{"id":382429,"date":"2026-04-05T00:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382429\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T00:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:38:21","slug":"st-marys-beat-clontarf-at-castle-avenue-to-take-top-spot-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382429\/","title":{"rendered":"St Mary\u2019s beat Clontarf at Castle Avenue to take top spot \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

St Mary\u2019s College finished in top spot in Division 1A of the Energia All-Ireland League as they claimed a hard-earned 14-10 away success against Clontarf at Castle Avenue on the final day of league action across the divisions. <\/p>\n

Mark Fogarty and Mick O\u2019Gara scored the Mary\u2019s tries, with O\u2019Gara also converting both, as the visitors came through a tense contest in which Clontarf replied through Jordan Coghlan and Daniel Magner. <\/p>\n

Mary\u2019s will now have a home semi-final tie against great rivals Terenure College as they secured fourth spot by defeating UCD 19-15 at Lakelands Park in a tightly contested encounter. <\/p>\n

Adam LaGrue scored twice for the home side, with Luke Clohessy also crossing, while Caspar Gabriel added two conversions. UCD stayed in the hunt through tries from Evan Moynihan, Maxim Aschenbrenner and Daragh Gilbourne, but Terenure held firm to take the win.<\/p>\n

\"DivisionDivision 1A table <\/p>\n

Despite producing one of the standout displays of the round, overpowering Lansdowne 38-12 at Temple Hill, last season\u2019s finalists Cork Constitution missed out on top four due to that Terenure result. <\/p>\n

Danny Sheahan crossed for a hat-trick in a devastating first-half performance, while Rob Hedderman, Aidan Moynihan and David Hyland also touched down. Lansdowne responded with tries from Cathal Eddy and James Tarrant, and now face an away trip to Clontarf in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Old Belvedere were equally emphatic, running in nine tries in a 61-12 win over Nenagh Ormond. Jack Keating and Joshua Ericson both scored twice, while Morgan Meredith, Andre Ryan, James Dillon, Hugh Wilkinson and Fionn McWey also crossed in a dominant display at Ollie Campbell Park. <\/p>\n

Young Munster completed the Division 1A action with a 22-12 win over Ballynahinch, building a 17-5 half-time lead before closing it out through tries from Andrew Smith, Orin Burke and Liam McMahon.<\/p>\n

\"DivisionDivision 1B table <\/p>\n

In Division 1B, Old Wesley were crowned champions after a 45-0 win away to City of Armagh, with Tom Larke and Ethan Black both scoring twice in a seven-try victory. <\/p>\n

Dublin University produced an impressive turnaround to beat Blackrock College 34-24 away from home. Despite trailing at the break, Trinity responded with tries from Johnny O\u2019Sullivan, Mark Walsh and Jack O\u2019Neill to take control in the second half, but had to settle for second place.<\/p>\n

Naas delivered one of the most explosive first-half displays of the weekend, racing into a 42-5 interval lead on their way to a 47-26 win over Instonians to confirm their safety. Tadhg Brophy and Charlie Sheridan each scored twice. Queen\u2019s University defeated Highfield 31-19 and UCC beat Garryowen 24-10 after leading 17-0 at half-time, not enough to avoid a relegation playoff.<\/p>\n

\"DivisionDivision 2A table <\/p>\n

In Division 2A, Shannon recorded an important 24-12 victory against Cashel, with Jamie Gavin\u2019s boot helping guide them home to second place. They will meet Dungannon in the playoffs after they defeated Greystones 33-14 after leading 21-0 at the break. MU Barnhall edged Wanderers 26-20 in another valuable result, as that result saw Galway Corinthians jump into the playoffs as they claimed a 31-5 away win over Banbridge. Elsewhere, Ballymena won 45-3 over Old Crescent. <\/p>\n

\"DivisionDivision 2B table <\/p>\n

Division 2B again delivered drama, with Sligo securing fourth spot with a 39-7 win against Skerries, Matthew Earley scoring two tries. UL Bohemian will host Clogher Valley in the playoffs as they finished in second spot. Bohs were in rampant form, beating Navan 54-5 with Jordan Mills scoring twice, while Clogher Valley beat Rainey 19-14.<\/p>\n

Enniscorthy defeated Malone 36-25, and Buccaneers earned a 20-7 win away to Galwegians. <\/p>\n

\"DivisionDivision 2C table <\/p>\n

In Division 2C, Dolphin beat Belfast Harlequins 31-14 with Max Abbott grabbing a hat-trick to confirm the final semi-final spot. That result doubled with Malahide\u2019s 31-25 win over Monkstown relegated Harlequins to the junior grade, a miraculous turnaround by the Dublin side who go into a playoff.<\/p>\n

Clonmel edged Ballyclare 32-29 in a close contest to confirm top spot in the table and will meet Dolphin next, while Bective Rangers defeated Thomond 30-12 in a dress rehearsal for a semi-final in two weeks. Elsewhere, Midleton won 26-14 away to Bruff. <\/p>\n

Energia All-Ireland League results<\/p>\n

Division 1A: Clontarf 10 St Mary\u2019s College 14; Cork Constitution 38 Lansdowne 12; Old Belvedere 61 Nenagh Ormond 12; Terenure College 19 UCD 15; Young Munster 22 Ballynahinch 12.<\/p>\n

Division 1B: Blackrock College 34 Dublin University 24; City Of Armagh 0 Old Wesley 45; Naas 47 Instonians 26; Queen\u2019s University 31 Highfield 19; UCC 24 Garryowen 10.<\/p>\n

Division 2A: Ballymena 45 Old Crescent 3; Banbridge 5 Galway Corinthians 31; Cashel 12 Shannon 24; Dungannon 33 Greystones 14; MU Barnhall 26 Wanderers 20.<\/p>\n

Division 2B: Clogher Valley 19 Rainey 14; Enniscorthy 36 Malone 25; Galwegians 7 Buccaneers 20; Sligo 39 Skerries 7; UL Bohemian 54 Navan 5.<\/p>\n

Division 2C: Ballyclare 29 Clonmel 32; Bective Rangers 30 Thomond 12; Bruff 14 Midleton 26; Dolphin 31 Belfast Harlequins 14; Malahide 31 Monkstown 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St Mary\u2019s College finished in top spot in Division 1A of the Energia All-Ireland League as they claimed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[34860,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-382429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ail","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}