The Leinster U18 Clubs, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, saved their best for last in finally putting a win on the board in the Interprovincial Championship against Ulster at Donnybrook on Saturday afternoon.
There was immediate impact for Leinster when the visitors full-back Jac Lloyd Evans dropped a ball and was forced into giving up a penalty for centre Frankie O’Dea to open up with three points.
It was almost cancelled out when Ulster prop Aaron Kennedy disrupted the scrum for a shot at the posts which out-half John Cooke could not convert.
The danger had not dissipated. Centre Evin Crummie poked a kick through for the benefit of a 5-metre lineout out of the sound defence of Morgan Purcell.
Ulster number eight Andrew Foster was taken down by Martin Maloney. But, tight-head Callum Smyth looked a certainty to score when the ball slipped from his grip.
It took a fine poach by Leinster openside William Ashmore to relieve pressure and a deft ball on the floor from Hugo Lennox to bring centre Jordan Fitzpatrick into the game.
The persistence of Leinster paid off when Ulster’s defence went to sleep long enough for number eight Martin Maloney to surge to the posts for O’Dea to make it 10-0 in the 20th minute.
A sweet pre-planned move enabled wing Darragh Kelly to test out the defence of full-back Lloyd-Evans before Lennox flighted a kick to Purcell, who outpaced Matthew Faulkner for the second try for 15-0 in the 26th minute.
A piece of individual brilliance from Ulster centre Michael O’Neill did not yield the try it deserved when inches away from grounding the ball on the end of a sizzling break and kick.
From the ensuing scrum, wing Kelly nailed Cooke to force a knock-on.
It was Leinster who began the second period like they were behind, twice working the short side, Maloney almost creating the space for Joey Szpara to make it into the right corner.
But, that man O’Neill was not about to roll over. He came menacingly again until outnumbered down the right.
O’Neill got even closer to payback when taking Niall McKeating’s pass to within five metres of glory and wing Shane McKeever got even closer.
All of Ulster’s solid approach work was undone by white-line-fever. They just didn’t have the patience to keep doing what got them so near.
Eventually, smart play along the three-quarters gave flanker Ben Heath all the room needed to burst over in the left corner for 15-5 in the 50th minute.
Centre O’Dea showed he was more than a goal-kicker with a searing break and long, left-handed pass that sent wing Kelly flying over on the right.
Straight away, Leinster came calling again, Dan Egan speeding down the right for their fourth try in the 54th minute.
Leinster lost their replacement hooker Luke O’Callaghan to the bin, although it did not prevent Lennox from setting Fitzpatrick up for the fifth just past the hour and Kelly picked up his second to bring up the half-dozen.
At Donnybrook: LEINSTER 35 (D Kelly 2 tries; M Maloney, J Fitzpatrick M Purcell, D Egan try each; F O’Dea pen, con) ULSTER 5 (B Heath try).
LEINSTER: Cillian Redmond (Tullow RFC); Daragh Kelly (Suttonians RFC), Jordan Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC), Frankie O’Dea (Clontarf RFC), Morgan Purcell (New Ross RFC); Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC), Gareth Fitzgerald (Tullow RFC); Aziz Naser (Suttonians RFC), Patrick Nixon (Wicklow RFC), Conan Dunne (Kilkenny RFC), Darragh Murphy (Tullow RFC), Brian Deeney (Wexford Wanderers RFC), Joey Szpara (Ashbourne RFC), William Ashmore (Mullingar RFC), Martin Maloney (Athy RFC) Captain.
Replacements: Charlie Ward (Tullow RFC) for Naser 17 mins; Luke Thompson (Wicklow RFC) for Ashmore 41 mins; Luke O’Callaghan (Boyne RFC) for Nixon, Dan Egan (Skerries RFC) for Murphy both 53 mins; Aleksa Mitic (Mullingar RFC) for Dunne 55 mins; Patrick Nixon (Wicklow RFC) for Egan 59 mins; Mark O’Sullivan (Clontarf RFC) for Fitzgerald 62 mins; Paddy McKenzie (Wicklow RFC) for Redmond, Karl McMenamin (Dundalk RFC) Purcell both 65 mins.
ULSTER: Jac Lloyd-Evans (Rainey); Shane McKeever (Armagh), Michael O’Neill (Rainey), Evin Crummie (Armagh), Matthew Faulkner (Letterkenny); John Cooke (Virginia), Lee Culbertson (Ballymoney); Aaron Kennedy (Armagh), Paul McGookin (Ballyclare), Callum Smyth (Rainey), Ryan Morton (Armagh), Conor McManamin (Letterkenny), Ben Heath (Dromore), Charlie Clarke (Rainey), Andrew Foster (Ballynahinch).
Replacements: Jack McIntosh (Rainey) for Kennedy ht; Niall McKeating (Malone) for Cooke 39 mins; Aaron Kennedy (Armagh) for Smyth 46 mins; Rory McParland (Newry) for Lloyd-Evans 47 mins; Niall McKevitt (Newry) for McKeever 53 mins; Sam Murray (Armagh) for Foster 58 mins.
Referee: T O’Donoghue (IRFU).
