Mary’s March Their Way To First Division 1A Title In 14 Years

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

Sunday, April 26 –

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 46 CLONTARF 31, Aviva Stadium
Scorers: St. Mary’s College: Tries: Myles Carey, Leandro Ramirez, Mick McCormack, Ruairi Shields, Josh Gimblett, Conor Dean; Cons: Mick O’Gara 5; Pens: Mick O’Gara 2
Clontarf: Tries: Jordan Coghlan 2, Aaron Coleman 2, Hugh Cooney; Cons: Conor Kelly 3
HT: St. Mary’s College 15 Clontarf 12

Showing exactly why they finished top of the table. St. Mary’s saved their best for last as a six-try salvo, plus a 16-point kick contribution from division’s top scorer Mick O’Gara, saw them win their first Division 1A title since 2012, and a third in all.

The first club from outside of Munster to lift the prestigious trophy back in 2000, Mary’s have recaptured their All-Ireland League glory days under the guidance of head coach Mark McHugh, their goalkicking hero when they made the breakthrough at the old Lansdowne Road 26 years ago.

Despite braces from Jordan Coghlan and Aaron Coleman, Clontarf’s bid to become back-to-back champions was foiled, as Mary’s kicked clear during the third quarter, making it a hat-trick of victories over ‘Tarf after beating them twice during the regular season – 32-21 at home and 14-10 away.

In front of a 6,894-strong crowd, Mary’s ended the first half with a 15-12 advantage. Clontarf led twice through tries from back rowers Coghlan and Coleman, but McHugh’s side were quick to respond in an end-to-end contest.

Carey and Leandro Ramirez found their way over the whitewash, while centre O’Gara added five points from the tee. In contrast, the usually reliable Conor Kelly missed a kickable penalty and conversion for the north Dubliners.

In a devastating mix of clinical and composed play, Mary’s racked up 24 points between the 44th and 63rd minutes with captain Conor Dean increasingly influential. Mick McCormack, Ruairi Shields, and Josh Gimblett claimed tries, and O’Gara stretched the lead further with a penalty.

A lung-busting Hugh Cooney effort was Clontarf’s only response until Coleman reacted to Kelly’s sin-binning with a second maul score. Dean ran in a 76th-minute intercept try to deservedly get on the scoresheet, before Coghlan crossed for some late consolation.

The celebrations are sure to last a long time at Templeville Road and locally in Templeogue. It ranks as one of the greatest achievements in All-Ireland League history when you consider the quality of teams in the top flight and the fact that Mary’s were relegated in 2018 and only came back up in 2024.

Clontarf landed an early blow with Coghlan burrowing over inside the opening four minutes. A powerful lineout drive saw skipper Dylan Donnellan go close before the experienced number 8 made it over following two quick recycles. Kelly converted to the right of the posts.

After Carey and Aaron O’Sullivan had a couple of impressive aerial takes, the latter plucked down a Dean cross-field kick. O’Gara and McCormack soon threatened the try-line, the pressure leading to a close-range three-pointer from O’Gara.

Lively winger Ramirez drew a high tackle to set up another scoring opportunity for Mary’s, the forwards chipping away before Carey squeezed in under the posts from a 13th-minute ruck. O’Gara’s right boot made it 10-7.

Kelly missed a chance to draw Clontarf level, nudging a penalty wide. However, Coleman stole a march on the Mary’s defence, breaking clean through from a maul to make it 12-10, midway through the opening half. Kelly left points behind him with the missed conversion.

Mary’s wasted little time in responding, continuing the tit-for-tat exchanges. Ireland Sevens international O’Sullivan cut inside Sam Owens’ attempted tackle, raiding into the opposition 22 before feeding Ramirez to finish in the right corner from 10 metres out.

Clontarf stood up well to the next bout of pressure from the table toppers. Kelly did not get much distance with a touchfinder, though, and a some lovely interplay between Greg Jones and Rob Gilsenan had Mary’s hunting down a try until O’Gara infringed at a ruck.

McHugh’s charges got their offloading game going via a counter attack launched by the sidestepping Dean. Ronan Watters was guilty of taking out Owens on a kick chase, ending a promising attack. Daniel Leane’s turnover penalty did likewise at the other end, following a strong set of carries from the ‘Tarf pack.

Armed with a three-point lead, Mary’s made a spritely start to the second period. The lineout was the launchpad again, Ramirez scrambling up close and Watters was stopped just short. ‘Tarf were caught around the fringes, prop McCormack piling over with New Zealander Gimblett on the latch.

