There was obvious relief on the faces of Old Belvedere after their first victory of the season at Anglesea Road on Saturday. Already six games into the league, they appeared doomed for relegation.

Terenure's visit should have been a particularly strong challenge, but Belvedere managed to control the game long enough to survive. They were, however, greatly helped by a stale Terenure performance that has considerably weakened their chances of a place in the play-offs.

Belvedere coach Stephen Dodds took his place among the 15, insuring mistakes were kept to a minimum. "The big difference was that we got our ABC's right," said the New Zealander. "Terenure never really came at us, like they weren't up for it. But in this league, if you drop five per cent, you'll be jumped on."

Out-half Billy Tracey kicked four excellent penalties to keep Terenure at bay. Two in the first 15 minutes could have been matched by Terenure, but Peter Walsh sent his two kicks narrowly wide. Later, Tracey added a third before Walsh finally gave Terenure three points on the stroke of half-time.

Soon after the re-start, the game produced one of its few moments of excitement. Declan Hegarty took the ball from a Terenure lineout and sent Michael Smyth running through the leaky Belvedere defence. He passed out to Girvan Dempsey, who ran clear for the try in the corner. An impressive Walsh conversion put Terenure 10-9 in front.

But Terenure failed to maintain any sort of attacking strategy, and instead Tracey stepped up for his fourth penalty on 67 minutes.