UCD 23 GARRYOWEN 16, Belfield Bowl
Scorers: UCD: Tries: Jamie Glynn, Tommy O’Brien, James Ryan; Con: Cillian Burke; Pens: Cillian Burke 2
Garryowen: Try: David Johnston; Con: Neil Cronin; Pens: Neil Cronin 3
HT: UCD 15 Garryowen 7
Ireland Under-20 captain James Ryan had a starring role in UCD’s hard-earned 23-16 success at home to a durable Garryowen outfit today.
Ryan’s second half try helped the students end their three-match losing streak in the Ulster Bank League, with captain Jamie Glynn and teenage centre Tommy O’Brien also touching down.
Goal-kicking winger Cillian Burke was UCD’s only change in the back-line, with their starting pack bolstered by the reunited second row pairing of Emmet MacMahon and Ryan.
Garryowen gave returning Munster centre Sam Arnold a start after his second half cameo off the bench against Trinity, but Alex Wootton and Conor Oliver were pulled from the team after appearing as second half replacements against the Ospreys the previous night.
Scrum half Glynn grabbed his second try in as many games after just seven minutes at Belfield, scoring after a period of pressure close to the Garryowen posts saw Ryan, Greg Jones and out-half Matthew Gilsenan all go close. Burke’s conversion attempt came back off the post.
Andy Skehan’s charges dominated possession in the first quarter. As the half wore on and with Garryowen still on the back foot, Burke made no mistake with a close range penalty for 8-0. But the visitors suddenly came to life nearing half-time, out-half David Johnston, who is currently on a Munster development deal, sliced through a gap on the right for an excellent five-pointer.
Johnston’s half-back partner Neil Cronin fired over a superb conversion, before UCD issued the perfect response. Fresh from a try-scoring league debut last week, O’Brien brilliantly added to his tally by racing through from deep to score by the posts. Cronin lessened the blow with a late penalty for a 15-10 deficit.
Crucially, UCD gave themselves some breathing space in the third quarter, Burke splitting the posts with a penalty from distance and then the physically imposing Ryan dotted down on the left after a powerful 56th minute dash to the line.
Cronin’s second successful penalty gave the Light Blues a glimmer of hope and they moved into losing bonus point territory with another accurate Cronin kick in the 73rd minute. UCD might have had their own bonus point by then, but Ryan’s attempted pass failed to set up O’Brien for his double.
However, the margin remained at seven points right to the final whistle, UCD standing firm for a deserved and much-needed triumph as Garryowen ended the game with loosehead prop Niall Horanin the sin-bin.
UCD: Andy Marks; Tom Fletcher, Colm Mulcahy, Tommy O’Brien, Cillian Burke; Matthew Gilsenan, Jamie Glynn (capt); Mikey Moynihan, Sean McNulty, Liam Hyland, Emmet MacMahon, James Ryan, Josh Murphy, Alex Penny, Greg Jones.
Replacements: Gordon Frayne, Rory Mulvihill, Brian Cawley, Niall O’Neill, Stephen Murphy.
GARRYOWEN: Steve McMahon; Hugh O’Brien-Cunningham, Sam Arnold, Andrew O’Byrne, Liam Coombes; David Johnston, Neil Cronin (capt); Niall Horan, Eamon Costello, Jack Mullany, Barra O’Byrne, Sean O’Connor, Alwyn van Vuuren, Elliot Fitzgerald, Bailey Faloon.
Replacements: Ger Horan, Brian Moriarty, Paul McCarroll, Peadar Collins, Hugh Lane.