Two Limerick wins and a draw on dramatic day of All-Ireland League action

THERE were just two Limerick wins in the second round of fixtures in the energia All-Ireland League on Saturday, while Old Crescent secured a share of the spoils in Division 2A, on a dramatic day of action.

While second-placed Young Munster recorded victory in Division 1A, Garryowen's bid to make it back-to-back wins in the top flight came unstuck in their 21-29 defeat to Clontarf at Castle Avenue.

Meanwhile, Shannon collected their first win of the campaign in 1B when securing a gritty 23-13 success over Old Wesley on Thomond Park's back pitch. 

In Division 2A, Old Crescent recorded an exciting 22-22 come-from-behind draw with Navan at Balreask Old.

UL-Bohemian claimed two bonus points from their 32-26 reverse at the hands of Skerries at Holmpatrick in Division 2B.

In Division 2C, Bruff also claimed a losing bonus point in their 21-24 defeat away to Monkstown at Sydney Parade.

In the top Division, Garryowen travelled to Castle Avenue for their date with 'Tarf with former Ireland captain Keith Wood’s three sons, starting centre Gordon and replacement backs Tom and Alex, all included together in a Light Blues AIL squad for the first time.

Some enforced changes saw Jamie Houston, Jack Delaney, and Colm Quilligan added to the Light Blues back-line.

It was Clontarf, powered by three tries, who led the game 22-7 at half-time. The Garryowen try in the opening 40 came courtesy of Des Fitzgerald on the stroke of half-time, with Kelvin Langan converting.

The Dooradoyle side added a second try from Colm Hogan five minutes after the restart with Langan again adding the extras for 22-14.

A fourth try for 'Tarf put the home side in control at 29-14, however, before Gordon Wood notched the Limerick side's third try, with Langan again converting.

However, seventh-placed Garryowen ultimately were unable to bridge the eight-point gap to their hosts.

Shannon were looking to bounce back from their 19-13 opening weekend Division 1B loss to Queen’s when welcoming Old Wesley to Thomond Park's back pitch on Saturday.

The Limerick side had five All-Ireland League debutants in their opening weekend fixture, and one of them, second row Christian Storey, making his first start against Old Wesley. Ciaran Vaughan, John O’Sullivan, and Cillian Corkery also came into the side, along with Ireland Under-19 flanker Oisin Minogue for the visit of the Dubliners.

Shannon trailed their visitors 6-13 at half-time with the Parish side's points coming courtesy of two John O’Sullivan penalties.

The home side outscored Wesley 17-0 in an impressive second half display to secure a precious come-from-behind win.

Wesley were reduced to 14 players in the 49th minute and Shannon took advantage as Adam Moloney crossed for a try off the back of a maul. O'Sullivan duly converted to tie the scores at 13-13.

Ten minutes from full-time, Shannon notched their second try of the afternoon as Jack O’Donnell touched down with O’Sullivan adding the extras for 20-13.

The out-half then slotted a late penalty goal to seal the win for the fourth-placed Limerick side.

In Division 2A, fifth-placed Old Crescent trailed Navan 6-15 at half-time at Balreask Old. Ronan McKenna kicked two penalties for the Rosbrien side in the opening 40 minutes.

Resilient Crescent had their noses in front, 16-15, after an hour, thanks to a third McKenna penalty just after a restart and a try from Casey Tanyi, which McKenna converted.

Two more McKenna penalties on 67 minutes and 72 minutes pushed the Limerick side seven points ahead at 22-15. However, a late converted try from Navan saw the home side secure a share of the spoils.

UL-Bohs' were looking to build on their opening weekend victory over Sligo in Division 2B, when making the trip to Skerries on Saturday.

A slow start saw the red, Red Robins trailing 5-25 at half-time at Holmpatrick. UL-Bohs had trailed 0-15 at one stage in the opening half.

