Lansdowne stretch lead at top after win over Garryowen

Lansdowne 34 Garryowen 22

Division 1A top try scorer Cian Aherne touched down twice as Lansdowne extended their lead at the top of the table with a bonus-point victory over nearest rivals Garryowen.

On the Aviva Stadium's back pitch, the hosts enjoyed a near perfect start when full-back and captain Ross McCarron scored in the right corner following a bout of early pressure towards the Garryowen try-line.

Out-half Craig Ronaldson was off target with the conversion that followed, however, and Garryowen responded extremely well to this early setback with an expertly-taken penalty from Connacht's Matt Jarvis seven minutes in.

This settled the Limerick men down and their opening try of the contest arrived just two minutes later when prop JP Cooney drove powerfully over the line.

Jarvis was also on target with the conversion that followed but, despite the visitors enjoying good spells of possession, winger Aherne grabbed his first try after 26 minutes at the end of a fine move across the backs division.

It was an extremely open tie at this stage and even though Jarvis missed a couple of place-kicking opportunities into the breeze, he was the orchestrator for his side's second try three minutes before the break.

This looked like it would offer them plenty of momentum, but Ronaldson managed to restore parity in time for the interval (15-15) with a penalty from a tight angle on the right.

This turned out to be a crucial score as it gave Mike Ruddock's men the confidence to push on at the start of the second period.

A converted try from Ireland Under-20 centre Mark Roche four minutes after the restart edged the Dubliners back into the ascendancy.

The seven-pointer threw down the gauntlet for Garryowen to come out and attack the league leaders but try as they might, they were finding it difficult to break down a well-organised Lansdowne rearguard.

Indeed, it looked like there was every chance that Lansdowne would be the next to add to the scoreboard, and this is precisely what happened with seven minutes remaining when Aherne broke through for his 11th try of the league campaign.

This pretty much sealed a five-point return for Lansdowne, but an intercept try did follow through winger Matt Healy after 79 minutes.

Powerful lock Aaron McCloskey dotted down for Garryowen deep into stoppage time, but it proved to be too little, too late for the Light Blues.

Scorers:

Lansdowne: Tries: Ross McCarron, Cian Aherne 2, Matt Healy, Mark Roche; Cons: Craig Ronaldson 3; Pen: Craig Ronaldson

Garryowen: Try: JP Cooney, Cian O’Shea, Aaron McCloskey; Cons: Matt Jarvis 2; Pen: Matt Jarvis

HT: Lansdowne 15 Garryowen 15