Hanrahan Kicks UL To Derby Victory
Garryowen lost their unbeaten record and squandered a chance to go top of Division 1A when being beaten by local rivals UL Bohemians at Thomond Park.
Jamie Gavin edged Garryowen ahead with his fourth penalty to make it 12-10 four minutes into the second half, after Bohs had seized the early initiative.
Hosts UL could hardly have expected more than to find themselves 10-0 in front. Recent Munster debutant JJ Hanrahan punished Garryowen for going over the top by landing the opening penalty.
Garryowen were then caught out in midfield as Rory White chased hard and did really well to field a high kick from his back-three colleague Ben Martin.
White maintained his momentum as he charged for the left corner, shipping a tackle from Neil Cronin along the way, to score his second try of the league campaign which Hanrahan brilliantly converted.
Garryowen battled back but had to rely on the boot of their young out-half Gavin for their points as the home side paid the maximum price for their indiscipline.
Having missed an early penalty, Gavin then landed all three of his next attempts to make it 10-9 at the interval – UL were twice penalised for not releasing the ball when tackled and for going over the top on another occasion.
Within six minutes of the resumption, Gavin nudged Garryowen in front with another penalty, again for not releasing by UL.
Crucially though, Hanrahan was on target when Garryowen were penalised for offside in the 71st minute and he repeated the trick in the last minute to seal a narrow Limerick derby victory.
Referee: Peter Fitzgibbon (IRFU)