However, the Annacotty side improved in the second half adding 21 points to claim two match points from the second round game. UL-Bohs scored four tries in all, with Darren Ferrar helping himself to a brace, while Pauric Nesbitt and Jack Foley also dotted down. Oisin Fagan converted three of the tries for fourth-placed UL-Bohs.

In Division 2C, Bruff are still seeking their first win of the campaign after succumbing to a narrow, three-point defeat to Monkstown at Sydney Parade.

Bruff had trailed 13-17 at half-time to their hosts. Paul Collins kicked two first half penalty goals for the Kilballyowen Park side, while Kieran O’Dwyer's try in the opening 40 minutes was converted by Ethan Anderson.

Bruff led 18-17 after the restart when John Bateman grabbed their second try of the contest. However, a converted try for Monkstown had their 24-18 in front.

Ethan Anderson's penalty goal then guaranteed a losing bonus point for the South Limerick side from their trip to Dublin.

DIVISION 1A:

CLONTARF 29 GARRYOWEN 21, Castle Avenue
Scorers: Clontarf: Tries: Dylan Donnellan, Tadhg Bird, Louis O’Reilly, Seni Reilly Ashiru; Cons: Conor Kelly 3; Pen: Conor Kelly
Garryowen: Tries: Des Fitzgerald, Colm Hogan, Gordon Wood; Cons: Kelvin Langan 3

CLONTARF: Andrew Smith; Peter Maher, Victor Allen, Tadhg Bird, Seni Reilly Ashiru; Conor Kelly, Louis O’Reilly; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan (capt), Ben Griffin, Fionn Gilbert, Jim Peters, Oran Walsh, Aaron Coleman, John Vinson. Replacements: Barry Gray, Niall Smyth, Charlie Ward, Will Reilly, Mark O’Sullivan, Callum Smith.

GARRYOWEN: Jamie Heuston; Colm Hogan, Gordon Wood, Jack Delaney, Colm Quilligan; Kelvin Langan, Neil Cronin; George Hadden, Lars Linnenbank, Oisin Kearney, Oisin Cooke, Kevin Seymour, Des Fitzgerald, Oisin McCormack, Donnacha Byrne (capt). Replacements: Dara Phelan, Mikey Veale, Ben O’Sullivan, Scott Leahy, Tom Wood, Alex Wood.

DIVISION 1B:

SHANNON 23 OLD WESLEY 13, Thomond Park back pitch
Scorers: Shannon: Tries: Adam Moloney, John O’Donnell; Cons: John O’Sullivan 2; Pens: John O’Sullivan 3
Old Wesley: Try: Cathal Kelly; Con: Ian Cassidy; Pens: Ian Cassidy 2

SHANNON: Cillian Corkery; Jack O’Donnell, Cian O’Halloran, Harry Long (capt), Sam Brown; John O’Sullivan, Ian Leonard; Emmet Calvey, Adam Moloney, Kieran Ryan, Christian Storey, Ciaran Vaughan, Luke Moylan, Oisin Minogue, Lee Nicholas. Replacements: Shane Carew, Tony Cusack, Conor Glynn, Cian McGann, Evin Crowe, Cillian O’Connor.

OLD WESLEY: Tom Larke; Tommy O’Callaghan, Alex Molloy, Eoin Deegan, Nathan Randles; Ian Cassidy, Willem Johnstone; Harry Noonan, Kieran O’Shea, Cronan Gleeson, Shane Cawley, Reuben Pim, Cathal Kelly, Josh Pim (capt), William Fay. Replacements: Rian Handley, Sam Kenny, Charlie Meagher, Mahon Ronan, Andrew Doyle, Eoin Murphy.

