Energia AIL 2A 16th November 2019
Scorers: Magrath(1*Try, 2*Pen, 3*Conv), Roberts(2*Try), A.Donaghy(1*Try)
Photos

Having beaten Queen's in their last outing, Old Crescent were expected to be a tough nut to crack, but the Limerick men had no answer to a focused Rainey side which treated the Hatrick Park crowd to a very impressive display.  Resuming where they left off at Cashel, they performed as a unit to have the game sewn up by half-time and went on to secure a bonus point with a 32-10 victory.

Rainey opened well, a typical burst from hooker Roberts presenting Magrath with an early chance, but he pushed his kick past the post.  After eleven minutes, however, Brockschmidt and Magrath combined to give Rainey a good attacking position, with a controlled drive from a lineout giving Roberts a try which Magrath converted.

Magrath continued to keep Rainey in the right half of the park with some great kicking as Crescent seldom had a look in.  They missed a kick at goal and threatened briefly when a Rainey clearance was charged down, but fell 10-0 behind when Magrath again found the target. On the half hour, Fitzsimons broke through from halfway, managing to offload near the posts as he was grounded for his support to arrive, wing Donaghy picking up to finish off a great score beneath the posts.  Just before the break, a spell of exciting play gave Magrath the opportunity to make it 20-0.

Old Crescent got off the mark with a penalty as a number of unforced errors began to creep into the home side's play, but they were soon on the receiving end again when a lovely passage of play, inaugurated by flanker McAuley, created a huge overlap on the left which Rainey managed to butcher.  Two minutes later, however, the pack drove from the tail of a lineout on the 22' and made further ground with a second surge to help Roberts over for another converted try.

Rainey banked their bonus point when the forwards did the spadework for Magrath to go round the short side, put through a little grubber kick and win the race for the touchdown in the corner.  O' Neill and Brockschmidt combined to set up another obvious chance, but a penalty award let Crescent off the hook.  In the closing minutes, a lapse in concentration on their own put-in at a scrum enabled the Munster men to disrupt the Rainey heel and cross for a very soft try.

Team: M.O'Neill, A.Donaghy, D.McMurray, C.Fitzsimons, M.Connolly, A.Magrath, J.Bloomfield, C.Hume, B.Roberts, F.Quinn, J.McCusker, R.McCusker, A.Bratton, J.McAuley, C.Brockschmidt.     Replacements: S.Rutledge, K.Donaghy, N.Jeffers, M.Miller, J.Bresland.