Highfield were sitting at the top of AIL 1B as they faced an emotional Malone, both teams paying tribute to a recent bereavement in the Malone RFC family.

Report and images by Richard Owens.

The Cork-men opened with an onslaught on the Malone line without James McAllister who was an early visitor to the bin after an infringement in the line out. Malone almost held out, but oozing penalties, they cracked a few minutes before their number was restored and Highfield’s hooker Robert Murphy, crossed the line from a line out maul to open the scoring close to the posts.

The conversion from Shane O’Riordan, was good; however that 7 – 0 lead only lasted minutes as Malone found a gap in the Highfield midfield from the kick off and through multiple hands the ball eventually ended up with captain Dave Cave who forced his way over the try line. The extras were missed but it . . .