UL Bohemians: Pens: Ben Martin 3

Barry Keeshan was back in dominant form for Dolphin as he helped them end a four-match losing streak in the Ulster Bank League.

The influential out-half kicked 17 points at Musgrave Park to add to first half tries from John Gleeson and James Cronin.

UL Bohemians, who lost 19-9 to the Corkmen in December, struggled with their discipline and some missed early kicks from JJ Hanrahan and Ben Martin did little for their confidence.

February was a month of near misses for Dolphin as they went down by two points to leaders Lansdowne, lost 13-10 to Young Munster and last Saturday saw them edged out by St. Mary’s (20-18).

Back on home soil this afternoon, Steve Ford’s side used the wind advantage to good effect with Keeshan kicking them into a second minute lead.

He doubled their advantage with a well-struck 45-metre penalty entering the second quarter, with Hanrahan missing a place-kick at the other end and Martin drawing a drop goal effort wide.

A good bout of interplay between the Dolphin backs and forwards then set up winger Gleeson’s unconverted try in the corner.

The Dolphin scrum produced turnover ball as UL pressed for their opening score, and Keeshan and Martin swapped penalties as half-time approached.

The hosts landed a crucial blow just before the break as Munster Academy prop Cronin broke through for a try which Keeshan converted.

There was clear daylight between these Munster rivals at 21-3, but Martin gave Bohs some momentum with penalty strikes after 46 and 53 minutes.

Keeshan missed a penalty before landing a brilliant drop goal on the hour mark and Dolphin had little trouble in seeing out the win, even with Gleeson spending 10 minutes in the sin-bin.

Keeshan added his fourth successful penalty in the 77th minute, rewarding another strong scrum from the industrious home forwards.