Lansdowne RFC – 18
UCD RFC – 6
buy cialis serif;”>The weather was kind to the crowd of a few hundred who came down to watch the inaugural Sutherland Cup match between UCD and Lansdowne RFC in the Belfield Bowl on Saturday. The sunshine was not the only thing to be grateful for as the two sides gave an excellent display of running rugby in the sweltering heat to kick off the college term.
store serif;”>Lansdowne opened the scoring through two Craig Ronaldson penalties after some keen early pressure. UCD found it difficult to get momentum in a half where the rustiness of the first games of the season was still evident. Nonetheless, decease UCD were able to stay within one score of parity. Andy Cummisky found himself sin-binned on nineteen minutes after an infringement at the breakdown near the try line, but UCD held on throughout. The home side found a way into the game through an excellent 40m penalty from Stephen Murphy on 35 minutes, and it seemed half time came at a good moment for them, only 6-3 down with plenty of the match to play.
Unfortunately, it was Lansdowne who struck first after half time when Matt Healy took a short ball from his out-half to strike under the posts. Ronaldson converted. UCD made good in roads into the game through full back Dan Costello and centre Alex Kelly, but couldn’t make it stick. They can be grateful for the resulting defensive displays of Danny Kenny, Eoin Joyce and Shane Grannell for keeping them in the game. However, Lansdowne still managed the next score although they failed to convert. One more Murphy penalty saw the score line finish 18-6.
– Robert Shanley
