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UCD Sizzle With Six-Try Salvo Against Lansdowne
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UCD Sizzle With Six-Try Salvo Against Lansdowne

UCD Sizzle With Six-Try Salvo Against Lansdowne

Former Ireland Under-20 winger Barry Daly waltzed over for two tries, taking his season’s haul to six, as UCD enjoyed a runaway 39-10 bonus point triumph over defending Division 1A champions Lansdowne.

The title holders suffered their third defeat in four league outings and were comprehensively outplayed at the Belfield Bowl. Noel McNamara's students, who are now up to second in the standings, had braces from Barry Daly and Tom Fletcher and a try apiece from Conall Doherty and Jamie Glynn.

What was most impressive about UCD's stellar performance is that they delivered such an eye-catching result without six starters from last weekend's 35-3 win at Galwegians – Adam Byrne, Sean McNulty, Josh Murphy, Peadar Timmins, Jeremy Loughman and Jack Power all played for Leinster 'A' on Thursday night.

UCD retained the Sutherland Cup on the day, which was presented by Peter Sutherland in memory of his father, the great Billy Sutherland, for first team matches between his own two former clubs.

Lansdowne enjoyed the benefit of a sharp breeze during the first half, but lost an early lineout outside the hosts' 22 and it was to prove a frustrating afternoon for Mike Ruddock's men, who badly missed the likes of Tom Daly, Tom Farrell and Peter Dooley from their starting line-up.

From a UCD lineout on halfway, Daly hit the line at a good angle, and his impressive speed saw him through the middle for the opening try after five minutes. Centre Doherty, who also impressed in an always-threatening home back-line, added the extras.

Lansdowne made judicious use of the wind off the restart to pin College back in their 22. Their usually reliable captain Scott Deasy watched his first penalty kick slide to the right of the posts, but he redeemed himself from a more difficult angle in the 15th minute.

Although the visitors continued to use the breeze to set up attacking positions, they were unable to make much progress in the face of resolute UCD tackling, with second rows Shane Grannell and Emmet MacMahon as well as flanker Donagh Lawler in the van.

Lansdowne's play was also marked by the regular concession of penalties – eight in the first half alone – and they lost full back Eamonn Mills to the sin-bin after 30 minutes for killing the ball. This followed two successive kicks that were blocked down as the headquarters club struggled to clear their lines. Doherty duly punished them further from the resulting penalty for a 10-3 lead.

The students took further advantage of Mills' absence with a kick through over the Lansdowne try-line. Full-back Fletcher, son of former UCD and Lansdowne prop Paddy, easily won the race and Lansdowne were suddenly facing an uphill task, 15-3 down at the break and the wind in their faces.

Ruddock's charges started the second period well, only to spoil it all with a wildly speculative chip which rebound in their faces as College took off with the turnover ball to run in an excellent try through Doherty who also tagged on the conversion.

UCD exploited their superior pace again in the 50th minute when Daly won the race to a neatly-placed chip to complete his brace. With Doherty splitting the posts with the conversion, UCD were now 27-3 to the good and with the bonus point in the bag.

Despite Lansdowne making good use of 'pick and go' possession, their progress was limited and they never really threatened to breach the College defensive wall. In contrast, UCD struck once again in the 59th minute, with Fletcher's electric footwork leading to the try of the match.

To their credit, Lansdowne heads did not go down, and a period of sustained pressure saw them force play up into the UCD 22. During a series of tap penalties, Grannell was shown a yellow card, as was Daly a few minutes later for knocking down a scoring pass.

The latter infringement saw the referee award Lansdowne a penalty try, converted by Deasy for 34-10, as the students were reduced to 13 men. The visitors failed to make further use of their numerical advantage, however, and it was the home side who had the last say, with scrum half Glynn taking advantage of uncertainty in the Lansdowne defence to score from a cross-kick into the sun.

Referee: Mark Connolly (IRFU)

Lineups Scorers

Match Lineups

Home Team

Tom Fletcher; Hugo Keenan, Stephen Murphy (capt, Conall Doherty, Barry Daly; Bobby Holland, Jamie Glynn; Andrew Porter, Gordon Frayne, Liam Hyland, Shane Grannell, Emmet MacMahon, Donagh Lawler, Mark McGroarty, Greg Jones.

Replacements: Michael Moynihan, Robert Byrne, Will Connors, Conor McQuaid, Andy Marks.

Away Team

Eamonn Mills; John Coleman, Mark Roche, Finn Gormley, Cian O'Donoghue; Scott Deasy (capt), Paddy O'Driscoll; Ian Prendiville, James Rael, Adam Boland, Josh O'Rourke, Brian Moylett, Joe O'Brien, Max Deegan, Ross Deacon.

Replacements: Jack McKenna, Ntinga Mpiko, Philip Donnellan, Matthew D'Arcy, Ferdia Doherty.

Match Scorers

Home Team

Tries: Barry Daly 2, Tom Fletcher 2, Jamie Glynn, Conall Doherty; Cons: Conall Doherty 3; Pen: Conall Doherty

Away Team

Try: Penalty try; Con: Scott Deasy; Pen: Scott Deasy