Lane fires Cork Con into quarters

Cork Constitution 33 Shannon 14

Richie Lane put his stamp on this afternoon’s heavyweight AIB Cup third round meeting of Cork Constitution and Shannon, tallying up 23 points to fire Constitution into the quarter-finals.

2006 cup champions Con made a lightning quick start in front of a good-sized Temple Hill crowd, with winger Lane landing a 45-metre penalty in the first minute.

Facing into a strong wind, Shannon, the reigning AIB League champions and 2008 cup winners, saw little of the ball in the first half as Brian Walsh’s home side dominated with the elements behind them.

Lane broke through for a converted try in the fifth minute and Con began the second quarter with another penalty from their man-of-the-match, making it 13-0.

Things got worse for Shannon as the half wore on. Centre Tim Kenneally, who combined well all afternoon with captain Evan Ryan, charged through for a superbly-taken try.

Lane converted and then in the dying minutes, the AIB Club international grabbed his second try and tagged on a drop goal to move Con into a 28-0 half-time lead.

Despite the one-sided nature of the first half, Shannon had been particularly strong in defence but a couple of lapses let them down and they began to set that right when winger Richie Mullane crossed to the right of the posts, eight minutes after the break.

Tadhg Bennett added the conversion but Con’s sterling efforts in defence kept Shannon at bay for most of the second period.

Indeed, Kenneally was able to snipe over for his second try which really put the result beyond any doubt. Stephen Kelly’s 78th-minute touchdown, which Bennett converted, was scant consolation for a Shannon side that was well beaten on the day.

Having beaten last season’s cup champions Ballynahinch in the previous round, Cork Con now have some serious momentum behind them ahead of their quarter-final encounter with Queen’s University at Temple Hill on November 21.

Scorers:

Cork Constitution: Tries: Richie Lane 2, Tim Kenneally 2; Cons: Richie Lane 2; Pens: Richie Lane 2; Drop: Richie Lane

Shannon: Tries: Richie Mullane, Stephen Kelly; Cons: Tadhg Bennett 2