Stephen O'Neill's first half try was the difference between the teams at Lakelands Park as Terenure College continued their dream start to life in Division 1A with a 14-9 win over defending champions Clontarf.
This was 'Nure's fifth victory of the current campaign and extended their winning streak in the Ulster Bank League to an incredible 28 games, and in the process dented 'Tarf's title defence with a second defeat.
The hosts opened the scoring with a brace of successful penalties from James Thornton after 21 and 25 minutes before O’Neill touched down on 37 minutes.
After racing on to a kick from distance, the outside centre used the space afforded to him to boot the ball towards the try-line and touch down on the right. Thornton's missed conversion left it 11-0 at the interval.
Clontarf upped the intensity when the second period got underway and they finally opened their account in the 54th minute. Following David Joyce's earlier missed efforts, replacement Alan Hughes stepped up to slot a penalty from the 22.
'Nure introduced Connacht loanee John Cooney off the bench and his strong break by Cooney paved the way for Thornton's third penalty 13 minutes from time.
Hughes responded with his second and third penalties of the afternoon to make life difficult for Terenure once again but despite their best endeavours, 'Tarf had to be content with a losing bonus point in the end.
Ballynahinch are up to fourth in the standings thanks to a brilliant final quarter effort against St. Mary's College which saw them run out 33-13 bonus point winners at rain-soaked Ballymacarn Park.
Tries in each half from Marcus O'Driscoll and Sean McCarthy had the Dubliners leading 13-6 approaching the hour mark, but Derek Suffern's side produced a tremendous 27-point turnaround.
Centre Richard Reaney got the scoreboard moving for Ballynahinch again with his third successful penalty and an unconverted try in the corner soon after.
That made it 14-13 and it got even better for the hosts when Ulster Ravens winger Ross Adair followed a kick through to touch down in the 74th minute and Reaney converted.
Two minutes later, Robin Harte charged down a Mary's kick to grab what looked like the clinching try. His centre partner Reaney converted and also added the extras to a 78th minute penalty try - the bonus point score - as he finished the game with a handsome 18-point haul.
Young Munster are also heading in the right direction thanks to back-to-back wins, their latest success seeing them overcome Cork Constitution on a tight 9-6 scoreline at Temple Hill.
Australian full-back Ben Martin scored 21 points in Munsters' most recent victory at home to Old Belvedere, and he took that match-winning form on the road to Cork by slotting a decisive second half penalty.
The Cookies won 16-10 at Temple Hill last January and it was obvious their confidence is up at the moment as despite difficult conditions, including a cross-field wind, they broke into an early 6-0 lead.
Martin landed a second minute penalty and out-half Willie Staunton added a neatly-taken drop goal. Constitution were back level by the 18th minute, though, thanks to two Darragh Lyons penalties.
The Leesiders had captain Gerry Hurley back at scrum half but the Cookies limited his influence and their forwards got the upper hand as conditions deteriorated in the second half.
The visiting pack won a penalty at a scrum in the 68th minute which saw Martin boot them back in front, and John Staunton's charges produced a strong finish to seal the result.
Dolphin avoided defeat for the first time in this season's Ulster Bank League with a deserved 22-22 draw with Old Belvedere at Anglesea Road.
Ex-Old Christians scrum half Stuart Lee came off the bench to nervelessly nail a last-minute levelling penalty for Dolphin, whose forwards in particular put in a great shift in the second half.
Old Belvedere had looked on course for their first win in four league outings, opening up a 15-0 first half advantage on the back of Josh Glynn and Kieran O'Gorman tries.
But Dolphin scored a timely try just before half-time and with the wind at their backs during the closing 40 minutes, Steve Ford's men forced the issue up front.
Returning hooker Niall Scannell and fellow forwards Chris Rowe and John Quill all crossed the whitewash, with Munster flanker Sean Dougall getting some more game-time following his recent shoulder injury.
Although a Rory O'Loughlin try had 'Belvo 22-12 to the good, the division's bottom side managed to reel them in with Lee's late kick giving the Corkmen a valuable two league points.
Meanwhile, Lansdowne fell to their second successive league defeat as they went down 19-10 to a spirited UCD side on the Aviva Stadium's back pitch.
The students won at the same venue at the start of last season - 27-14 - and they repeated the trick with out-half Ross Byrne booting three penalties and converting a Peadar Timmins try as well as his own second half effort.
UCD made use of a strong wind to open up an 11-0 advantage, but a 32nd minute penalty try - converted by Scott Deasy - kept Lansdowne within touching distance at 11-7.
Deasy split the posts again in the 43rd minute, cancelling out Byrne's third successful penalty, but despite a second sin-binning for UCD they went on to take the spoils. Byrne bagged the match-winning try in the 67th minute, with his Ireland Under-20 colleague Garry Ringrose impressing in the build-up to it.
DIVISION 1B
Ballymena are the new leaders in Ulster Bank League Division 1B after beating former front runners Galwegians 23-22 at a very wet Crowley Park.
The Braidmen picked up their fifth and most significant win of the season to date despite being outscored by four tries to two. In the end, an excellent injury-time penalty from replacement Tim Small, struck from the 10-metre line, split the sides.
