Corinthians grabbed their first points of the All Ireland League with a well deserved victory over Clonakilty on Saturday.
Havaing lost the previous week at home, Corinthians not only carved out a decent win, but grabbed a vital bonus point in this division two encounter in Co Cork.
The visitors, with the assistance of the wind, were on the scoreboard after two minutes when outhalf Shane Mullally converted a penalty when Clonakilty were penalised for killing the ball. Eight minute later they added to the score with the first of five tries. Fullback Darren Classens finished off the move after captain Pat Cunningham set up a quick ruck.
The home side defended well for the rest of the first half until prop Denis Buckley touched down with Mullally adding the extras.
Although ahead by 15 - 0, Corinthians faced into the wind in the second half, but they were helped when Clonakilty lost their prop Purcell. It proved a crucial platform for Corinthians who forced a strike against the head, allowing scrumhalf Dolan to make a clean break before finding the supporting Liam Carpenter who finished off under the posts.
Clonakilty did get on the score board after 55 minutes when centre Kieran Howlin crossed, but when their flanker Alfie Harte was sinbinned, Corinthians pushed on and centre Wayne Williams adding a fourth try.
Corinthians completed their tally after the resulting restart. Joey Merrigan collected and made great ground before off-loading to flanker Aaron Connelly who finished off. Mullally again converted.
Corinthian: D Classens, F Gormley, J Buckley, W Williams, K Dolan (H Griffin ), S Mullally, M Dolan, D Buckley, J Merrigan, T Toolan (D Small ), G Ward, P Cunningham, L Carpenter (S Gerraghty ), A Connelly, R Connellan.
•Corinthians’ next outing is at home to Bucaneers in the semi-final of Connacht Senior Cup at 2.30pm on Saturday.
Galwegians disappoint
Galwegians suffered a disappointing 33 - 11 defeat in their first home All Ireland League fixture against a strong Clontarf side seeking a swift return to division 1a after their relegation last season.
Wegians had a strong first-half breeze at their backs and they took the lead through a well-struck penalty by captain John Cleary after five minutes. In a free-flowing game, both sides had scoring opportunities from open play in the first quarter, but the visitors took the lead with their first try after 25 minutes. From a penalty to touch, a well-worked lineout and maul resulted in a try for one of their summer recruits, ex-Dolphin flanker Barry O’Mahony.
Although Wegians created opportunities to score, including an excellent break by scrumhalf Ronan Dillon, Clontarf struck just before half-time. A turnover near halfway resulted in scrumhalf Sam Cronin racing in for try number two with outhalf Noel Reid converting for a 12-3 lead at the break.
It did not get better for the home side as they conceded a third try within a minute of the restart when lock Ben Gissing made the break from a line-out before finding prop Ciaran Kavanagh who dived over. When referee Olly Hodges overruled his touchjudges and deemed Reid’s conversion successful, it left the home side trailing 19-3.
Cleary struck a 45th minute penalty, but the home side struggled to gain a foothold with Reid keeping them pinned inside their own half. The bonus fourth try came for the visitors just after the hour when centre Killian Lett intercepted a pass near the 22 and raced home to score under the posts. They added another when winger Mick McGrath went on a mazy run to put further gloss on the scoreline.
Wegians could only muster a consolation try from No 8 Ian Cullinane .
Galwegians XV: J Cleary (capt ); K Corcocan, C Conroy, D Clarke ( T Leader ), G O’Brien; R Shaughnessy, R Dillon ( B Lee ), J East (J Mackey ), C Muldoon (S Keane ), J Stephens; D Nolan, B McClearn; D O’Hara, I Muldoon, I Cullinane.
