Fifth win of season sees Corinthians go joint top

Corinthians 30Greystones 8

Corinthians moved to joint-top of the AIL Division 2A on Saturday when seeing off the challenge of Greystones in Cloonaucauneen to record their fifth win in seven games. 

The visitors started lively enough, but it was the home side who were first on the scoreboard. Scrum-half Steven Bruce released on the Greystones 22, with captain Fionn Gormley gaining good ground before passing the ball to number eight Aaron Conneely who unselfishly released to left winger Eoin Daly to touch down in the corner. Out-half Mick O’Flynn was wide with the difficult conversion.

The visitors gained some ground from the restart, and captain and out-half Ross Spillane kicked a penalty after Corinthians were penalised for going offside, but Corinthians restored their five-point advantage when O’Flynn knocked over a penalty in the 15th minute from in front of the posts.

They extended that lead just a few minutes later when a loose ball was collected by wing forward Aurelien Casanova, and a powerful drive by the pack saw lock Gary Warde to touch down for a 13-3 lead.

Corinthians were on the attack again with half-time fast approaching, and O’Flynn got in for great try after good work by man of the match centre James Buckley, and O’Flynn added the extras for a 20-3 lead at the break.

The Wicklow side started strongly enough after the break and had one or two opportunities to close the gap, but good defence by the home side’s back-row, especially flanker Sean Gerity, kept them at bay, while O’Flynn also prevented what looked a certain try, bringing down Greystones’ winger Brendan Kennedy just short of the line.

Eventually the visitors got in for a try that they craved for with substitute lock Billy Norman getting in to touchdown after good mauling by his pack. The conversion was missed, leaving Corinthians 20-8 to the good.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.