ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE:AFTER two defeats to open their campaign, St Mary's College are now right there among the leading contenders for the All-Ireland League Division One A title.
Saturday’s 21-18 success over Blackrock at Stradbrook was their fourth win on the trot and leaves them in third spot in the table, just two points adrift of second-placed Cork Constitution. But the win was only achieved following a nail-biting climax.
As the game went into the final quarter, St Mary’s held a 21-3 advantage. But a revitalised Blackrock staged a recovery which brought tries from number eight Nick Noone and secondrow Des Dillon, one of which was converted by Rob Keogh.
Suddenly Blackrock were right back in it, trailing by just 21-15. With four minutes remaining they had the chance either to take a scrum close to the line, or opt for the lineout in the corner.
The did neither, instead opting for Keogh to kick a penalty which reduced the deficit to 21-18. Blackrock weren’t to get a further opportunity.
The truth is that St Mary’s would have been absolutely kicking themselves had they let the match slip. They had got off to the perfect start with two tries in the opening 12 minutes for a 12-3 advantage.
Blackrock, it has to be said, didn’t help their cause. The first try, initiated by fullback Paul Gillespie, and scored by right wing Ronan Doherty, came in the opening minute.
If Blackrock’s defence wasn’t exactly great for that score, it was all over the place as centre Stephen Grissing was allowed to secure St Mary’s second try after a kick ahead by Mark Sexton.
Gavin Dunne landed one conversion and added a penalty to give St Mary’s their 15-3 interval advantage. All Blackrock could manage in reply was a penalty from Keogh.
Three further penalties from Dunne then seemed to put St Mary’s in complete control at 21-3 before a Blackrock side eventually came good.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: N Morris; D Rowen, L Ellison, S McDowell, M Rantz-McDonald; R Keogh, S Treacy (C Crowley, 55 mins); D Lewis (A Lyons, 71 mins), C Culleton, B Prescott, D Dillon (capt), M Carroll, P Graham (A Dunlop, 45 mins), B Kelly, M Noone.
ST MARY'S COLLEGE: P Gillespie; R Doherty, S Grissing, M Sexton (P Brophy 24, mins), D Hudson; G Dunne, D Campbell (M D'Arcy, 63 mins); C McMahon, D Kilbride, K Carroll (R Sweeney 40, mins), C Ruddock, G Logan, D Hall, P Nash (capt), H Hogan.
Referee: L Colgan.
Keane comes to Old Belvedere’s rescue
LEADERS Old Belvedere had Conal Keane to thank for their dramatic 18-15 All-Ireland League win over Dolphin at Musgrave Park.
Forced to play most of the match with 14 men following the sending off of flanker Karl Miller towards the end of the first half, Old Belvedere had to dig very deep.
They saw Dolphin go into an early 12-0 lead with tries from Paul Hurley and Niall Walley, one of which was converted by Barry Keeshan.
But Old Belvedere hit back to level at 12-12 with two tries from Danny Riordan and Stuart Maguire either side of half-time, one of which was converted by Keane.
Keane and Keeshan exchanged a drop goal and a penalty to leave the sides level at 15-15 going into the dying minutes before Keane then landed a second drop goal to give the Dublin outfit their victory.
There was also a dramatic finish at Dooradoyle where Garryowen earned an 11-11 draw against second-placed Cork Constitution when Declan Cusack kicked an injury-time penalty from the touchline.
Following Shannon’s dramatic success over Young Munster on Friday night, the three Limerick clubs are now all locked together on 10 points at the bottom of the table.
Clontarf stay out in front in Division One B following a useful 25-18 victory over Lansdowne at Castle Avenue. Lansdowne established an early 11-0 lead with a try from Matt Healy and two penalties by Eoghan Hickey.
But Clontarf rallied to eventually take control in the second half. Aaron Dundon and Ben Grissing scored tries, with the remainder of their points coming from the boot of Noel Reid.
Elsewhere, Buccaneers stayed in second spot by virtue of a 16-12 success over their Connacht rivals Galwegians at Dubarry Park. Bruff continued their climb up the table, moving to third spot, after defeating Dungannon 21-10, while an improved UCC got the better of UL Bohemians 32-23 at the Mardyke.
