there was only one team in full spate and that was Garryowen, who are really now only jockeying for the most advantageous draw in the playoffs.

Jeremy Staunton was again quite majestic for Garryowen at out-half. The 18-year-old's imprint was stamped on the game early on, shortly after his groggy partner Tom Tierney struggled to leave the pitch unaided after 14 minutes. Staunton fetched a long drop-out around his own 10-metre line, stuck the ball in one hand and galloped off on an arcing run into the Blackrock 22 finding left wing Kevin Hartigan outside. Hartigan brought it on and had the support of Kevin O'Riordan, who scored under the posts. Killian Keane added the conversion to an early penalty for a 10-0 advantage, nothing less than Garryowen deserved, before O'Riordan, put through by Keane, shrugged off two covering tackles to cross in the left corner on the half hour for his second try.

Blackrock were never totally out of the game and never seriously in it, gamely going through the motions but with little cutting edge. The sheer inevitability of the outcome pushed the proceedings into a extended lull until after the break. A missed Brian Carey penalty was as close as they could get.

Once again Staunton was involved coming forward for Garryowen's second-half try. The ball was threaded wide with full back Dominic Crotty hitting the line in the left channel to push the tally up to 20 points, leaving Keane to convert for the last score of the game.

Scoring sequence: 9 mins: Keane pen, 3-0; 25: O'Riordan try, Keane con, 10-0; 30: O'Riordan try, 15-0; 47: Crotty try, Keane con, 22-0.

GARRYOWEN: D Crotty; J Clake, K Hartigan, K Keane (capt), K O'Riordan; J Staunton, T Tierney; N Hartigan, P Cunningham, R Laffan, S Leahy, R Leahy, P Hogan, D Wallace, B Cronin. Replacements; S Whelan for Tierney (14 mins), K Rona for Laffan (half-time), . D Peters for R Leahy (65 mins), C Varley for Hogan (69 mins), P Humphreys for Cunningham (73 mins).

BLACKROCK: B Carey; T Keating, M Roche, D Quinlan, D Johnson; A McGowan, N Assaf; D Kavanagh, S Byrne (capt), P Jordan, R Casey, H Kos, R Wheeler, R Rogers, L Cullen. Replacements: M Jackson for Quinlan (30 mins0, D Casey for Rogers (53 mins0, I McLoughlin for Jordan (67 mins), N O'Donovan for McGowan (80 mins).

Referee: D Tyndall (LAR)