Following O’Gara’s conversion, Carey chased down an O’Sullivan kick to bundle his opposite number Cooney, the player-of-the-match in last year’s final, into touch. A couple of minutes later, Tadhg Bird miscued a kick to touch, inviting Mary’s forward again.

They duly took advantage of the possession and field position, their maul doing some damage before the classy Dean sucked in the Clontarf midfield to put Shields through a gaping hole and straight in under the posts. O’Gara converted for a 29-12 scoreline.

Nonetheless, just when Mary’s were poised to cause more problems after a fine take in the air by Carey, Gilsenan’s long pass was picked off by Cooney who had the gas to score from the edge of his own 22. Kelly tagged on the extras to reduce the arrears to 10 points.

Carey continued to show his class under high balls, and with Mary’s bench a powerful unit, they soon beat a path back to the try-line. Gimblett muscled over in the 58th minute, aided by Leinster Academy prop Andrew Sparrow. O’Gara converted with his fifth successful kick of the day.

Frustratingly for Andy Wood’s side, a high tackle from Kelly on Carey landed him in the sin bin due to his team’s previous offences of a similar nature. O’Gara hoovered up the three points on offer, widening the margin to 20 points with just over 17 minutes remaining.

The north Dubliners, who won their first Energia Bateman Cup in December, lifted themselves with a scrum penalty, and then a well-executed maul that saw Coleman complete his brace. Replacement Michael Moloney was narrowly wide with the conversion.

Their hopes of drawing closer in this all-Dublin decider was dashed when Dean, snapping up a Conor Gibney pass, had a comfortable run-in behind the posts with four minutes left. O’Gara’s conversion took his splendid season’s haul to 208 points.

Clontarf pressed for a closing try, which arrived when Donnellan tapped a penalty and Coghlan swept around to the right to ground the ball. ‘Tarf’s defeat means Shannon still remain the last club to retain the Division 1A crown, a feat achieved during their period of dominance between 2003 and 2006.

TIME LINE: 4 minutes – Clontarf try: Jordan Coghlan – 0-5; conversion: Conor Kelly – 0-7; 8 mins – St. Mary’s College penalty: Mick O’Gara – 3-7; 13 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Myles Carey – 8-7; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 10-7; 17 mins – Clontarf penalty: missed by Conor Kelly – 10-7; 20 mins – Clontarf try: Aaron Coleman – 10-12; conversion: missed by Conor Kelly – 10-12; 22 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Leandro Ramirez – 15-12; conversion: missed by Mick O’Gara – 15-12; Half-time – St. Mary’s College 15 Clontarf 12; 44 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Mick McCormack – 20-12; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 22-12; 51 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Ruairi Shields – 27-12; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 29-12; 56 mins – Clontarf try: Hugh Cooney – 29-17; conversion: Conor Kelly – 29-19; 58 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Josh Gimblett – 34-19; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 36-19; 62 mins – Clontarf yellow card: Conor Kelly; 63 mins – St. Mary’s College penalty: Mick O’Gara – 39-19; 66 mins – Clontarf try: Aaron Coleman – 39-24; conversion: missed by Michael Moloney – 39-24; 76 mins – St. Mary’s College try: Conor Dean – 44-24; conversion: Mick O’Gara – 46-24; 78 mins – Clontarf try: Jordan Coghlan – 46-29; conversion: Conor Kelly – 46-31; Full-time – St. Mary’s College 46 Clontarf 31

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: Ruairi Shields; Aaron O’Sullivan, Myles Carey, Mick O’Gara, Leandro Ramirez; Conor Dean (capt), Rob Gilsenan; Tom O’Reilly, Jack Nelson Murray, Mick McCormack, Greg Jones, Daniel Leane, Josh Gimblett, Ronan Watters, Dan Goggin.

Replacements: Richie Bergin, Oisin Michel, Andrew Sparrow, Conor Pierce, Ethan Baxter, Finn Burke, Mark Fogarty, Steven Kilgallen.

CLONTARF: Tadhg Bird; Dylan O’Grady, Hugh Cooney, Daniel Hawkshaw, Alex O’Grady; Conor Kelly, Sam Owens; Ivan Soroka, Dylan Donnellan (capt), Charlie Ward, Fionn Gilbert, Jim Peters, Paul Deeny, Aaron Coleman, Jordan Coghlan.

Replacements: Declan Adamson, Alvin Amaniampong, Richie Whelan, Michael Moloney, Dan Magner, Conor Gibney, Darragh Doyle, Conor Bateman.

Referee: Daniel Carson (IRFU)