Corinthians 29

Dolphin 28

By John Mulligan

In the end, it was hard fought but Corinthians did not care. The one point win and a four-try bonus point were enough for them to book their place in the league semi-finals with three games remaining.

Corinthians had looked comfortable in the early stages. A try from Adam Nash following a clever offload from Jack Conway who added the extras got them off to a good start. Dolphin responded with a try from a rolling maul collected in the air by Conor Curran. John Fitzgerald and James Vaughan were both on top of the ball when it was touched down.

Cameron O’Shaughnessy kicked the conversion, and it was level at this point but that would be the visitors only score for some time as Corinthians showed their domination.

Following a clearance kick, Corinthians came back with a switch move that involved Orin Burke and Micheál O’Reilly and ended in the hands of Finn McNulty who went over.

Tom Waters followed suit with their third and as the wind picked up, Conway landed a conversion conversions leaving 12 points between the teams at half-time.

Changes were made at half-time with one of them being Sean Naughton. The Irish U-20 showed his class with a brilliant try that started inside the Corinthians half. A quick distribution of the ball from Evan Kenny found John Devine, who broke through two tackles before feeding to Naughton who broke two more before scoring.

Corinthians were now 17 points in front and looking odds on for the win. However, Dolphin – who are in their own battle for survival at the other end of the table – had other ideas and they hit back with Dalton O’Shaughnessy first driving over from a line-out; and Eoghan Herlihy soon crossed the whitewash as well after the Corinthians back was stretched following a line out.

Those two tries and the following conversions suddenly had just three between the teams and Corinthians supporters sensed danger. The wind was picking up and the visitors were the team with the ball and looking dangerous as they went in search of an unlikely victory.

Pictured: The Corinthians side that defeated Dublin University in the U-20 JP Fanagan Premier 2 Leinster league last month. The side will be presented with the league trophy after their game with UCD in Belfield this Sunday (2pm). Back row, from left: Emmanuel Oifoh, Caden Grant, Patrick Flannery, Ryan Gaughan, Joshua Tunney-Ware, Ben Butler, Charlie Leonard, and Alex Burke (captain). Front: Orin Burke, Luke Walsh, Hernando Calleja, Harry Sheridan, Jack Conway, Tom Waters, and Eoghan O’Rourke. Not pictured: Brendan McGuckian, Diarmuid Kilraine, Johnny Hughes, Matthew Goodwin, Finlay Gough, Killian Brennan, and Adam Newell.