Mary’s back in big time
St Mary’s College 9
Dublin University 5
Daire Walsh
Ulster Bank League Division 1B
Three first half penalties from Sean Kearns were crucial at Templeville Road last night as St Mary’s College were crowned Ulster Bank League Division 1B champions with a 9-5 defeat of Dublin University.
Kearns’ nine-point haul the hosts in the driving seat by half-time, and even though Trinity narrowed the gap with a Tim Maupin try on the resumption, Mary’s held out to secure automatic promotion to Division 1A.
Mary’s had started this clash in determined fashion, and just eight minutes in, an excellent penalty from Kearns broke the deadlock.
Kearns doubled his side’s advantage on 14 minutes.
Trinity’s Tommy Whittle missed an excellent opportunity to narrow the gap, though, and thanks to a third successful penalty from Kearns, the 2012 Ulster Bank League champions brought a 9-0 lead to the interval.
Trinity kept Mary’s on the back-foot for large spells after the restart, however, and even though Whittle’s 48th-minute place-kick rebounded off the woodwork, they finally breached the stern Mary’s resistance 16 minutes from time.
After the ball was recycled to the right flank, Maupin squeezed through in the corner. The unconverted score set-up a tension-filled finale, but with Mary’s largely controlling the tempo of the play, they emerged victorious.
Scorers for St Mary’s College: Pens: S Kearns 3.
Scorers for Dublin University: Try: Tim Maupin.
ST MARY’S COLLEGE: Steve Toal-Lennon; Rory O’Loughlin, Marcus O’Driscoll, Ivan Dineen, Darragh Fanning; Sean Kearns, David Fanagan; Tom O’Reilly, Hugo Kean, Brian McGovern; Ciaran Ruddock, David O’Connor; Kevin Sheahan, David Aspil, Mark Fallon.
Replacements: Stephen O’Brien, Emmet Ferron, Ian Cullinane, Terry Kennedy, Conor Gilsenan.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY: Conor Kearns; Tim Maupin, Michael Courtney, Paddy Lavelle, Max McFarland; Jack McDermott, Angus Lloyd; Eric O’Sullivan, Paddy Finlay, Andy Keating; Jack Burke, Raef Tyrrel; Nick McCarthy, Brian du Toit, Tony Ryan.
Replacements: Warren Larkin, Tom Collis, Cian O’Dwyer, Brian Slater, Jack Fitzpatrick.
Referee: F Murphy (IRFU).