Lansdowne made it 4 from 4 in the Leinster U17 School/Youth Premier Qualifier B division by overcoming a spirited St Mary’s side.

It was a beautiful morning for rugby in Ballycorus and the Lansdowne team didn’t disappoint. Playing open and running rugby, Lansdowne opened the scoring after 5 minutes with a well worked try that saw winder Harry Stone touch down. Ben Lockhart kicked a near sideline conversion to make it 7-0.

Not long after, fullback Mark McGrane broke through several tackles to run under the posts for an easy Lockhart conversion. David Walsh scored just before halftime and Lockhart kicked the most majestic of conversions from the touchline.

Halftime, Lansdowne 21- St Mary’s 0.

The second half began just as the first did. After several phases, Hale passed cleanly to O’Kennedy at 10, who threw wide to Larkin who in turn fed Stone and he deftly touched down only for Lockhart to miss, by his standards, a pretty straight forward conversion.

Shortly after, team captain, Oscar O’Brien, after a series of phases, picked and barged over the line. Geoff Larkin added the conversion to make it 33-0.

Some 5 minutes later, McGrane added his second of the day, Lockhart duly converted and the score moved up to 40-0.

One of the best plays of the game started deep in the Lansdowne 22, on our own try line and Ben Lockhart broke through the centre cover and sprinted the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Conversion added. 47-0.

To round off the complete winger’s day, Stone added his third try for Lockhart to add his 6th conversion. 54-0.

The scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. St Mary’s, with only 17 players, never dropped their heads and they did threaten the Lansdowne try line on a number of occasions. Incredible Lansdowne defence kept them out.

Credit is also due to Owen Lydon. The Leinster branch appointed ref called off sick at the last minute and Owen stepped into the breach.

Lansdowne: Oscar O’Brien, David Walsh, William Dinneen, Michael Whelan, John Duffy, Dylan Ryan, James Hession, David Hale, Hugh O’Kennedy, David Nagle, Ben Lockhart, Geoffrey Larkin, Harry Stone, Mark McGrane, Matthew O’Farrell, Ted Corry, Harry’ O’Connell, Euan Lacey, Thomas O’Donnell, Jack Browne, Paul Kobus