AIB League: Bohs Beaten By Shannon, Bonus Point Win For Lansdowne
Shannon gained some revenge for their league defeat to the same opposition last season when they got the better of their Limerick rivals UL Bohemians at Coonagh on Saturday, while Lansdowne moved up to fifth in the Division One table on the back of a fine four-try win over Greystones at Dr. Hickey Park.
AIB LEAGUE: DIVISION ONE: Saturday, November 10
Shannon 16 UL Bohemians 6, Coonagh
Scorers: Shannon: Try: Stephen Kelly; Con: Andrew Thompson; Pens: Andrew Thompson 2; Drop: Tadhg Bennett
UL Bohemians: Pens: Fergal Lawlor 2
Speedy winger Stephen Kelly scored the only try of this Division One encounter at Coonagh, helping Shannon to a 16-6 victory over their Limerick rivals UL Bohemians.
Kelly, a regular on Limerick Gaelic football panels in recent years, touched down in the first half for his first try of the league campaign.
Shannon led 13-3 at half-time with Andrew Thompson kicking two penalties to one from Bohs out-half Fergal Lawlor. A Tadhg Bennett drop goal (57 minutes) and a second Lawlor penalty (66) were the second half’s only scores.
Meeting for only the fourth time in the AIB League and with Shannon victorious in two of the three previous clashes, Bohemians looked to be up against it on Saturday afternoon but one should remember that Bohs beat the perennial champions 15-6 when they met at Thomond Park last March.
Matches between these two are always particularly tight with place kicks more often than not deciding who take the spoils on the day. So it proved at Coonagh with veteran Thompson, with a little bit of help from last weekend’s match winner against Garryowen, Bennett, kicking Shannon to their third straight win of the league campaign.
Eight-times a Division One winner, Thompson continued to show why he has left such a lasting impression on the league with two excellent penalties after 8 and 17 minutes.
Lawlor managed to reply before Shannon put Kelly over for a fine try in the left corner. It came off scrum ball as centre John Clogan was given crash ball to try and plough to the middle. The Bohs defenders were sucked in and numbers out wide saw captain David Quinlan give the try-scoring pass to Kelly.
Thompson converted for a 13-3 half-time lead and things were looking good for a Shannon side that included the fit-again Mossie Lawlor at full-back and lock Donnacha Ryan, who is coming back from a hand injury.
The second half was a rather listless affair with defences on top and space at a premium. Well able to defend the most slender of leads, Shannon edged further in front through Bennett and while Lawlor replied for Bohs, their try-scoring chances were far too limited for them to make any impression in the final quarter.
Greystones 10 Lansdowne 35, Dr. Hickey Park
Scorers: Greystones: Try: Simon Malone; Con: Reinhard Gerber; Pen: Reinhard Gerber
Lansdowne: Tries: Neil Walsh 2, Gavin O’Meara, Luke Cozens; Cons: Luke Cozens 3; Pens: Luke Cozens 3
Greystones are still waiting for their first win since regaining their Division One status following this comfortable victory for Lansdowne at Dr. Hickey Park.
Luke Cozens’ control at out-half and Devin Toner’s lineout dominance steered Lansdowne to their second league win over ‘Stones – the other was back in 1994. The visitors were 20-3 in front at the break with winger Neil Walsh and hooker Gavin O’Meara touching down.
Cozens and Walsh added further touchdowns in a second half that saw wide man Simon Malone grab ‘Stones’ only try.
One has to feel sorry for the Wicklow men who has shown plenty of fight and spirit over the league’s opening three weekends but the results just have not gone their way and they sit bottom of the pile in Division One. Minus the likes of Cian McNaughton, Neil Megannety, James Power and regular try scorer David McKechnie, ‘Stones struggled in the opening half in front of a vocal 600-strong crowd.
Lansdowne have the makings of a good squad this season and are deservedly riding high in fifth place at the moment, after this win. They laid the platform for it with two tries around the half hour mark.
Cozens, who regained the number 10 jersey from Donal Crotty who started last weekend’s 18-6 loss at UL Bohemians, kicked a brace of early penalties for a 6-0 lead.
Full-back Reinhard Gerber, ‘Stones most recent in a long line of South African signings, pinged over a penalty in reply but Walsh made use of numbers out wide to score and O’Meara took the ball in midfield and broke through several tackles to score a great individual try.
A penalty from the confident Cozens, two minutes into the second half, stretched Lansdowne into a 23-3 lead and ‘Stones looked out of it.
That proved to be the case when Cozens sniped over in the 79th-minute and in the second minute of injury-time, the impressive Walsh chipped and caught his own kick and dived over in the corner to cap an excellent display.
The best moment of the match for the home side came when Malone finished out a quick passing move and Gerber converted brilliantly from the touchline.