Three out of the seven local sides claimed victories over the weekend in the Ulster Bank League.

In what was a much poorer outing from Limerick clubs in the AIL over the weekend, Shannon, Old Crescent and Bruff were the only sides to come away with wins after such a promising showing from Limerick sides the weekend previous

Terenure 27 Garryowen 20

Garryowen travelled to Lakelands on Saturday on the back of a superb win over Clontarf the Saturday previous however it didn’t all go to plan for the Dooradoyle side as they were defeated by table toppers Terenure 27-20.

Terenure’s stand out player was their out half Mark O’Neill who came away with 22 points on Saturday. O’Neill’s first try came after 30 minutes to extend his side’s lead to 10-0 after an earlier penalty from the out half, however the light blues responded with a try of their own on the stroke of half time when out half Jamie Gavin intercepted before handing it off to Hugh O’Brien Cunningham to score leaving the sides at 10-7 at the break.

Ten minutes after half time, Nure’ piled on the pressure again before Leinster prop Oisin Heffernan got over the line leaving Conan Doyle’s side ten points behind for the second time in the game.

Connacht prop JP Cooney and Munster academy prop JP Phelan were sprung from the bench and full back David Johnston replied with a penalty soon after.

The Dublin outfit then replied with a timely score of their own when O’Neil got over the line in the 63rd minute to leave the Limerick sides deficit at 14. Phelan did get over the line for Garryowen but after both kickers swapped penalties in the final quarter, Neil Cronin’s men had to settle for a losing bonus point.

All over @terenurerugby win 27 -20

— Garryowen FC (@GarryowenFC) October 7, 2017

Young Munster 17 Dublin University 21

The Cookies started brightly with tries from former DUFC player Tom Ryan and captain Ben Kilkenny after just 25 minutes of play. However, just before the half time mark, Trinity full back Michael Silvestre made a try saving tackle which encouraged the college side, who then made their way up the pitch before slotting a crucial three points via the boot of Tommy Whittle leaving the score at 14-3 at the break.

After early pressure in the scrums, the Dublin side rectified the problem in the second half and soon reduced the gap to 14-6 after another Whittle penalty. Trinity began to come into the game more and more and flanker David StLedger dotted down after a number of phases leaving the score at 14-13 mid way through the second half.

Shane Airey did reply with a penalty soon after but Trinity replied with a try from winger Fitzpatrick after some good work on the wing from former Crescent college student Billy O’Hora. Whittle added a penalty in the last kick of the game to condem Munster’s to their 3rd loss in four games.

Full time ym 17 du 21

— Young Munster RFC (@YoungMunsterRFC) October 7, 2017

This is how division 1A looks after four rounds of fixtures.

Shannon 52 Dolphin 0

Shannon kept their impressive form going on the back pitch at Thomond park on Saturday after an emphatic bonus point win over Dolphin in division 1B.

Shannon got their first try through winger Eathon Moloney in the 21st minute before issues at the scrum caused Dolphin a number of problems leading to a further two converted scores before the half time whistle. The first came via the boot of second row Sean McCarthy when his chip though was gathered by out half Conor Fitzgerald before fitzgeralds half back partner Jack Stafford found a gap in the defence and go over on the half time mark.

Jack O’Donnell’s intercept meant his side were guaranteed a point and shortly after, new Munster signing Ciaran Parker went over at the back of a driving maul to pile on the misery for Dolphin.

Tom Hayes men, who kept their 100% record in tact went over for another three tries before the final whistle through replacement’s Keith Kavanagh and Darren Gavin before Moloney was on the end of a nice move to secure his brace at the end of the all Munster clash. Shannon remain on top of 1B with 18 points, 2 ahead of Ballynahinch.

Full time score Shannon 52 Dolphin 0

— Shannon RFC (@Shannon_RFC) October 7, 2017

Ballynahinch 34 UL Bohemians 17

It was another bad day at the office for UL Bohemians on Saturday as they went down to Ballynahinch 34-17 at Ballymacarn Park. Bohs now sit in 7th place after their latest loss.

UL Bohs opened the scoring on Saturday with a penalty from scrum half James Hart, however that was quickly cancelled out by a Ballynahinch try through their own scrum half Aaron Cairns followed by a penalty via the boot of out half Johnny McPhillps. The Robins’ poor start was made worse when a good break from Hinch’ David Busby saw full back Conor Kelly get try number two for the Ulster outfit. McPhillips added another three points to leave the score 20-10 at the interval.

The next score didn’t come until 30 minutes later when replacement Conor Piper got over the line after a good maul from the home side. They quickly added their bonus point in the 76th minute after a superb try from substitute Blane McIlroy.

The away side did get a consolation score through impressive flanker James Ryan, but that’s all they could muster after another under par performance.

34-17 f/t. Try James Ryan. Con J Harte

— UL BOHEMIAN RFC (@ulbohemianrfc) October 7, 2017

Shannon sit on top of 1B after four rounds of fixtures.

Old Crescent 20 Wanderers 19

Old Crescent are the only other local side, besides Shannon, to keep their perfect record after round 4 with a 20-19 win over Wanderers at Rosbrien. The league leaders ran into an early 13-0 lead courtesy of tries from Cathal Monaghan and Cathal O’Reilly with Ronan McKenna adding a penalty.

Having worked hard to establish the lead, Crescent somewhat took their foot off the gas to allow Wanderers in for two tries to cut the deficit to just one point a the break. Indeed it was the Dublin side that continued their momentum after the interval with a Niall O’Donoghue try to take the lead 19-13 for the first time.

Crescent however had the last word with Val McDermott notching their third try of the afternoon with the crucial extras added by Ronan McKenna to give Brendan Guilfoyle’s side their fourth win on the bounce to remain top of the table.

Full time in Rosbrien. Crescent 20 Wanderers 19 Whew!

— Old Crescent RFC (@OldCrescentRFC1) October 7, 2017

Tullamore 10 Bruff 39

A brace of tries from Brian Fanning helped Bruff to a 15-5 interval lead as 2C strugglers Tullamore did all they could to hang on to the coattails of their opponents. With the game under control Bruff went in pursuit of the bonus point. A third try came courtesy of Tony Cahill to extend their lead to 25-10 with twenty minutes remaining. Magnus Collins duly obliged with their fourth try of the evening to give the Kilballyowen side a deserved bonus point victory.

Break from Cian Ryan and offload to Eric Finn who scores our 5th try. 39-10 and all over here. Great win lads

— Bruff RFC (@bruffrfc) October 7, 2017

Bangor 36 Thomond 14

Thomond’s trip up North yielded nothing as they coughed up five tries in a poor defensive display against Bangor. Darragh O’Neill accounted for both tries with Evan Cusack adding the extras. The Fitzgerald Park side remain comfortably in mid table with two wins from their opening two games and considering their poor season last year will be reasonably happy with their start to the campaign.

Hard luck to our senior team today who lost to @BangorRFC. Safe trip home pic.twitter.com/MNHSc6W15m

— Thomond RFC (@RFCThomond) October 7, 2017

Bruff move up to third after big away win versus Tullamore.

The next round of Ulster Bank League fixtures takes place on the weekend of Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28. Some of the sides will no doubt welcome the change to re-group while teams like Shannon and Old Crescent will be hoping they can regain their early season momentum when hostilities resume later in the month.