DIVISION 2A:

NAVAN 22 OLD CRESCENT 22, Balreask Old
Scorers: Navan: Tries: Tom Gavigan, Rory Gordon, Kyle Dixon; Cons: Mark Farrell, Tom Gavigan; Pen: Mark Farrell
Old Crescent: Try: Casey Tanyi; Con: Ronan McKenna; Pens: Ronan McKenna 5

NAVAN: Shane Walshe; Harry Devlin, Rory Gordon, Evan Dixon (capt), Mark Coen; Tom Gavigan, Mark Farrell; James Wyse, Jayden Henderson, Liam Carroll, Jordan Finney, Liam McAree, Kyle Dixon, Thomas Ciot, Lazlo Pschorn. Replacements: Gary Faulkner, Leigh Jackson, Cormac Kenny, Jack Dixon, Cormac Horan.

OLD CRESCENT: Glen Kelly; Timmy Duggan, Larry Hanly, Werner Hoffman, Daithi Byrnes; Ronan McKenna, Gary Fitzgerald; Joe Rickard, Darragh O’Brien, Evan Creaven, John Moloney, Yasin Browne, John Lyons, Karl Madden (capt), Kevin Doyle. Replacements: Eoghan Quinn, Casey Tanyi, Sean Monaghan, Ben Davey, Jamie Duggan.

DIVISION 2B:

SKERRIES 32 UL BOHEMIAN 26, Holmpatrick

Scorers: Skerries: Tries: Taidgh Keane Boylan, Kevin McGrath, Jack Litchfield, Darragh McEneaney; Cons: Ronan Mulcahy 2, Jack Litchfield; Pens: Ronan Mulcahy 2
UL Bohemian: Tries: Darren Ferrar 2, Pauric Nesbitt, Jack Foley; Cons: Oisin Fagan 3

SKERRIES: Ronan Mulcahy; Taidgh Keane Boylan, Kevin McGrath, Mikey Sherlock, David Goodman; Paul O’Loghlen, John Healy; Trevor Scuffil, Kieran Leonard (capt), Tomás O’Donovan, Sam Deering, Cian McGuinness, Alex Cleary, Darragh McEneaney, Peter O’Neill. Replacements: Evann Shelley, Rossa Gilbride, Ben McKiernan, Shane Hannon, Jack Litchfield.

UL BOHEMIAN: Matt Sheahan; Myles Lawler, Killian Dineen, Paul Clancy, Joe Johnston; Oisin Fagan, Luca Cleary; Kean Sheehy, Darren Ferrar, Kian Regan, Pauric Nesbitt, Jack Foley, Padraic Galvin, Sean Quirke, Liam Neilan (capt). Replacements: Matt Henry, Jack Ryan, Josh Kahler, Mark Glynn, Liam O’Shanahan.

DIVISION 2C:

MONKSTOWN 24 BRUFF 21, Sydney Parade
Scorers: Monkstown: Tries: Cormac Brennan, Matt Stapleton, Paul Harte; Cons: Charlie McMickan 3; Pen: Charlie McMickan
Bruff: Tries: Kieran O’Dwyer, John Bateman; Con: Ethan Anderson; Pens: Paul Collins 2, Ethan Anderson
HT: Monkstown 17 Bruff 13

MONKSTOWN: Saul O’Carroll; Cian O’Donoghue, Cormac Brennan, Matt Stapleton, Paul Harte; Charlie McMickan, Mark Higgins; Chris Stack, Paul O’Donnell, Niall Carney, Conor Hurley, Jim O’Shea, Tony McGinness (capt), Toby Boyd, Stephen McVeigh. Replacements: Kieran Stokes, Aaron Davis, John Wallace, Fraser Wright, Oisin Brady.

BRUFF: Paul Collins; Shane Duggan, Ethan Anderson, Andrew O’Byrne, Mark Fitzpatrick; John Bateman, Cathal Garvey; Darragh O’Brien, Mike Frawley, Kieran O’Dwyer, Iago Dasi Somoza, Tom O’Dwyer (capt), Mark Kennedy, John Sheehan, Tom Lillis. Replacements: Sean O’Riordan, Fionn Flanagan, Brendan Gleeson, Andrew Purcell, Adam O’Dwyer.