St. Mary’s Remain Unbeaten After Titanic Tussle With Cork Con

ENERGIA ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE MEN’S DIVISION 1A:

Saturday, November 1 –

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 27 CORK CONSTITUTION 26, Templeville Road
Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Tries: Mick O’Gara, Leandro Ramirez, Aaron O’Sullivan; Cons: Mick O’Gara 3; Pens: Mick O’Gara 2
Cork Constitution: Tries: Jack Kelleher, Billy Scannell, Matthew Bowen, Aidan Moynihan; Cons: Darragh French, Aidan Moynihan 2
HT: St. Mary’s College 14 Cork Constitution 12

Templeville Road played host to another enthralling encounter between these teams, as it did back in April when Cork Con won a gripping semi-final 16-8. This time Mark McHugh’s men gained some revenge, with Mick O’Gara kicking a crucial 12 points.

Mary’s had to go to the well a few times in order to extend their winning run to five games. They watched Moynihan miss a penalty attempt in the dying seconds from over 50 metres out, but Constitution still took home two bonus points.

Converted tries from O’Gara and Leandro Ramirez saw Mary’s get off to a flying start, although Con’s robust forward play ensured they hit back through the influential Jack Kelleher, and Billy Scannell via a maul.

Still leading 14-12 at half-time, and with winger Ramirez back from the sin bin, Mary’s unfortunately lost captain Conor Dean to injury. In his absence, Con replacement Moynihan, making his first league appearance since January, came to the fore.

His cross-field kick played in Matthew Bowen for a try, before Mary’s capitalised on Joe O’Leary’s yellow card. O’Gara knocked over a penalty, and on the hour mark, Aaron O’Sullivan broke free to make it 24-19 to the home side.

Recovering from a penalty miss, Moynihan raided over for a superb seven-pointer from halfway, lifting Con late on. However, O’Gara punished a 76th-minute high tackle from the tee – taking his season’s haul to 61 points – as Mary’s dug deep for victory.

The Dean-led hosts gave an early glimpse of exactly why they are at the top of the table. Taking the Cork Con defence through 15 fast-paced phases, O’Gara was released in under the posts in the fifth minute after some deft passing from Dean and Ramirez.

With the wind in their favour, Mary’s continued to test Cork Con around the fringes, and out wide where eager Ireland Sevens international O’Sullivan was lurking. A Dylan Hicks interception gave his side some respite.

Nonetheless, an opportunist second score arrived for McHugh’s charges in the 10th minute. Dean’s dinked kick caused trouble in the back-field, Ramirez and Rob Hedderman collided in their efforts to collect it, but the Mary’s winger won the race to touch the ball down in the corner.

O’Gara was pinpoint accurate with his conversion from beside the right touchline, making it 14-0, yet Con quickly used a penalty to apply pressure for the first time. A second one saw them press from a lineout maul.

Mary’s stood their ground until play moved infield at pace, and the in-form Kelleher picked from a 17th-minute ruck to power in under the posts despite the presence of three defenders. Darragh French’s straightforward kick halved the deficit.

Number 8 Kelleher increased his influence with an important turnover penalty, after the hard-carrying Dan Goggin and O’Gara had brought Mary’s within striking distance. Con held firm too from a subsequent maul.

With Kelleher making the initial ground from a scrum from deep, Jonny Holland’s side went close to scoring what would have been a brilliant breakaway try. Hedderman split open the defence and Adam Maher’s kick through had Mary’s exposed.

Ramirez was sin-binned for his early tackle on Bowen as he went to gather the bouncing ball, inside Mary’s 22. Hooker Scannell broke off the resulting lineout drive to leave just two points in it, with French unable to convert this time.

14-man Mary’s had the better of the territory coming up to the interval, but Constitution plugged the gaps that were there earlier on. Kelleher stole a lineout at a vital stage, while the Mary’s pack responded by winning a late scrum penalty back inside their own half.

