SCOTLAND CLUB XV defeated their Irish club counterparts at Temple Hill in Cork to retain the Dalriada Cup and become the first Scottish Club XV team to win back-to-back matches in a season.
The early exchanges proved proiftable for the visitors with Lee Armstrong kicking a penalty then converting Jack Turley’s try.
Armstrong then added a second penalty midway through the first half after Ireland were penalised for not rolling away, but two unconverted tries from Daniel Riordan and Mark Roche kept the home team in touch at the break.
Two more penalties from Armstrong in the second half saw the Scots home, with the home team being restricted to a solitary three points from the boot of Scott Deasy.
Scorers –
Ireland: Tries: Riordan, Roche; Pen: Deasy.
Scotland: Try: Turley; Con: Armstrong; Pens: Armstrong 3
Man-of-the-Match: Ross Curle
Scotland Club XV: Fraser Thomson (Melrose); Sam Pecquer (Melrose), Ross Curle (captain, Ayr), Brendan McGroarty (Glasgow Hawks), Jordan Edmunds (Boroughmuir); Lee Armstrong (Hawick), Paddy Boyer (Glasgow Hawks); George Hunter (Ayr), Ross Graham (Hawick), Nick Beavon (Melrose), Robert McAlpine (Ayr), Lewis Carmichael (Melrose), Jack Turley (Heriot’s), Will Bordill (Ayr), Peter McCallum (Ayr). Replacements: Michael Liness (Heriot’s), Alistair Hamilton (Heriot’s), Jamie Bhatti (Melrose), Russell Nimmo (Heriot’s), Neil Irvine-Hess (Melrose), George Graham (Gala), Cameron Ferguson (Heriot’s), Harvey Elms (Currie).
Ireland Club XV: Daniel Riordan; James McInerney, Stephen Murphy, Matt D’Arcy (captain), Mark Roche; Scott Deasy, Neil Cronin; Ian Prendiville, Matt Abott, Ger Sweeney, Ciaran Ruddock, Phillip Donnellan, Charlie Butterworth, Paul Pritchard, Tony Ryan. Replacements: Patrick Finlay, Declan Lavery, Brian McGovern, Connor Smyth, John Fitzgerald, Angus Lloyd, Jack McDermott, Rodger McBurney.
Referee: Dewi Phillips (WRU)