No joy for Limerick sides in Saturday's early All-Ireland League fixtures

THERE was no joy for the three Limerick clubs involved in afternoon energia All-Ireland League fixtures on Saturday.

In Division 1A, basement side Garryowen remain without a win after 11 series of games following their 7-24 defeat away to Ballynahinch.

Due to unplayable pitch, the fixture was switched from Ballymacarn Park to the Newforge Sports complex, Newforge Lane, Belfast.

Garryowen made the best possible start to the game when taking an early 7-0 lead through a try from Nick Greene, which was converted by Tony Butler.

However, 'Hinch were 10-7 to the good by half-time, thanks to an Ethan Graham try and a conversion and penalty goal from the boot of Greg Hutley.

The Ulster side added 14 unanswered points in the second half, comprising of two converted tries, to ease clear.

The result leaves Garryowen 15 points adrift of ninth-placed UCD and 16 points behind Shannon. who have moved out of the relegation play-off position, with now just seven series of regular season games to go.

Meanwhile, in Division 2A, another relegation-threatened side, UL-Bohemian, suffered a narrow 19-17 defeat to Navan RFC on the 4G pitch at ULs North Campus.

The result sees the Annacotty side remain bottom of the 2A table, but are only one point behind second-from-bottom placed Dolphin. UL-Bohs are now seven points shy of safety in the battle to avoid relegation to 2B.

The Red, Red Robins also trailed their opponents by two points at half-time, 10-12, at UL North Campus on Saturday.

After falling behind 5-0 to an early try for the Co Meath side, UL-Bohs hit back with a converted try to take the lead.

Captain Paul Clancy dotted down following great work by the forwards, while Harry Byrne added the conversion.

Navan increased their two-point interval lead with a converted try to claim a 19-10 advantage.

To their credit, UL-Bohs responded with a converted try to claim a losing bonus point.

Also in 2A, Old Crescent's scheduled fixture away to Ballymena was called off due to an unplayable pitch. Ballymena indicated that the decision was made due to a substantial covering of snow on their pitch. A new date and time for the fixture will be revealed in due course.

In Division 2C, promotion play-off chasing Bruff suffered a 23-10 defeat to Clonmel in South Tipperary.

Bruff, who began the day in fifth place in the table, fell behind to a try from their hosts Clonmel at Ardgaoithe.

The South Limerick side trailed 3-5 at half-time, with their points coming courtesy of a Paul Collins penalty goal.

After Clonmel moved further clear with their second try of the afternoon, Bruff hit back to draw level, with Pa Maher dotting down and Collins converting to tie the scores at 10-10.

That proved to be Bruff's final score of the game, however, as Clonmel added a penalty and two further tries to claim a bonus point success.

Bruff remain in fifth place in the table, but are six points off Clonmel in fourth spot.