FOLLOWING their 39-6 rout of Blackrock in midweek, the Old Wesley faithful gathered in Donnybrook on Saturday optimistic of their first league victory over a Cork Constitution team whose title hopes had been derailed by three successive defeats.

They should have known better. If either of these teams played in accordance with the form book, they would not have found themselves embroiled in a mid table clash at this stage of the season. So, after basking in the glory of a famous win at Stradbrook, Old Wesley ended up on the wrong end of a 23-6 scoreline as a rejuvenated Constitution, with Paul Burke back at the helm, recorded their first league win of the year.

The result was settled by halftime, with tries from flanker Len Dineen and left wing Niall Murray ushering the Munster side into a 20-6 lead.

Absent through injury from last week's defeat by Garryowen, Burke returned to direct proceedings with customary aplomb. Playing behind a dominant pack, the international outside half enjoyed a major part in Dineen's try and added two penalties, two conversions and a drop goal in a faultless kicking display.

In contrast, Old Wesley's full back, Niall Farren, had an uncomfortable afternoon: he eonverted just two of his five kicking chances and looked distinctly hesitant beneath the perfectly weighted balls put his way by Burke. His fellow backs were guilty of some cardinal passing errors behind the pack that had to play second fiddle to Constitution in the line out.

Mindful of his side's failure to show a killer instinct in last week's 11-16 reversal at the hands of Ballymena, coach Christy Cantillon was relieved to see them convert considerable first half dominance into an unassailable lead which was never threatened in a dull second period.

"Paul (Burke) had a smashing game. He directed things well - we missed him last week, but he showed his class today."

In fact, Burke made his presence felt within a minute, finding the range after Old Wesley conceded a penalty straight from the kick off. After 12 minutes, he breached a passive Old Wesley cover to break on the right. Although tackled close to the line, Burke had ample support and the ball quickly passed through O'Mahony, Byrne and Walsh before Dineen crossed the line for a converted try.