Belvedere exploit their guile and pace

SCHOOLS' RUGBY: Belvedere College...13 Templeogue College...3. Anyone watching the two halves at Donnybrook as separate entities would have come to differing conclusions.

For the first 35 minutes, league champions Templeogue College set about their more vaunted opponents with a ferocity of commitment and application that had Belvedere seriously discomfited.

It wasn't just the strong breeze that favoured Templeogue. From the first scrum in which Belvedere collapsed concertina-like, shunted off their own ball, Templeogue issued a physical marker for the afternoon.

Targeting the Belvedere scrum, Templeogue competed tenaciously at the breakdown, forcing a plethora of turnovers, and the muscular defence of their three-quarter line, in which Keith Douglas shone, limited their opponents' scoring chances.

The post interval fare was a complete contrast. Belvedere used the wind, primarily through full back Eamon Fitzgerald's boot, sensibly, eventually matching the league champions' combative qualities at the breakdown. The scrum stopped creaking and number eight Dan O'Kane offered a tour de force in all facets of play.

Crucially, though, they possessed that little bit more guile and specifically a couple of players, in right wing Kevin Barden, Fitzgerald and captain Cliff Murphy, whose ability to beat tacklers proved decisive.

Belvedere are adept at running the playbook, but a productive execution from set plays is still beyond them if the evidence of the lateral movement of their backplay is a barometer. Still, in their two matches against above average opposition they have emerged victorious.

Yesterday was a little more emphatic, when Fitzgerald's place-kicking stats of one from six attempts are factored into the equation.

Templeogue will rue their inability to snatch a few more first-half points other than a single penalty from outhalf Brendan Healy. In right wing Gerard Vickery they possessed an excellent broken field runner, while Douglas and captain Darragh O'Kelly were largely unyielding in midfield.

The pack, in which Kevin Carroll and Graeme McInerney were excellent, demonstrated a great work ethic.

With Templeogue leading 3-0 at the interval the match was transformed on two pieces of individual virtuosity.

Belvedere's fine scrumhalf Brian O'Neill latched onto a turnover on the half-way line and exploited the short side's patchwork defence to set Barden clear. The right wing raced 20 metres, chipped full back Peter Timmons and regathered superbly to barge his way over in the corner. It was the catalyst for his side's afternoon.

Eight minutes later and with just 14 gone in the second half, Belvedere eased further away. From a scrum inside the Templeogue 22, O'Neill took off across the pitch, shaped to throw a couple of passes to players on a cutback before hitting Fitzgerald coming into the line.

The full back chose his line intelligently, handed off Douglas - hitherto his side's best defender as well as tackler - on an arcing run to cross midway between the posts and the corner flag.

Belvedere almost grabbed a third try. Murphy stepped inside and outside several would-be tacklers on a 30-metre run before being hauled down close to the Templeogue posts.

Templeogue killed the ball - it could reasonably have been a penalty try given the six on two overlap Belvedere would have had with quick ruck ball - and Fitzgerald had little difficulty in posting the penalty from 10 metres out. The full back would have a couple of other placed ball opportunities as Templeogue's discipline slipped a little, but it proved immaterial to the outcome.

The latter had one final opportunity for a grandstand finish but could not capitalise on O'Kelly's brilliant break, coming up a couple of metres short.

Belvedere will meet the winner of today's quarter-final between Terenure College and Castleknock College while Templeogue will reflect on a fine team's good season.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 10 mins: Healy penalty, 3-0. (Half-time: 3-0). 41: Barden try, 3-5; 49: Fitzgerald try, 3-10; 54: Fitzgerald penalty, 3-13.

BELVEDERE: E Fitzgerald; K Barden, M McAllister, C O'Shaughnessy, I Flynn; C O'Loughlen, B O'Neill; H Duffy, N Gallagher, C Mitchell; B Kennedy, L McGrath; C Murphy (capt), D O'Kane, R McDonald. Replacements: E Wiegel for Mitchell (45-47 mins); Wiegel for Duffy (57 mins); S Connolly for Murphy (62 mins).

TEMPLEOGUE: P Timmons; G Vickery, K Douglas, D O'Kelly (capt), S Muldowney; B Healy, A McPhillips; K Carroll, O Kelly, P Collins; N Boland, G McInerney; D O'Connell, A Deacon, P Tully. Replacements: R Coleman for Vickery (21-25 mins); G Foran for Deacon (60 mins).

Referee: T Redmond (Leinster).