AIL: Buccs dig deep

Buccaneers 10 Cork Constitution 16

Buccaneers, despite having nothing other than pride to play for, had no intention of making it easy for Cork Con at Ericsson Park and in the end Ronan O¹Gara and his men had to dig deep to set up a home semi-final date with Garryowen in two weeks.

Con will need to improve on this display but they will hardly need much motivating for the visit of their old rivals from Limerick. Con led 8-3 at the break thanks to a pushover try from Frankie Sheahan after

eight minutes before O¹Gara and Justin Meagher exchanged penalties before the interval.

A try from Derek Dillon after 56 minutes should have killed off the spirited Buccaneers challenge but with winger Mike Devine typifying their admirable resolve, they continued to make life difficult for Con despite fielding a seriously understrength pack.

Buccs reduced the margin to just three points nine minutes from time when prop Ronnie McCormack squirmed over, with Meagher adding the difficult convert from the left.

Ronan O¹Gara, who had an outstanding second-half, eased the pressure with some remarkable line kicking and he doubled their lead in the final minute when he landed a penalty from just inside halfway.

Even then Con had to survive a continued challenge from Buccs during five minutes of stoppage time when it seemed O¹Gara¹s two missed converts might prove costly.

Buccaneers: W. Munn; M. Devine, D. Yapp, T. Allnutt, T. Robinson; J. Meagher, C. Keane; R. McCormack, P. Flanagan, M. Cahill; N. Smullen, G. Schoeman; A. Hanley, C. Rigney, G. Kenny. Subs: C. O¹Keefe for Murphy, 46 mins.

Cork Constitution: B. Walsh; D. Dillon, Conor Mahony, Cian Mahony, A. Horgan; R. O¹Gara, B. O¹Meara; I. Murray, F. Sheahan, J. O¹Driscoll; K. Murphy, M. O¹Driscoll; J. Williams, U. O¹Callaghan, J. Murray. Subs: N. O¹Hara for Yapp, half-time; W. Wallace for Hanley, 58 mins; G. Halligan for

Flanagan, 71 mins; C. O¹Loughlin for Keane, 71 mins.

Referee: T. Redmond (Leinster).