AIL Weekend Roundup

Both Young Munster and Cork Constitution took a major step towards a semi final place in Division1A of the Ulster Bank League.

Young Munster over took UCD with a 28-13 win at Tom Clifford Park to move into second place and this will be a major confidence booster ahead of their next game against local rivals Garryowen under lights at Dooradoyle on April 1^st.

Gearoid Lyons put the home side on their way with an eight minute penalty and he landed another ten minutes later.

They pushed it on to an 11-0 lead when Craig O'Hanlon chased a kick ahead and won the race for the touchdown. UCD kicked a penalty on the stroke of half time to leave The Cookies 11-3 ahead at half time.
A Lyons penalty made matters more comfortable for Young Munster on 43 minutes in and two minutes later the win was assured when Ben Kilkenny was twice involved in a movement which swung from side to side before Dan Goggin touched down and Lyons added the extras.

Eight minutes from the end replacement Peter Meyer touched down following a quickly taken tap penalty and the prop pounced with almost his first touch of the action. Again Lyons converted.
UCD had a late converted try.

Cork Constitution edged out Garryowen 16-14 at Temple Hill having trailed 7-6 at half time to retain fourth spot.
Aaron Spring scored a try for Con’ and Tomas Quinlan converted and added three penalties.
Andrew O’Byrne and Alex Wotton replied with ties for Garryowen and Neil Cronin converted both

When Tadgh Bennett put Shannon in front with a penalty inside 60 seconds at Thomond Park it seemed that Division 1B leaders St Mary's might be in for a difficult afternoon.
But that was as good as it got for Shannon who trailed 14-3 at halftime and 28-3 at full time.

Dolphin lost for the second successive week when a late try by Rory Whyte earned UL Bohemian an 18-16 win at Irish Independent Park.

The Limerick side led 13-6 at half time with a James Ryan try which Robbie Burke converted and Rick McKenna kicked two penalties.

Barry Keeshan replied with two penalties for Dolphin and added a third six minutes into the second half.
Ten minutes from time Dave Griffin scored a try in the corner for Dolphin and Keeshan expertly converted but the home side were unable to hold on to their 16-13 lead.

In Division 2A UCC lost valuable ground on the leaders when Naas defeated them 20-15 at the Mardyke. Kevin Slater and Conor Barry scored tries for the Students and Kevin O’Keeffe added a conversion and a penalty.

Nenagh Ormond drew level with UCC in fourth place after their 38-25 away win over Queens University. Derek Corcoran (2), Lemeki Vaipulu, Peter O’Connor, Mike Fogarty and Fergal Brislane were try scorers for the Tipperary side and Michael Walsh added four conversions.

Cashel are three points off the playoff places after their 31-14 home win over Skerries. Ed Leamy scored two tries for Cashel, Kevin Leamy and Danny Lambe one each as well as being awarded a penalty try. Pat O’Connor kicked three conversions.

In Division 2B both Sunday’s Well and Highfield are assured of a play off place after wins over City of Derry and City of Armagh.

Sunday’s Well came from 5-0 down at half time to beat Leaders City of Derry 11-8. Ross O’Mahony scored a try for the Well and Shane O’Riordan added two conversions.

Highfield were 22-15 home winners over City of Armagh. Fintan O’Sullivan and Ben Murphy scored tries for Highfield and Conor Horgan added four penalties.

Division 2C leaders Old Crescent ran in ten tries in their 64-15 home win over Kanturk. Stephen O’Carroll scored two tries for the leaders and Gareth Quinn McDonogh, Larry Hanly, Cathal O’Reilly, Brendan Guilfoyle, Sean Monaghan, Shane O’Brien, Brian Touhy and Paul McNamara got one each. O’Brien kicked four conversions and Hanly three.

Conor Cremin and Mike Cronin scored tries for Kanturk and Stephen McAuliffe kicked a conversion and a penalty.

Midleton defeated third placed Wanderers 16-5 at the Aviva Stadium. Dave Smyth scored Midleton’s try and Stuart Lee converted and added three penalties to keep their outside hopes of a play off place alive.

Bruff defeated Navan 26-15 to move up to third place. Danny Keogh scored two tries for Bruff and Brian Morrissey one. Declan Bannon kicked three penalties and a conversion.