Constitution finally get off mark

Cork Constitution enjoyed their first league success as tries from Rob Jermyn and Tomás Quinlan saw them beat Ballynahinch 23-16 at Temple Hill.

Leinster Academy speedster Adam Byrne helped himself to two tries in UCD’s 32-12 bonus point defeat of Dolphin at Belfield. Conor McKeon was the hero for Lansdowne as his nerveless injury-time penalty decided Saturday’s low-scoring Division 1A top of the table clash with Clontarf beaten 9-6. The Ireland U20 playerkicked Mike Ruddock’s charges to their third straight Ulster Bank League win — and their second of the month on the Aviva Stadium’s main pitch. The result ended Tarf’s winning start to the new campaign. The hosts broke the deadlock in the fifth minute when out-half Scott Deasy slotted a penalty. Deasy’s opposite number David Joyce levelled via a 15th minute penalty and he expertly split the posts again to give the Bulls a slender 6-3 interval advantage.

The introduction of underage internationals Dylan Donnellan and McKeon helped give Lansdowne fresh impetus during Brian Moylett’s sin-binning, although McKeon missed his first shot at the posts. He was on target from a more central position in the 67th minute to square things up between the last two league title winners.