UCD Stun Lansdowne To Secure Vital #EnergiaAIL Points

UCD upset the odds in fine style with a 43-38 bonus point win over Lansdowne, as Ben Brownlee’s 77th-minute try split the teams at the end of a thrilling 11-try contest.

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

Friday, December 5 –

LANSDOWNE 38 UCD 43, Aviva Stadium back pitch
Scorers: Lansdowne: Tries: Bobby Sheehan, Jack Matthews, Greg McGrath, Hardus van Eeden, James Kenny; Cons: James Tarrant 5; Pen: James Tarrant
UCD: Tries: Max Doyle, Daniel Hurley 2, Thomas Quinn, Evan Moynihan, Ben Brownlee; Cons: Paddy Clancy 5; Pen: Paddy Clancy
HT: Lansdowne 17 UCD 28

It was only UCD’s third victory of the Energia All-Ireland League season, lifting them up two places to seventh, and saw them return to the impressive intensity and execution they showed when beating Young Munster recently.

Points are at a premium in Division 1A heading towards Christmas, and Lansdowne’s first defeat in five matches was a frustrating one, especially as they failed to capitalise on sin-binnings for Ruben Moloney and Tom O’Riordan.

Thomas Quinn’s bonus point try, on the stroke of half-time, completed a terrific opening 40 minutes from UCD, the only blots on their copybook being Moloney’s yellow card and an injury to Evan Moynihan.

Emmet MacMahon’s young side led by 11 points on three separate occasions, with Max Doyle and Daniel Hurley (2) also touching down. Lansdowne replied through Bobby Sheehan and Jack Matthews to leave it 28-17 at the turnaround.

Despite a try from the returning Moynihan straight from the restart, the home crowd at the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch sensed the comeback was on. Greg McGrath and Hardus van Eeden both crossed, either side of a Paddy Clancy penalty.

Clancy and James Tarrant, the former UCD captain now playing for Lansdowne, maintained a high standard of goal-kicking, finishing with 13 points each. Tarrant’s final kick edged the hosts in front at 38-36, as he converted James Kenny’s 71st-minute effort.

However, an opportunist score from Brownlee saw College emerge triumphant in the end, winning back the Sutherland Cup which is contested whenever the two clubs meet.

Last beaten at home by Terenure College in October, Lansdowne got the first points on the board through Tarrant’s right boot. Skipper Dan Barron and Clancy led UCD’s response, snapping up turnover ball and threatening with a cross-field kick respectively.

From a close-in scrum and lineout, the students built plenty of attacking pressure before prop Doyle burrowed over in the 10th minute. Following Clancy’s conversion, the action swung one way and then the other through a prolonged bout of kick tennis.

When things settled down again, O’Riordan’s soft hands had Conor Tonge breaking back into Lansdowne’s 22. The nuggety O’Riordan got over the gain-line a few phases later, before Quinn’s skip pass had Hurley scoring UCD’s second seven-pointer, opening up a 14-3 advantage.

A pacy break involving Harry O’Riordan and captain Andy Marks, coupled with successive penalties, soon moved Lansdowne into scoring range. Sheehan struck from a maul on the half-hour mark, crossing against the club he previously captained.

UCD swiftly put that concession, and centre Moynihan’s injury-enforced departure, behind them with an immediate try in response. Clancy’s high, hanging restart caused trouble for Lansdowne, bouncing loose for Hurley to hoover it up and raid over from 30 metres out.

Clancy’s assured conversion from out wide made it 21-10, and that 11-point gap remained in place with scrum-halves Matthews and Quinn swapping late scores just before the interval.

Moloney’s jinking run had MacMahon’s charges threatening again, only for Matt Healy and Tarrant to recover the situation. Lansdowne should have capitalised on a barnstorming van Eeden break, but his attempted offload to the inrushing Tarrant did not go to hand.

However, the home side soon worked an overlap on the left, with Matthews supplying the finishing touches after good work from Sheehan, Tom Roche, and Paul Wilson. Moloney saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on in the build-up, and Tarrant neatly tucked away the conversion.

You would imagine 14-man UCD would have been happy enough to see out the first half with the same scoreline, yet there was more to come from them. Quinn started and finished a slick attack down the right, combining to very good effect with Brownlee and Hurley.

