Con put College to the sword

St Mary's College 0 Cork Constitution 22

Munster winger Simon Zebo scored a brace of tries to help Cork Constitution see off one of their main title challengers, St. Mary's College, at Templeville Road this afternoon.

Cork Con got back to winning ways with a fine 22-0 win at Templeville Road, a result which has guaranteed them a home draw in next month's Division 1 semi-finals.

St. Mary's need to beat second-placed Old Belvedere next Saturday to give themselves a shot at reaching the play-offs as Division 1A's third-ranked team.

Young Munster, who visit Dolphin tomorrow and entertain Garryowen in their final game, are their main rivals for that semi-final spot.

Constitution's deadly combination of pace and power, with Munster's Denis Fogarty, Scott Deasy and Zebo to the fore, was too hot for St. Mary's to handle on this particular occasion.

Centre Cyprien Jouve scooted away from the covering Rob Sweeney to score the opening try and help the Leesiders towards a 10-0 interval lead.

Scrum half Gerry Hurley, fresh from Ireland's brace of Club International wins, kicked a penalty and two conversions and the lively Zebo did the rest of the damage. He was put into space and avoided Darren Hudson's last-ditch challenge for the first, and then rounded over in the corner past Stephen Grissing's despairing tackle for his second.

St. Mary's had a strong set piece and Hudson, Ronan Doherty and Grissing had their moments in attack, but Cork Con's well-organised defence kept them at bay. On current form, the defending champions remain the team to beat.

Scorers: St. Mary’s College: -

Cork Constitution: Tries: Cyprien Jouve, Simon Zebo 2; Cons: Gerry Hurley 2; Pen: Gerry Hurley