Dolphin adrift as Mary’s finish strongly
St. Mary’s College heaped more misery on Dolphin in this Ulster Bank League Division 1A bottom of the table clash at Musgrave Park on Saturday.
The hosts are now without a win after eight games and prop up the table, seven points adrift of Mary’s.
St. Mary’s coach Jonathan Garth was in a buoyant mood after his side’s win. “It was a titanic battle and we are thrilled with the result. Both sides are struggling, so for us to come out with a win was just fantastic. We will hopefully move upwards from here and try to get a couple of points before Christmas with games against UCD and Lansdowne to come.”
The visitors made the better start and Gavin Dunne had them 9-0 clear after 11 minutes with three penalty kicks.
But Dolphin soon found their feet as Ryan Murphy sent Rory Scannell in for a try which Brendan Keeshan converted.
Both Keeshan and Dunne missed penalties before Scannell saw his long-range penalty effort come back off an upright, which left the visitors holding a 9-7 half time lead.
There was dramatic opening to the second half as Keeshan kicked a penalty to put Dolphin ahead after Mary’s full-back Ray Crotty was yellow-carded.
Two minutes later Keeshan received a yellow card and pressure by the Mary’s pack resulted in Ritchie Sweeney touching down for a try which Dunne converted.
Scannell and Dunne exchanged penalties before Dolphin pressure was rewarded with a try by Ryan Murphy to leave the hosts trailing 19-18 with 20 minutes left.
However, Mary’s finished strongly and another Dunne penalty and a try by Nick Timoney secured a precious victory.
DOLPHIN: E Mills; E O’Shaughnessy, C McGovern, R Scannell, S McAuliffe; B Keeshan, D Foley; J Leahy, C O Sullivan, J Rochford; C Rowe, B Quill; R O’Herlihy; R Murphy, Dave O’Callaghan.
Replacements: B Duggan, K O Halloran, K Allan, R Reardon, D Horgan,
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE: R Crotty; ST Lennon, R O’Loughlin, M O’Driscoll, C Lilly; G Dunne, R Glynn; T O’Reilly, S McCarthy, B McGovern; C Ruddock, S Bradshaw; K Sheahan, C Oliver, N Timoney.
Replacements: R O’Donovan, R Sweeney, D O’Connor, A Burke, C Gilsenan.
Referee: S Gaffney (IRFU).
