Buccaneers, Lansdowne, Blackrock and St Mary's opened their AIL Division One seasons with victories today.
Buccaneers 18-9 Galwegians
Buccaneers scored a well-deserved 18-9 win over Galwegians at Moher Road, Ballinasloe today. Oisin Grennan scored the first try for Buccaneers after 22 minutes with Colm Glynn adding the conversion. After a number of wides, scrum-half Bryan Shelbourne finally found the target to trail 7-3 at the break. Shelbourne converted another penalty after the interval but a try from winger Mike Devine and the conversion from Glynn secured victory for Buccaneers.
Lansdowne 23-22 DLSP
Lansdowne scraped a one-point win over DLSP at Kilternan this afternoon. First-half tries from Mark Cross and Mihai Viorneau added to DLSP's 15-12 lead at the break with Alan McGowan scoring a try for Lansdowne after 10 minutes. Viorneau scored his second try after the break before a try from Anthony Ronan and a penalty from McGowan sealed victory for Lansdowne.
Blackrock 35-31 Clontarf
Blackrock snatched a 35-31 win over Clontarf at Stradbrook this afternoon. Blackrock opened a sizeable lead in the first half with two early tries courtesy of Andrew Grealy and David Popplewell. Clontarf began to retaliate, however, with two penalties from James Dempsey and tries from Ben Gissing, Ronan O'Reilly and Padraig Lynn to cut the Rock's lead to just two points before the break. Clontarf failed to maintain their run of good form in the second half and faded in the closing stages of the match with Browne and Willis scoring tries for Blackrock.
St. Mary’s College 30-24 Terenure College
A great second-half performance secured St Mary's 30-24 win over Terenure today. Richard Governey got Terenure off to a good start with four penalties after 25 minutes while Clinton Hall scored Terenure's first try after picking up a pass over 40 metres out from Mary's goal-line. Six minutes later, however, Mary's fought back with a try courtesy of James Norton. In the second half, Governey scored Terenure's second try but Mary's once again retaliated with a John MacWeeney try and three penalties scored by Lynn to level on the 65th minute. A try from Conor McPhillips and two more penalties from Lynn secured victory for Mary's.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
