Lansdowne dispatch battling Clontarf to seal title triumph
AIL ROUND-UP
DIVISION 1A
LANSDOWNE 32
CLONTARF 25
THERE were joyous scenes on the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch yesterday afternoon, as Lansdowne were crowned Ulster Bank League champions for the very first time following a thrilling encounter with Dublin rivals Clontarf.
A second-minute penalty from Richie Lane got the ball rolling for the visitors and, despite coming under some severe pressure from the Lansdowne scrum, they managed to keep them at bay during the opening quarter.
Mike Ruddock’s charges eventually opened their account after 22 minutes, however, as left-wing Sean Carey profited from good play by centre Mark Roche to touch down for a converted try. Roche crossed again to increase the lead three minutes later, but ‘Tarf rallied just past the half-hour mark with a well-worked try from No 8 Frank Cogan.
Lane converted and, even though Craig Ronaldson brilliantly slotted a drop-goal, a second successful penalty from Lane meant that Lansdowne’s lead was down to four (17-13) at the mid-way point. The north Dubliners were threatening to spoil the party for their southside counterparts, and they regained the lead eight minutes after the restart with a converted try from the in-form Simon Crawford.
This threw down the gauntlet to Lansdowne, but a Ronaldson penalty levelled matters 51 minutes into the contest and after a scrappy period of play, Ron Boucher drove over for his side’s third try.
Roche’s bonus kick was safely on target, but Clontarf refused to throw in the towel and broke through once again in the first minute of injury-time through replacement Collie O’Shea. Lane had the chance to restore parity with his conversion attempt, but his kick came crashing off the post, and when replacement scrum-half Marcus Walsh grounded in the dying seconds, Lansdowne’s triumph was secured.