Lansdowne - 18 Cork Constitution - 0 Lansdowne retained their Division One status after a comprehensive victory over a subdued Cork Constitution at IRFU headquarters on Saturday. Although the match was by no means a classic, much to the chagrin of RTÉ, who televised it live, it will not bother Brian Walsh's men as they still finished top of the table.
Former international Angus McKeen was brought in from the junior rugby ranks to give Lansdowne added beef in the scrums, while Aidan McCullen took the step down from his Leinster berth to act as a yard earner.
Yet, it must be highlighted that this was no reflection of what Con are capable of when it really matters. They will raise their game significantly for the visit of Buccaneers to Temple Hill for the semi-finals. However, Buccs will have noted the damage done by McKeen in the scrums, and John O'Driscoll's loss to injury is massive.
The hosts started with the wind at their backs and duly threw the proverbial kitchen sink at their opponents. In the opening 20 minutes scrumhalf Shane Whelan had three kicks at goal. He slotted two of them and was just wide with a drop goal.
The Lansdowne faithful were able to relax when Brian O'Mahony just made it over the line after a succession of charges 10 minutes before the half-time interval, after McCullen was held up short. That left it at 11-0 at the break.
With the wind at their backs, Con asked some serious questions of the Lansdowne defence after the restart - Conrad O'Sullivan's switch to centre gave them more penetration but for once this season the Harry Williams-coached side held firm.
Midway through the second half, an excellent eight-man shove by the pack drove the Cork forwards off their line.
Then on 65 minutes Ultan O'Callaghan blocked down O'Mahony's attempted touch-finder but the Lansdowne outhalf showed an excellent turn of foot to deny a certain try.
From the resulting scrum, Conor McNaughton's bone-rattling hit on O'Sullivan turned possession over. Thereafter, they looked a sure bet to survive.
Lansdowne spent the final 10 minutes in the safety of Cork's half with replacement Steve O'Connor icing the cake in injury time by crossing for the second try. Whelan added the extras.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 3 mins: S Whelan pen 3-0; 11: Whelan pen 6-0; 30: B O'Mahony try 11-0. Half-time: 11-0. 85: S O'Connor try 16-0; Whelan con 18-0.
LANSDOWNE: J Murphy; F Baynes, C McNaughton, G Stafford, K Becker; B O'Mahony, S Whelan; E Bohan, M Nathan, A McKeen, A Maher, B Cusack, J O'Donovan, L Toland, A McCullen. Replacements: R Dolan for Stafford (34 mins), S O'Connor for McCullen (43-45 mins), S O'Connor for B O'Connor (68 mins), K Cleere for McKeen (73 mins).
CORK CONSTITUTION: P O'Brien; T O'Leary, J V Igarza, F O'Gara, C Healy; C O'Sullivan, P McCarthy; T Ryan, D Fogarty, M Ross, S O'Connor, J Frahill, U O'Callaghan, B O'Connor, P Twomey. Replacements: D O'Brien for P O'Brien (37-42 mins), D Dillon for O'Sullivan (43-48 mins).
Referee: M Kilgore (Ulster).
