Lansdowne Push Clear Of Bohs In Second Half

Lansdowne made it five wins out of six in Division 1A as they saw off the challenge of UL Bohemians on the Aviva Stadium’s back pitch on Saturday.

The headquarters club ran in three tries in the opening half but had to come from behind after UL winger Rory White scampered in for the game's first try.

Ben Martin converted the try but Lansdowne responded strongly with Craig Ronaldson launching a break and some neat hands set up lock Marc Feeley for an unconverted score.

Bohs lost a tight Limerick derby to Young Munster last Saturday and they seemed fired up to make amends with out-half Martin rewarding his pack with three points.

Five minutes later though, Lansdowne nipped ahead at 12-10 after out-half Ronaldson touched down following a bout of pressure in the visitors’ 22.

Lansdowne’s strike runners were beginning to exploit the space offered by Bohs and their defence gave way again when centre Sean Carey crashed over for try number three.

Ronaldson converted but a high tackle by Charlie Butterworth allowed Martin to kick UL back to within six points at the break – 19-13.

In the 47th minute, Lansdowne made certain of the bonus point as winger Cian Aherne scored out wide for his seventh try in six league games.

Ronaldson struck a fine conversion and there was no way back for UL after that as Mike Ruddock’s men coasted to victory.

Ronaldson added a penalty before replacement Andy Geraghty showed off his impressive handling skills to kickstart a long range break that led to Aherne’s second try of the afternoon.

A drop kicked conversion from Geraghty finished off the scoring with the result extending Lansdowne’s lead at the top of the table to two points.

Referee: Paul Haycock (IRFU)