Con were the early aggressors on the resumption, earning a couple of penalties before Moynihan’s well-weighted kick found Bowen for a try out on the left. The experienced out-half added the extras for a 19-14 scoreline.

The Dubliners drew encouragement from a Greg Jones lineout steal, and a breakdown penalty won by prop Oisin Michel. They forced some penalties – a deliberate knock-on landed O’Leary in the bin – and O’Gara split the posts with a three-pointer.

Jones pinched another lineout, and after Ramirez had won a decision at the breakdown, Mary’s exploited the space out wide. Lineout possession was transferred across to the opposite wing and O’Sullivan had the pace to finish off a 40-metre run-in.

With O’Gara nailing the conversion from out wide, the league leaders took a 24-19 advantage into the final quarter. Con regrouped and were poised to respond on the scoreboard, but a long-range penalty attempt from Moynihan dropped short.

Back with possession on halfway a few minutes later, it was Moynihan who unlocked the defence for a terrific individual score. He darted inside Goggin, evading his tackle and then another one from Finn Burke, before accelerating clear to go over to the right of the posts.

Moynihan’s right boot tagged on the conversion, splitting the sides at 26-24, but it was only a brief lead. Mary’s got back on the front foot and O’Gara drew a high tackle, regathering himself to land the penalty from just outside Con’s 22.

There was yet more drama though, as Constitution, who were beaten at home by Ballynahinch last week, won two penalties in quick succession, either side of the halfway line.

With time up, Moynihan had a go with a monster kick from out wide but was short and just to the left, leaving Mary’s to celebrate one of their hardest fought wins in recent memory. They hold a four-point lead at the summit, with Con falling one place to sixth.

TIME LINE: 5 minutes – St. Mary’s College try: Mick O’Gara – 5-0; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 7-0; 10 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Leandro Ramirez – 12-0; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 14-0; 17 mins – Cork Constitution try: Jack Kelleher – 14-5; conversion: Darragh French – 14-7; 28 mins – St. Mary’s College yellow card: Leandro Ramirez; 29 mins – Cork Constitution try: Billy Scannell – 14-12; conversion: missed by Darragh French – 14-12; Half-time – St. Mary’s College 14 Cork Constitution 12; 43 mins – Cork Constitution try: Matthew Bowen – 14-17; conversion: Aidan Moynihan – 14-19; 52 mins – Cork Constitution yellow card: Joe O’Leary; 53 mins – St. Mary’s College penalty: Mick O’Gara – 17-19; 59 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Aaron O’Sullivan – 22-19; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 24-19; 63 mins – Cork Constitution penalty: missed by Aidan Moynihan – 24-19; 72 mins – Cork Constitution try: Aidan Moynihan – 24-24; conversion: Aidan Moynihan – 24-26; 76 mins – St. Mary’s College penalty: Mick O’Gara – 27-26; 80+2 mins – Cork Constitution penalty: missed by Aidan Moynihan – 27-26; Full-time – St. Mary’s College 27 Cork Constitution 26

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Aaron O’Neill; Leandro Ramirez, Mark Fogarty, Mick O’Gara, Aaron O’Sullivan; Conor Dean (capt), Rob Gilsenan; Oisin Michel, Jack Nelson Murray, Andrew Sparrow, Greg Jones, Conor Pierce, Josh Gimblett, Ronan Watters, Dan Goggin.

Replacements: Tom O’Reilly, Mick McCormack, Daniel Leane, Finn Burke, Adam McEvoy, Ruairi Shields.

CORK CONSTITUTION: Rob Hedderman; Joe O’Leary, Eoghan Smyth, Dylan Hicks, Matthew Bowen; Darragh French, Adam Maher; Julien Royer, Billy Scannell, Luke Masters, Mark Skelly, Cian Barry, David Hyland (capt), Peter Hyland, Jack Kelleher.

Replacements: George Good, David Good, Aidan Brien, Jacob Sheahan, Ronan Byrd, Aidan Moynihan.

Referee: Daniel Carson (IRFU)