LANSDOWNE 25 CORK CONSTITUTION 19, Lansdowne Road.
Scorers: Lansdowne: Tries: Peter Sullivan, Michael Silvester 2, Tom Monaghan; Con: Stephen Madigan; Pen: Stephen Madigan
Cork Constitution: Tries: George Coomber, Penalty try, James Murphy; Cons: Pen try con, Aidan Moynihan
HT: Lansdowne 13 Cork Constitution 12

Seventh placed Lansdowne hosted third placed Cork Constitution in a game which most neutral observers gave the headquarters team little chance of victory. However the beauty of the All Ireland League is sometimes it’s unpredictability and 1A saw a host of surprise results this weekend.

Lansdowne rung the changes coming into this game with Tadgh McElroy returning from Leinster duty. Jack Dwan started in the 2nd row for his first game of the season having been injured for all season and Michael Silvester, Dan McEvoy, Tom Monaghan and Stephen Madigan starting in a much changed backline due to injuries and Irish sevens commitments. Liam Forster & Tom Monaghan both made their first AIL starts for Lansdowne.

A great home crowd saw the home team start brightly with Stephen Madigan putting a huge 50-22 kick into the far corner to set up a great attacking position for his side. James Kenny sniped off the ensuing lineout down the blindside and put Peter Sullivan in for a tight finish in the corner. The conversion was missed but Lansdowne kept the pressure on Con with a box kick from Kenny and some great pressure from skipper Jack O’Sullivan at the following ruck winning a penalty just inside the Con 10 metre line. Madigan kicked the penalty over to give Lansdowne a well earned 8-0 lead.

The strong start from the home side continued when off an attacking lineout Madigan chipped over the defence and Michael Silvester ran through to collect the bouncing ball and run in from 30 metres for another try. The conversion attempt was charged down by Daniel Hurley but Lansdowne were sitting pretty with a 13-0 lead against a Con team that had won their last 3 games on the trot including a great win away to Clontarf.

Cork Con responded immediately from the kick off with George Coomber returning a loose kick and scoring a fantastic individual effort from inside his own half to make it 13-5. Con continued to apply pressure to Lansdowne and just before half-time their work was rewarded when they were awarded a penalty try from a scrum close to the Lansdowne try line with Lansdowne reduced to 14 men after Ruairi Clarke had been yellow carded.

Lansdowne started the 2nd half with lots of energy and following a yellow card for Cork Con prop Alessandro Heaney Lansdowne took a tap penalty just under the posts and patiently drove towards the Con try line eventually moving it wide for Michael Silvester to dot down in the corner. A strong Lansdowne scrum on the Con 22 put Cork Con under pressure inside the 22 and Lansdowne regained possession and again showed a lot of patience before Man of the Match Tom Monaghan eventually crashed over for a bonus point try to top off a super AIL debut. Madigan slotted over the conversion and Lansdowne were 25-12 ahead moving into the last quarter of the game.

Con cranked up the pressure on Lansdowne but some great defensive work kept them out until finally in the 75th minute James Murphy bulldozed over just left of the posts after some good approach work from Niall Kenneally in the centre. The try was converted by Cork Con captain Aidan Moynihan and the home supporters had a tense last five minutes before referee Peter Martin (who had a fine game) finally put them out of their misery and blew the final whistle. A fine morale boosting home win for Lansdowne with some great individual performances and Cork Constitution’s first loss time in five matches. We now travel to high flying Terenure for our next AIL game which also doubles up as a Leinster Senior Cup semi-final.  

LANSDOWNE: Daniel McEvoy; Peter Sullivan, Cillian Redmond, Tom Monaghan, Michael Silvester; Stephen Madigan, James Kenny; Ben Popplewell, Tadgh McElroy, Temi Lasisi, Jack Dwan, Ruairi Clarke, Clive Ross, Liam Forster, Jack O’Sullivan (capt).

Replacements: Jamie Kavanagh, Adam Boland, Dan Murphy, James Doyle, Mike Walsh, Peter Hastie.

CORK CONSTITUTION: George Coomber; Daniel Hurley, Harry O’Riordan, Niall Kenneally, Billy Crowley; Aidan Moynihan (capt), Louis Kahn; Alessandro Heaney, Billy Scannell, Luke Masters, Sean Duffy, Matisse Lamarque d’Arrouzat, Jack Kelleher, James Murphy, David Hyland.

Replacements: Gordon Good, Jonny Blair, Anthony Ryan, Ross O’Neill, Luke Kerr, Greg Higgins.

Referee: Peter Martin

 

Check out Michael O’Brien’s photos HERE