The visitors incredibly extended their lead to 33-17 just seconds into the closing half. Lansdowne failed to deal with another Clancy restart, and Moynihan, now on the wing with Hurley picking up a knock, gobbled up the ball to go over to the right of the posts.

A Conor O’Tighearnaigh lineout steal prevented the headquarters club from hitting back initially, but with the rain continuing to come down, there was no denying tighthead McGrath in the 47th minute.

It was all about Lansdowne’s front row for their third try, with Sheehan involved twice in a sweeping attack, and loosehead George Morris providing the link for McGrath to power over from 12 metres out. Tarrant’s well-struck extras reduced the arrears to nine points.

A scrappy spell ensued, the UCD defence holding firm before a loose lineout ruined a gilt-edged opportunity set up by a Moloney 50:22 kick. A Clancy penalty kept the scoreboard ticking over, though, as Tonge’s breakdown work was rewarded.

Nonetheless, Lansdowne bagged their bonus point try just a few minutes later. Number 8 van Eeden crashed over from close range, with Sheehan and Roche having combined well off an initial maul set-up.

With five points now the margin, it set up a fascinating final quarter of an hour. Lansdowne’s bench became a factor, with Barry Fitzpatrick pinching an important lineout, and former Leinster and Connacht centre Tom Daly making strong carries.

Replacement scrum-half Kenny grasped his chance to snipe over from a central ruck, going in under the posts for Tarrant to kick Lansdowne in front for the first time since the fourth minute.

Their lead did not last long, however, as UCD duly pounced on a couple of errors. Lansdowne’s lineout misfired, allowing Matthew Furlong to launch a kick chase, and then Cillian Redmond, having retrieved the ball, threw a loose pass which Brownlee snapped up to score under the posts.

Clancy topped it off with a straightforward conversion, and although O’Riordan saw yellow for a subsequent offside after an earlier team warning, the students shored up their defence to see out a famous result on the road.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Lansdowne penalty: James Tarrant – 3-0; 10 mins – UCD try: Max Doyle – 3-5; conversion: Paddy Clancy – 3-7; 22 mins – UCD try: Daniel Hurley – 3-12; conversion: Paddy Clancy – 3-14; 31 mins – Lansdowne try: Bobby Sheehan – 8-14; conversion: James Tarrant – 10-14; 32 mins – UCD try: Daniel Hurley – 10-19; conversion: Paddy Clancy – 10-21; 39 mins – Lansdowne try: Jack Matthews – 15-21; conversion: James Tarrant – 17-21; UCD yellow card: Ruben Moloney; 40+4 mins – UCD try: Thomas Quinn – 17-26; conversion: Paddy Clancy – 17-28; Half-time – Lansdowne 17 UCD 28; 41 mins – UCD try: Evan Moynihan – 17-33; conversion: missed by Paddy Clancy – 17-33; 47 mins – Lansdowne try: Greg McGrath – 22-33; conversion: James Tarrant – 24-33; 60 mins – UCD penalty: Paddy Clancy – 24-36; 64 mins – Lansdowne try: Hardus van Eeden – 29-36; conversion: James Tarrant – 31-36; 71 mins – Lansdowne try: James Kenny – 36-36; conversion: James Tarrant – 38-36; 77 mins – UCD try: Ben Brownlee – 38-41; conversion: Paddy Clancy – 38-43; 80+1 mins – UCD yellow card: Tom O’Riordan; Full-time – Lansdowne 38 UCD 43

LANSDOWNE: Hugo McLaughlin; Cillian Redmond, Andy Marks (capt), Harry O’Riordan, Tom Roche; James Tarrant, Jack Matthews; George Morris, Bobby Sheehan, Greg McGrath, Matt Healy, Ruairi Clarke, Paul Wilson, Liam Molony, Hardus van Eaden.

Replacements: Tom Barry, Julien Valleise, Barry Fitzpatrick, Tom Daly, James Kenny.

UCD: Ruben Moloney; Daniel Hurley, Evan Moynihan, Ben Brownlee, Eoghan Walsh; Paddy Clancy, Thomas Quinn; Max Doyle, Tom O’Riordan, Sami Bishti, Dan Barron (capt), Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Oran Handley, Conor Tonge, Paul Gerard.

Replacements: Matthew Furlong, Jack Spencer, Mikey O’Reilly, Alex Muir, Andrew O’Mahony, Daragh Gilbourne.

Referee: Jack MacNeice (IRFU)