ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 18 CORK CONSTITUTION 16, Templeville Road
Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Tries: Dave Fanagan 2; Con: Conor Dean; Pens: Sean Kearns 2
Cork Constitution: Tries: Joe White, Rob Jermyn; Pens: Aidan Moynihan 2
HT: St. Mary’s College 6 Cork Constitution 8
A brace of second half tries from outstanding full-back Dave Fanagan helped St. Mary’s Collegeclaim a much-needed 18-16 win over defending champions Cork Constitution in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League last Saturday.
Second-placed Constitution were course to win this physically gruelling encounter when leading 16-6 on the hour mark. However, Mary’s and Fanagan had other ideas and their late rally saw them come out on top to avenge November’s narrow defeat on Leeside when they were denied by Tomas Quinlan’s last-minute penalty.
In the rematch at Templeville Road, Peter Burke’s Mary’s side broke the deadlock in the 10th minute thanks to out-half Sean Kearns’ beautifully-struck 40-metre penalty. Con turned down a kickable shot but after their lineout maul failed to produce a try, the hosts doubled their lead with a second penalty from Kearns.
Nonetheless, Con’s challenge came to life in the second quarter as forward pressure and a series of powerful drives gave them significant attacking momentum. The industrious Aidan Moynihanknocked over a penalty from in front of the posts, and the visitors’ persistence paid off as they created space on the left wing for Rob Jermyn to sprint over for an unconverted try.
Mary’s turned around for the second half with an 8-6 deficit and facing into a stiff breeze. They fell further behind courtesy of a routine penalty from Moynihan. Heading towards the final quarter, some brilliant interplay between Moynihan and replacement Michael Clune put full-back Joe White over for Con’s second try out wide.
Crucially, Moynihan was unable to convert and this missed kick had a bigger bearing on the outcome than anyone could have anticipated. Suddenly, with 15 minutes remaining, man-of-the-match Fanagan powered over the line after breaking through a Con tackle, offering his side a new lease of life in the process.
The pacy full-back repeated the trick at the end of a prolonged move just five minutes later, and replacement Conor Dean, who is part of Noel McNamara’s Ireland Under-20 Six Nations squad, stepped up to convert and sensationally fire Mary’s back in front.
Con were now desperately searching for a response, but thanks to a superb defensive effort in a nerve-wracking climax, the Dubliners held on for a result which moves them out of the bottom two. The Corkmen remain second in the table as two of their top-four rivals, Clontarf and Terenure College, also lost in round 11.
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Dave Fanagan; Craig Kennedy, Darren Moroney, Marcus O’Driscoll, Myles Carey; Sean Kearns, Paddy O’Driscoll; Tom O’Reilly, Richard Halpin, Adam Coyle, Ciaran Ruddock (capt), Cathal O’Flaherty, David O’Connor, Ronan Watters, Jack Dilger.
Replacements: Hugo Kean, Emmet Ferron, Nick McCarthy, Robbie Glynn, Conor Dean.
CORK CONSTITUTION: Joe White; Liam O’Connell, Alex McHenry, Niall Kenneally (capt), Rob Jermyn; Aidan Moynihan, Jason Higgins; Brendan Quinlan, Max Abbott, Dylan Murphy, Brian Hayes, Joe McSwiney, Graeme Lawler, Ross O’Neill, Luke Cahill.
Replacements: Vincent O’Brien, Peter Kelliher, Sean Duffy, Tomas Quinlan, Michael Clune.