RUGBY ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE: Old Belvedere 10 Blackrock College 9:OLD BELVEDERE are back on top of Division One A of the Ulster Bank League by virtue of a late Dave Mongan try, converted by skipper Andy Dunne, at Anglesea Road on Saturday.
But, as their coach Phil Werahiko so readily admitted, they were blessed to take the four points. Bottom-of-the-table Blackrock should, without question, have pulled off one of the shock results of the season.
Blackrock had seemed in complete disarray following a woeful performance against Dolphin the previous week and a major row within the club concerning the later starting time for Saturday’s match.
Yet, they held the upper hand until those dramatic closing minutes.
Most importantly, Blackrock equipped themselves much better to the atrocious conditions. The game was a throwback to the 1970s with players indistinguishable because of the muddy surface.
It didn’t make life easy for referee John Lacey, the teams, or the spectactors. But Blackrock weren’t at all bothered as they moved 9-3 clear by half-time.
When centre Rob Keogh got an easy chance, just to the left of the posts, to kick his fourth penalty 12 minutes from time, the match could have been over. But, somehow, he missed.
To further complicate matters, Blackrock then had secondrow Alex Dunlop sin-binned. Sensing their opportunity, Old Belvedere at last managed to set up a try scoring opportunity with just three minutes remaining.
After number eight Leo Auva’a drove through off the back of a scrum, the ball was moved quickly for left-wing Mongan to show his finishing power, beating two men to cross to the left of the posts. Dunne calmly added the conversion to give Old Belvedere their one point victory.
“Blackrock played very well, and adapted to the conditions much better than us.” admitted Werahiko.
“Had they gone 12-3 ahead with that last penalty, I could not have seen us coming back.
“We just needed one piece of quality rugby and, thankfully, managed to produce that with the late try.
“But we were very fortunate. I feel sorry for their coach Andy Wood because Blackrock deserved more than what they got.”
OLD BELVEDERE:D Riordan; E Devitt, J Kennedy, B Woods (G Flanagan 63 mins), D Mongan; C Keane (K Bardon 69 mins), A Dunne (Capt); V Soden (D Buckley 58 mins), M Cooney (D Gilcrist 58 mins), S Maguire, R Leyden, A Trenier (D Moore 58 mins), K Miller, J Risdon, L Auva'a.
BLACKROCK COLLEGE:S Lennon; D Rowan, L Ellison, R Keogh, J Byrne; D Fitzpatrick, S Treacy (C Crowley 40 mins); J Barretto, C Culleton (R Fisher 39 mins), A Lyons (K Cahill 67 mins), A Dunlop, M Carroll, P Graham, P Ryan (S O'Donnell 66 mins), M Noone.
Referee:J Lacey.
Young Munster eye play-off spot after surprise victory
YOUNG MUNSTER’S surprise 6-3 victory over Cork Constitution at Tom Clifford Park has put them within range of a play-off spot.
Yet again, the boot of Alan Kingsley was decisive as he kicked two penalties, while Cork Constitution could only manage one from Gerry Hurley.
Cork Constitution led 3-0 but crucially had prop Stephen Archer sin-binned in the second half.
Kingsley subsequently landed the first of his penalties, and then kicked the winning points with five minutes remaining.
Over at Coonagh, Shannon got the better of third-placed St Mary’s College 20-15. It was sweet revenge for their 53 point humiliation by the Dublin club earlier this season.
After conceding an early Ciarán Ruddock try, Shannon got on top. They had tries from Luke O’Dea and David Quinn, the rest of the points coming from the boot of Garreth Quinn McDonagh.
Dolphin comfortably saw off Garryowen 14-3 at Musgrave Park with Barry Keeshan contributing two drop goals and a penalty. The only try came from centre Harry Fleming.
Buccaneers won the top-of-the-table clash against Clontarf in Division One B at Dubarry Park.
The sides were level at 6-6 when Calum Boland gathered a cross kick from Jack Carty in the final minute to score the match-winning try. Earlier, Adam Kennedy had landed two penalties for Buccaneers with Noel Reid kicking two for Clontarf.
Buccaneers remain two points behind Clontarf but have a game in hand.
Lansdowne hold on to third spot on points difference, despite losing their sixth game in nine matches. They went down to their first home defeat 17-13 to UL Bohemians on the back pitch at the Aviva Stadium.
