ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 27 OLD BELVEDERE 18, Templeville Road
Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Tries: Dave Fanagan, Conor Hogan, Penalty try, Brian McGovern; Cons: Dave Fanagan 2; Pen: Dave Fanagan
Old Belvedere: Tries: Shane McDonald, David Brandon; Con: Willie Staunton; Pens: Willie Staunton 2
HT: St. Mary’s College 22 Old Belvedere 6
St. Mary’s College snapped their four-match losing streak in the Ulster Bank League with a much-needed 27-18 bonus point victory over south Dublin rivals Old Belvedere at Templeville Road.
Belvedere, who qualified for the Bateman Cup final last week, were 15-0 winners when the sides met at Anglesea Road in early December. They included Charlie Rock – a recent Leinster debutant – at scrum half, while his Academy colleague Terry Kennedy featured at full-back for the hosts.
Out-half Willie Staunton drifted a second minute penalty past the posts for ‘Belvo and it was his opposite number, versatile youngster Dave Fanagan, who opened the scoring with a comfortable strike at the other end.
Although Daniel Riordan and Rock were combining to good effect for the visitors, a stray offload on 17 minutes allowed Fanagan to set the wheels in motion for Mary’s opening try. Having broken out of defence, he passed wide to Conor Hogan and in attempting to prevent the winger from scoring, Belvedere’s Shane McDonald conceded a penalty try and was also sin-binned.
Mary’s confidence was growing as the first half went on. Staunton opened ‘Belvo’s account off the tee before Hogan touched down from a short Paddy O’Driscoll assist for Mary’s second seven-pointer – Fanagan’s second conversion went over with the aid of the woodwork. The latter then crossed for a try of his own in the 29th minute, at the end of a sweeping attack.
The margin stood at 22-6 at the turnaround, with Staunton landing his second penalty following a yellow card for Mary’s replacement back rower Jack Dilger. From their very first attack of the second half, ‘Belvo’s McDonald drifted in off his right wing to collect a pass and dot down in style for Staunton convert.
However, Mary’s kept their discipline in defence and by the time Dilger returned, they were still in the driving seat. Just before the hour mark, a strong maul got them into scoring range and when the ball was turned loose, Mary’s captain Brian McGovern finished off the bonus point try.
Belvedere did have the better of the closing stages, but they missed out on a losing bonus point when Rock failed to convert replacement David Brandon’s late try which came from a magnificent passage of play involving several players.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Terry Kennedy; Ryan O’Loughlin, Darren Moroney, Paddy Lavelle, Conor Hogan; Dave Fanagan, Paddy O’Driscoll; Tom O’Reilly, Richard Halpin, Brian McGovern (capt), Ciaran Ruddock, Cathal O’Flaherty, Hugh Kelleher, Nick McCarthy, Kevin Sheahan.
Replacements: Hugo Kean, Cathal Ryan, Jack Dilger, Conor Gilsenan, Zach O’Hagan.
OLD BELVEDERE: Daniel Riordan; Shane McDonald, John Kennedy (capt), James Kearns, Sean Coughlan; Willie Staunton, Charlie Rock; Jonathan Inglis, Cathal O’Flynn, Adam Howard, Connor Owende, Jack Kelly, Jonathan Slattery, Michael Oyuga, David Sherry.
Replacements: Brian Coyle, Killian Foley, Karl Miller, David Brandon, Aaron Sheehan.