Division One Semi-Final Preview: Cork Constitution v UL Bohemians
UL Bohemians’ first ever Division One play-off encounter sees them travelling to Temple Hill to take on a Cork Constitution side that has never lost to Bohs in AIB League fare. So who will win out in front of the RTE cameras – table-toppers Con or Bohs, one of Limerick’s two play-off contenders?
AIB LEAGUE: Saturday, April 28
DIVISION ONE SEMI-FINAL:
CORK CONSTITUTION v UL BOHEMIANS, Temple Hill, 2.30pm (live RTE One/rte.ie)
Referee: George Clancy (Munster)
Previous AIB League Meetings: Played 3, Cork Constitution Won 3, UL Bohemians Won 0; At Temple Hill: Played 1, Cork Constitution Won 1, UL Bohemians Won 0
Last Match: AIB League Division One – December 2, 2006 – UL Bohemians 8 Cork Constitution 11, Thomond Park
2006/07 AIB League Form (most recent match on the left): Cork Constitution: WWWWW; UL Bohemians: LWWWL
Cork Constitution – Notes: * They finished first in the Division One table for the fourth time in the past seven seasons. Saturday’s game is only their second home fixture against a Munster club in this season’s AIB League
* So far this season, they are unbeaten at home in the league, winning six games and drawing the other
* They have played 26 AIB League matches at home to Munster clubs and won 17 of those games for a 69% success rate. They have played UL Bohemians three times in league history and beaten them on each occasion
* They won all three of the Division One matches away in Munster this season and drew 17-17 at home to Shannon
* They have won their last eight Division One matches and lost only one match – 22-18 at Dungannon in October – during their recent Division One campaign
* They have already beaten Bohs twice this season, the second match was a 30-22 victory in the first round of the Munster Senior Cup at Thomond Park last September. They scored the most points (369) and were the second top try scorers (46) in Division One this season
* Over the ten seasons of the Division One play-offs, they have reached the semi-finals on five occasions. Their record in play-off games reads: played nine, won five and lost four. That includes one title win (1998/99) and Con were also beaten finalists on three occasions
Top Points Scorers in the AIB League: Richie Lane 147, Dan Nethery 47
Top Try Scorers in the AIB League: Richie Lane 10, Cronan Healy 6
UL Bohemians – Notes: * They finished fourth in the final Division One table. This is the club’s third AIB League game on the road in Munster this season, having won 19-12 at Dolphin and lost 18-5 at Garryowen
* So far this season, they have won four and lost three of their seven matches on the road in the AIB League. They have played 26 league fixtures on the road in Munster and won 12 of those games for a 48% success rate
* They have won seven of their last nine Division One matches. Saturday’s semi-final at Temple Hill is an all-Munster Cork v Limerick semi-final. 18 Division One semi-finals have been played to date and only three have been all-Munster affairs
* They have yet to avoid defeat to Con in three games in Division One
* They have had no AIB Club international players over the past two seasons, whereas Con have had three
* After three seasons in Division One, they are appearing in the top flight play-offs for the first time. They have qualified for the Division Two play-offs on three occasions where their record reads: played six, won four and lost two
* They won the Division Two title in 2004/05. They have never before appeared in an away semi-final in the play-offs
Top Points Scorers in the AIB League: Ben Martin 104
Top Try Scorers in the AIB League: Martin McPhail 10, Ian Hanly 6, Tom Luke 5
– AIB League statistics supplied by Des Daly –