A 14-POINT haul from out-half Gearoid McDonnell was vital at Anglesea Road yesterday afternoon, as Old Belvedere moved off the bottom of the table with a hard-earned 22-18 win over Lansdowne. The result gives Belvo a real chance of consolidating their place in the top flight for next season.
The hosts broke through for the first try on 11 minutes through centre Ben Woods. Belvo’s No. 10 McDonnell slotted the conversion, and he added to this with a penalty on 23 minutes.
Lansdowne opened their account three minutes later thanks to a close-range penalty by Ronaldson. McDonnell would cancel that out with a penalty of his own, but Lansdowne finally came to life on the 37th minute when Foster Horan took a try.
A third successful penalty from McDonnell gave Belvo a 16-10 advantage heading into the second half. Belvo suffered a setback in the opening minute after the resumption, when Horan drove over for his second try and the margin was down to the minimum.
Belvo brought their cushion back up to four when McDonnell kicked over on the left wing on 69 minutes. This score was cancelled out by a similar effort from Ronaldson, but a fifth penalty from replacement Eamonn Fitzgerald with five minutes of normal time remaining helped Belvo towards a precious victory.