‘Nure return to winning ways in thrilling encounter

Terenure College 34 Old Belvedere 27

Daire Walsh

TWO tries apiece from James O’Donoghue and Stephen O’Neill were key for Terenure College at Lakelands Park yesterday as the hosts returned to winning ways in a thrilling Ulster Bank League Division 1A encounter.

Having seen their remarkable 29-game winning streak in the All-Ireland League finally coming to an end at the hands of Lansdowne last Friday evening, ‘Nure needed to bounce back against an Old Belvedere side that had recorded impressive victories over Clontarf and UCD.

Having moved through several phases of play, Belvo opened the scoring with a penalty from the in-form Josh Glynn, before exuberant scrum-half Charlie Rock punished a miscued pass out of the defence by racing through for an five-pointer on ten minutes.

There were certainly warning signs for James Blaney’s men during these early exchanges, but they opened their account just three minutes later, when out-half James Thornton put outside-centre Stephen O’Neill through for a neat score in the right corner.

Belvo continued to play with great confidence, however, and fly-half Aaron Sheehan supplied the finishing touches to a 25th-minute move, increasing the lead to ten points.

This proved to be a short-lived cushion, however, and with the reliable Thornton adding the bonuses to tries from hooker Kevin Buckley and the pacey O’Donoghue, ‘Nure took a 19-15 lead into the break.

With Belvo’s Glynn forced off through injury before the interval, there was a sense that the pendulum was starting to swing in the favour of the league’s pacesetters.

Indeed, when the hard work of Graham Coffey enabled his midfield partner O’Neill to secure a bonus-point try five minutes after the restart, Terenure looked like they were going to saunter towards another home triumph.

The 2010/11 champions were never going to be easily dismissed, though, and when full-back Danny Riordan bravely reached over the line in the 59th minute, it set up a tantalising final-quarter.

A Thornton penalty did offer some breathing space to ‘Nure, but after going close on a number of occasions, Belvo narrowed the gap to just two points courtesy of a converted score by replacement David Mongan.

This ensured that Belvo would return to Anglesea Road with at least two points, but following patient defensive work deep into stoppage-time, O’Donoghue scored a majestic breakaway try to finally confirm Terenure’s superiority.

Scorers – Terenure College: J O’Donoghue, S O’Neill 2 tries each, K Buckley try, J Thornton pen, 3 cons. Old Belvedere: C Rock, A Sheehan, D Riordan, D Mongan try each, J Glynn pen, con, S McDonald con.

Terenure College: I Hanly; J O’Donoghue, S O’Neill, G Coffey, H Moore; J Thornton, K O’Neill; J Barretto, K Buckley, C McCormick; F Walsh, J Dever; R Duke, J O’Neill, K McCoy. Replacements: R Harrison for Barretto, R Smyth for Buckley (both 55), M O’Neill for K O’Neill (66), K O’Dwyer for Dever (74), K O’Neill for Thornton (79).

Old Belvedere: D Riordan; J Glynn, R O’Loughlin, A Wynne, S McDonald; A Sheehan, C Rock; A Howard, C O’Flynn, D Lavery; J Kelly, C Owende; M Oyuga, K O’Gorman, J Slattery. Replacements: D Mongan for Glynn (35), P O’Regan for Howard, A Trenier for Owende, J Kennedy for Wynne (all h-t), K O’Neill for O’Flynn (55), Wynne for Riordan (60-70), Howard for Lavery (70).

Referee: M Connolly (IRFU).