Old Belvedere 40
Dolphin 26
Late tries in the opening period from John Kennedy and Josh Eden-Whatiri were decisive at Anglesea Road as Old Belvedere finished their campaign in emphatic style.
Having secured their top-flight status last Friday week, spirits were high around the Dublin 4 venue, although they did fall behind with just 15 minutes gone when Niall Scannell crossed over for a try was was expertly converted by outhalf Barry Keeshan.
The hosts were quick to respond, however, as No 8 Jonathan Slattery broke their deadlock with a well-worked try on 21 minutes. Right-wing Josh Glynn converted and he also chipped in with successful conversions to five-pointers from Kennedy and Eden-Whatiri in the 34th and 37th minutes respectively.
This helped Belvo towards a 21-7 interval lead, and they edged into what turned out to be an insurmountable lead in the early stages after the restart with a converted try from Steve Crosbie, and even though James Kiernan replied with a fine score for the Cork men, a second try from Crosbie on the hour mark put the tie beyond reach for the Munster men.
The 2011 champions then extended their cushion to 28 points (40-12) with their sixth and final try of the game from Killian O’Neill. This meant that Belvo were able to ease up in the final quarter, and despite conceding further Dolphin tries from Barry Keeshan and Rory Scannell (which did enable the Musgrave Park outfit to come away with a losing bonus point), they were worthy victors in the end.