Mary's held by Garryowen fightback

St Mary’s College 13 Garryowen 13

A tight fight saw home side St Mary’s draw with visitors Garryowen at Templeville Road, with a much-changed line-up.

It was the Munster visitors who grabbed the game’s opening score on six minutes when Alan Purcell crashed over in the right corner from Mark Connolly’s pop pass.

The home side were dealt a blow with an injury to out-half Frank Potts in the ninth minute before Saints’ full back Clinton Hall got their first try.

He sprinted clear of the Garryowen cover a few minutes later to collect a pass from Ciaran Potts, after the number 8 had made the initial break.

Centre Barry Lynn, combining well with Kiwi partner Chris Fifield, took over kicking duties and kicked the conversion plus a penalty before missing on 38 minutes.

He tagged on a second penalty in injury time to cancel Connolly’s one, giving Mary’s a 13-8 half-time advantage.

In blustery conditions Garryowen brought on three substitutes at the break, with Eoin Kelly, Rob Laffan and Alan O’Sullivan getting run-outs.

Nevetheless the visitors had to wait until the 75th minute for their next score, coming from a five-metre lineout close to the Mary’s line.

Shane Leahy pounced to maul over from close range to draw Garryowen level at 13-13, but crucially Connolly skewed the touchline conversion wide.

Further drama was to follow as Mary’s lock Peter O’Sullivan combined with Ciaran Potts to almost score at the other end in injury time, with centre Barry Lynn almost kicking the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time from halfway, but his penalty attempt went wide.