UCD 23 LANSDOWNE 30, Belfield Bowl
Scorers: UCD: Tries: Jack Ringrose, Tommy O’Brien; Cons: Harry Byrne, Ciaran Frawley; Pens: Harry Byrne 3
Lansdowne: Tries: Harry Brennan, Ronan Kelleher, Penalty try; Cons: Scott Deasy 2, Pen try con; Pens: Scott Deasy 3
HT: UCD 9 Lansdowne 6
Lansdowne completed an immaculate first half of the Ulster Bank League season with their ninth straight win, as a second half scoring burst saw them overcome a feisty UCD side 30-23 at the Belfield Bowl on Saturday.
The Division 1A leaders also lifted the Sutherland Cup – presented in memory of Peter Sutherland’sfather, the great Billy Sutherland – courtesy of this three-try victory which saw talismanic out-half Scott Deasy kick 13 points. However, it was the students who made the early inroads with a couple of kicks towards the corner.
Harry Byrne, younger brother of Ross Byrne who was in action at the same time with Leinster in Treviso, fired over a 35-metre penalty to get UCD off the mark. He missed a second place-kick just four minutes later, with his effort dropping short and gathered under the posts by Deasy.
Byrne was back on target with his next attempt at the posts, making it 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. Deasy responded with a routine strike on 23 minutes but a similar kick at the other end from Byrne restored the six-point lead. The kicking duel continued but Deasy was surprisingly off target from close range.
The sin-binning of flanker Aaron Conneely was a further setback for Lansdowne, who had Connacht’s Denis Coulson making his senior debut for the club in the front row. However, in Conneely’s absence, they closed the deficit to 9-6 for half-time thanks to a Deasy penalty from the right.
The game began to open up more immediately after the restart, the visitors needing just three minutes for Deasy and full-back Eamonn Mills to combine and send centre Harry Brennan over for an emphatic finish to a well-crafted multi-phase attack. Deasy converted for a 13-9 lead.
Before UCD could regain their composure, Lansdowne claimed their second try in the space of four minutes. Mike Ruddock’s men developed a strong lineout maul after Deasy had kicked to touch, and hooker Ronan Kelleher, younger brother of Connacht winger Cian Kelleher, drove over for a converted 47th-minute score.
The family affair continued as Garry Ringrose’s younger brother, UCD winger Jack, raced through for a much-needed try in the left corner via Jamie Glynn’s quick tap penalty, with Byrne superbly splitting the posts from the touchline.
However, Lansdowne continued to do damage, especially up front, as Deasy knocked over his third successful penalty and a powerful attacking scrum saw referee Stuart Gaffikin award them a 67th-minute penalty try, with UCD having just lost influential number 8 Peadar Timmins to the sin-bin.
UCD now had a mountain to climb at 30-16 down, but to their credit, Andy Skehan’s charges were resilient right to the last. They continued to probe for scores and were rewarded in the closing stages, with prop Jeremy Loughman carrying strongly into the Lansdowne half before Tommy O’Brien’sexcellent try, which saw him burst past several defenders and was converted by his Ireland Under-20 colleague Ciaran Frawley, earned them a deserved losing bonus point.
UCD: Ciaran Frawley; Rob Keenan, Gavin Mullin, Tommy O’Brien, Jack Ringrose; Harry Byrne, Jamie Glynn (capt); Rory Mulvihill, Sean McNulty, Jeremy Loughman, Emmet MacMahon, Gavin Thornberry, Stephen McVeigh, Ronan Foley, Peadar Timmins.
Replacements: Gordon Frayne, Liam Hyland, Brian Cawley, Nick Peters, Colm Mulcahy.
LANSDOWNE: Eamonn Mills; Mark O’Keefe, Harry Brennan, Fergal Cleary, Adam Leavy; Scott Deasy, Charlie Rock; Denis Coulson. Ronan Kelleher, Ian Prendiville (capt), Josh O’Rourke, Jack Dwan, Jack O’Sullivan, Aaron Conneely, Willie Earle.
Replacements: Tyrone Moran, Adam Boland, Jacob Coghlan, Darragh Henry, Willie Walsh.