All-Ireland League: Alan Solomons's return to Irish rugby failed to halt what appears to be Belfast Harlequins inevitable downward spiral into Division Two.
Despite the recruitment of the former Ulster coach as a "consultant" to player coach Andy Ward, Harlequins sunk to a pitiful 23-6 defeat in the local derby against Dungannon at Deramore Park.
The development work that saw the Belfast club become genuine title contenders in recent years was decimated by the departure of former South African coach Andre Bester to the Rotherham Titans. Bester offered professional contracts to many of the team that brought Harlequins to the AIL final, when they lost to Shannon, in 2005.
Dungannon also felt the effects of Bester's knowledge of Ulster players as their outhalf Gareth Steenson was lured to the English Division One side this season. And yet, Jeremy Davidson's team have recovered from a shaky start to climb to sixth in the table and level on points with Garryowen and Shannon.
The top four clubs met on the weekend, allowing UL Bohemians to reclaim a play-off spot with a 24-10 victory over a St Mary's team that are struggling without Jonathan Sexton. The outhalf looks set for a decent spell as understudy to Felipe Contepomi at Leinster, although Sexton is available in the coming weeks as he wasn't selected for the Heineken European Cup squad.
The result of the weekend is surely Clontarf beating Shannon at Thomond Park thanks to late tries from winger Matt Nethery and lock Alan Trenier in a 17-16 victory. The sides play again at the same venue on Saturday in the AIB Cup.
Clontarf are second, equal on points with leaders Cork Constitution who beat Garryowen 12-11 at Dooradoyle. Richard Lane out-pointed Garryowen's Conor Kilroy in a bruising encounter.
At Stradbrook, Lansdowne became play-off contenders by overcoming Blackrock 24-20. The performance of Derry Coughlan allied to tries from Ron Boucher, Devin Toner and Gavin O'Meara saw Lansdowne prevail.
Ballymena and Galwegians also remain in contention for the semi-finals after bonus point victories over UCD (40-10) and Dolphin (45-15), respectively. Finally, Terenure's aspirations to pull clear of the relegation zone were helped by an 18-8 victory over the Buccaneers.
