AIB ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE/St Mary's 25 Blackrock 3:LEADERS ST Mary's College will have to wait until next weekend's trip to Temple Hill to face closest rivals Cork Constitution before finding out their true worth.
So far, St Mary’s have done virtually everything that has been asked of them with five victories out of six. Saturday’s Templeville Road success saw them move four points clear at the top as Division One A of the AIB All-Ireland League nears the halfway point.
Blackrock are a perfect example of just how quickly things can change. Having won their opening three games to top the table, they have now lost three on the trot.
To be fair, they knew they were going to be vulnerable once their many Academy players were needed for representative duty. But they had four players required by Leinster, another two, Brendan Macken and Andrew Conway unavailable following their Ireland under-19 exertions, and at least two more on the injured list.
Their reshuffled team had Stanley McDowell, a member of Ulster’s success 1999 Heineken Cup winning squad, in the centre.
St Mary’s led 6-0 with two penalties from fullback Gavin Dunne, before a penalty from Blackrock outhalf James Power reduced the deficit to 6-3 some 14 minutes into the second half.
When Power was then provided with a much easier opportunity, St Mary’s were entitled to feel a bit worried. Much to everyone’s surprise, however, Power put the kick wide, and St Mary’s regained their composure. They were helped by the arrival as a substitution of centre Philip Brophy.
Outhalf Shaun McCarthy’s footballing ability helped in putting Brophy away and when he was stopped short of the line, flanker Gavin Hall was on hand to dive over for the game’s opening try which was converted by Dunne.
The situation got even better when 21-year-old secondrow Robin Copeland crashed over for a second try following a lineout.
To add to Blackrock’s misery, McDowell was sinbinned for a high tackle five minutes from the end, allowing St Mary’s go in search of further tries. In the end, they had to settle for just one more from the prolific Copeland.
Copeland’s two tries brought his tally to seven in six games.
Meanwhile at a rain-swept Coonagh, Shannon, not for the first time, were left to rue a match lost deep into injury time. On this occasion, Cork’s Constitution’s Scott Deasy landed his third penalty of the game, in the fifth minute of injury-time, gave his side a 9-8 success which lifts them to second spot in the AIB League Division One A table.
Shannon felt hard done by with referee George Clancy’s decision to initially penalise them for a crooked feed to a scrum in injury-time, and then to award the penalty for offside.
Wing Stephen Kelly’s try and a second-half penalty from Tadgh Bennett had given Shannon their 8-6 advantage, only for the late Deasy penalty to decide the issue in Constitution’s favour.
Still, Shannon remain fourth by virtue of Dolphin going down to a shock 3-0 home defeat to UL Bohemians at Musgrave Park. Fergal Keogh’s late winning drop goal means the improving UL Bohemian have beaten St Mary’s and Dolphin in successive matches.
Clontarf continued their improvement with an 18-3 away success over a disappointing Garryowen. Kieran Lett and Carl de Chenu scored tries, with Daragh O’Shea kicking the rest of the points.
Old Belvedere remain out in front in Division One B after a runaway 34-5 victory over Dungannon at Anglesea Road. Old Belvedere crossed for four tries, with the prolific wing Dave Mongan getting two of them.
Young Munster continue in second spot with a 14-10 home victory over UCC. Galwegians beat Ballymena 16-13, while fellow Connacht side Buccaneers went down 13-9 to Ballynahinch to go bottom of the table.
