Corinthians get top flight campaign off to winning start

Dublin University 7 Corinthians 25

Corinthians got their AIL campaign off to a winning start on Saturday afternoon when the side newly promoted from Division 2A were impressive winners over Dublin University (Trinity College) at Sidney Parade.

Corinthians trailed 7-6 at the break, with out-half Sean O’Hagan keeping them in touch with their hosts with two penalties, but it was a very different story in the second half as the Cloonacauneen side ran in three tries – and kept their opponents scoreless – to seal the win.

Ivan Venter got the ball rolling with an unconverted try in the 48^th minute, and this was followed up by tries from O’Hagan in the 60^th minute, and Aaron Conneely in the 70^th minute, both of which were converted by O’Hagan, but a fourth bonus-point try remained elusive.

It was not such good news for Galwegians, who suffered a 37-14 defeat away to Ballymena in Division 1B. The Glenina side trailed 20-8 at the break, with a try from David Symes and a penalty from Darragh Leader, and while Leader added three more penalties after the break, the home side laid down a marker for those with title aspirations with a strong showing, running in six tries over the 80 minutes.