Heavy rain at kick-off made for a tight first half, with the top of the table clash remaining scoreless until Ballymena centre Patrick James broke the deadlock with a 31st minute converted try.
Ritchie McMaster, who starting at out-half, added a penalty for the visitors before 'Wegians replied on the stroke of half-time as tighthead prop Doron McHugh drove over from a lineout maul.
'Wegians struck again soon after the restart as veteran full-back John 'Luigi' Cleary rose to claim his own up and under and his momentum took his clear of the Ballymena defence to score his first try of the season.
A second McMaster penalty was cancelled out by Brian McClearn's 55th-minute try from another well-executed maul from the home pack. Suddenly, it was all Galwegians as left winger Colin Conroy intercepted a pass on his 10-metre line to race way and score a superb bonus point try with 61 minutes gone.
Cleary's conversion put the westerners 22-13 clear. Credit to Ballymena, though, they showed impressive resilience to patiently work themselves back into scoring range. Their reward was a penalty try in the 78th minute and Small stepped up to deny 'Wegians right at the death.
Dublin University's resurgence continued as they came away from Dooradoyle with a famous 14-8 triumph over Garryowen.
Trinity are up to eighth in the table after stringing together wins over Malone and the Light Blues, with increasingly influential out-half Jack McDermott scoring 24 points in the two games.
McDermott landed three penalties in Limerick, the first of them giving Tony Smeeth's youngsters a 3-0 interval lead in wet and windy conditions.
Garryowen lost lock Aaron McClosey to the sin-bin and although Kiwi back rower Josh Hrstich touched down to give the hosts a 5-3 buffer, they soon had scrum half Neill Cronin yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on.
It was nip and tuck all the way as an unconverted try from Trinity's US Eagles winger Tim Maupin was followed by a Jamie Gavin penalty at the other end, levelling matters at 8-all.
The conditions proved favourable for the students at this stage, a strong wind backing McDermott as he notched two closing penalties to settle the issue. Garryowen remain in third place but are now eight points adrift of table toppers Ballymena.
Malone gained their second victory of the current league run with a 23-10 dismissal of UL Bohemians at Gibson Park.
The Cregagh Red Sox got back to winning ways, using the conditions to their advantage in the first half as wily scrum half John Creighton grabbed a brace of tries and centre Nathan Brown also touched down.
That opened up a considerable 20-point lead and although UL Bohs reached double figures with Ian Condell's converted try and a Shane Airey penalty, Josh Pentland landed a lone second half penalty to steer Malone over the finish line.
Their head coach Jacques Benade will have been disappointed not to pick up a bonus point given their three-try salvo in the opening 40 minutes, but the result gives Malone a timely boost ahead of next week's trip to unbeaten Ballymena.
Malone's local rivals Belfast Harlequins prevailed on a 26-21 scoreline at Thomond Park as they got the better of an inconsistent Shannon side.
'Quins centre Eamon Lane took his tally for the league campaign to 46 points as he lobbed over four penalties and converted tries from lock Caleb Montgomery and winger Peter Dunlop.
Montgomery touched down in the 13th minute in response to an early David O'Donovan penalty, before Munster's Luke O'Dea went over out wide for the Limerick club.
Lane came into his own with a run of three-pointers in the 22nd, 26th and 38th minutes, but a second penalty from experienced full-back O'Donovan kept Shannon in touch.
'Quins enjoyed a purple patch when Dunlop broke through for a try which Lane converted and he followed up with his final penalty goal to make it 26-11.
Adam Larkin's men won in the end to lift themselves off the bottom of the table, but Shannon produced a smart final quarter to muster a losing bonus point. A Hugh Kelliher try cut the gap to ten points before the home side took advantage of a sin-binning to put captain John Shine over late on.
On Friday night, Corinthians scored two converted tries in the second half to overhaul Buccaneers and take a 14-10 Connacht derby win at Dubarry Park.
Corinthians put some indifferent form behind them, including their 30-7 home loss to Shannon, to secure a much-needed victory in the injury-enforced absence of captain James Buckley.
Buccaneers led 3-0 at the break despite playing poorly and not capitalising on two Corinthians yellow cards. After the second one for loosehead prop Mark Byrne, Alan Gaughan tapped over the resulting penalty.
However, the Pirates had a high error count and Corinthians were finally rewarded for their enterprise when, following a fine David Panter break, Connacht Eagles captain Eoghan Masterson drove over for a 49th minute try which Conor Murphy converted.
Further sustained endeavour by the visitors quickly yielded a second try just five minutes later with hooker Pat O'Toole getting over on the right. Murphy curled over the conversion for a 14-3 scoreline.
Try-scoring chances for Buccs went a-begging as tighthead Diarmuid Higgins fumbled from a loose Corinthians lineout and then from a promising attack, a final pass to waiting winger Eoghan O'Reilly lacked the necessary accuracy.
Martin Staunton was introduced and made an immediate impact, turning over possession on the left and within a minute the prop was finishing off the attack on the opposite flank for a 66th minute try.
Gaughan added a good conversion to reduce the arrears to 14-10 but Corinthians' impressive defence prevented any further scores in a frantic finish. The result gives Pat Cunningham's charges plenty of encouraging for next week's derby clash with their city rivals Galwegians.
