Leinster Cup Glory For Lansdowne
Captained by second row Alan Maher, Lansdowne claimed the Leinster Senior League Cup title with a narrow 9-5 victory over Clontarf at Donnybrook on Friday evening.
South African Charl Oosthuizen kicked two penalties in the 3rd and 12th mionutes before rounding off a hat-trick of successful kicks when Michael Keating was sin-binned for tackling Justin Meagher early.
Clontarf lock Simon Crawford made good use of his bulky frame to secure a try to make it 9-5 at the interval.
‘Tarf, who compete a division above Lansdowne in the AIB League, looked to have clinched it when Niall O’Brien was given a free run to the line.
But full-back Ross McCarron and centre Lorcan Kavanagh appeared out of nowhere and managed to barge O’Brien into touch. Lansdowne held their nerve and clung on for a four-point win.
LANSDOWNE: R McCarron; J Meagher, S Gahan, L Kavanagh, C Oosthuizen; D Hewitt, M Healy; K Cleere, R Quinn, C Murphy, A Maher (capt), W Earle, R Liberman, V O’Dowd, A McCullen.
Replacements used: E Sheriff for O’Dowd (half-time), R Boucher for Sheriff (52), Kelvin Ekanem for Meagher (62), T Conneely for Liebrman (75).
CLONTARF: P Howard; M Keating, D O’Shea (capt), B O’Donnell, N O’Brien; M Dufficy, S Treacy; J Wickham, A Dundon, N Treston, S Crawford, B Reilly, H Stride, B Focas, M Garvey.
Replacements used: C Keegan for O’Donnell (68 mins), B Wood for Focas (78).
Referee: David Keane (IRFU)