AIL Division Two Final

UL Bohemian FC pulled off a fantastic 18-12 victory over St Mary s College to take the AIL Division Two title in fine style in Lansdowne Road.

UL Bohemian 18 St. Mary s College 12

Beaten in both the 2002 and 2004 deciders, UL Bohemians finally ended their wait for an AIB League Division Two title with an 18-12 victory over St. Mary s College.

The sides remained scoreless for much of the first half, until UL outhalf Ben Martin stormed over from a run starting 38 metres out, jinking past two of the St. Mary s pack to score in the corner. Martin missed the conversion, which an indication of things to come where conversions were concerned for the fly half.

Shortly before half time, St. Mary s out half Barry Lynn reduced the deficit with a penalty, and St. Mary s kept the pressure on, but a tight UL defence kept them from scoring. UL winger Ian Hanley stretched their lead once again when some poor defending from St. Mary s allowed Hanley to cross the line from a run that started close to halfway. It was a vital score, and gave UL Bohemians a 10-3 lead at half time.

After the restart, Barry Lynn was on target with a penalty in the opening minutes, and marked the start of a period of excellent possession and territorial advantage for St. Mary s. At 51 minutes, a Ben Martin drop goal stretched their lead to 13-6. Barry Lynn answered with a penalty 2 minutes later. Just five minutes later, both out halves missed drop goal attempts. The decisive score came with Ian Hanley scoring his second try of the day when he got passed his opposite number to score in the corner. Again, there was no conversion, with the last score of the game coming after 62 minutes with a Barry Lynn penalty. It finished up 18-12, with Mike Tewkesbury s men victorious after the disappointment of last year s one point defeat to Trinity, and getting retribution for their league loss to St. Mary s earlier in the season.

St Mary’s: D Hughes; P Brophy, J McWeeney, C Fifield, B Lynn (Capt); J Sexton, J Kilbride; C O’Byrne, P Smyth, P Coyle, G Logan, J Ellis, P Nash, G Hickie, A Copeland.

UL Bohemian: C Garvey; I Hanley, C Finn, M McPhail, K Matthews; B Martin, A Rees; M Harty, G Ryan, M Storey, B Madigan, A Hartigan, A O’Gorman (Capt), P Van Esbeck, J O’Neill.

Referee: Simon McDowell (Ulster)