Schools' finals/Belvedere College 16; Blackrock College 10: Triumph and failure is often separated by small margins, a premise substantiated on the evidence of yesterday's superbly entertaining Leinster Schools' Senior Cup final at Lansdowne Road.
Blackrock College will reflect on a match they might have won with more composure. On half a dozen occasions they were one pass away from a try but when accuracy was required, they suffered poor execution. They weren't favoured by a couple of refereeing decisions, one in the second half that could have proved pivotal to the outcome.
Blackrock prop Cian Culleton chose a superb line off a short pass to thunder to within a couple of metres of the Belvedere line and when the ball was recycled, Blackrock had numbers going left. It appeared a certain try but Belvedere outhalf Ian Keatley read the pass and intercepted. He looked offside, starting off, but there was no whistle.
Blackrock shouldn't dwell on this one moment as they had plenty of chances to retrieve a win. Nor should that cameo denigrate Belvedere's victory. They deserved their ninth title for the character they showed and rugby they produced.
Belvedere played with commitment and belief. They took the game to their opponents and were rewarded. There were a few outstanding contributions, number eight David Gilchrist, flanker Robert Fitzgerald, hooker Cian Healy, centre Brian Moran, right wing Peter Woods and Keatley. Gilchrist's work around the pitch was crucial. Healy's physical intensity with and without the ball offered an example embraced by his team-mates while Moran provided unfussy excellence in midfield. Keatley started nervously but went on to have a positive influence on his team's win.
It was he that tracked Blackrock's Luke Fitzgerald when Belvedere were defending. Belvedere moved Eoin O'Malley to outhalf most of the time, out-thinking their opponents on the sideline and with clever variations, particularly out of touch.
Blackrock were more physically powerful up front, Culleton, Mark Lynch and Zac Farvivarz standing out, but couldn't dominate their opponents. Only in captain Darren O'Reilly's try, a catch and drive at a lineout, did they translate this superiority to where it counted. Vasya Artemiev ran strongly but Blackrock's three-quarters were denied a couple of tries by a lack of precision with the final pass.
Belvedere took the lead on 12 minutes with a try from Woods. Brian Moran went through Ian Madigan's tackle racing into the Blackrock 22. Several forward surges sucked in defenders before O'Malley had the vision to flight the perfect cross-kick that Woods collected to dot down.
Keatley couldn't post the touchline conversion, a fate he suffered again from a similar position two minutes into first-half injury time. Madigan was hunted from the pocket behind his own line by Belvedere scrumhalf Paul O'Donohoe and as he went to clear had his kick charged down by Robert Fitzgerald. The flanker showed presence of mind and reflexes to win the race for the lose ball.
Blackrock turned to enjoy the wind and had reduced the deficit through a Luke Fitzgerald penalty within a minute of the restart. Belvedere's line led a charmed existence before a Keatley penalty gave them a little breathing space. The outhalf then popped over a superb drop goal with seven minutes remaining to nudge his side into a 16-3 lead.
O'Reilly's injury time try served to tantalise Blackrock as one final forward pass sounded the death knell for their ambition.
It was Belvedere's day.
SCORING SEQUENCE - 12 mins: Woods try, 5-0; 35(+2): R Fitzgerald try, 10-0. Half-time: 10-0. 36: L Fitzgerald penalty, 10-3; 55: Keatley penalty, 13-3; 63: Keatley drop goal, 16-3; 70: O'Reilly try, L Fitzgerald conversion, 16-10.
BELVEDERE COLLEGE: C Murphy; P Woods, E O'Malley, B Moran, L Power; I Keatley, P O'Donohoe; M Cuddy, C Healy, E Byrne; C Pendred, G O'Rourke; R Fitzgerald, R Carson (capt), D Gilchrist. Replacements: D Synnott for Carson (48-52 mins and 55 mins).
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: N Morris; R Keaveney, L Fitzgerald, F Moran, V Artemiev; I Madigan, D Moore; C Culleton, E Mullen, E O'Cuilleanain; P Ryan, B Cawley; Z Farvivarz, M Lynch, D O'Reilly (capt). Replacements: E Fleck for Moran (half-time); E Baker for Mullen (44-51 mins); J Coleman for Keaveney (57 mins); D O'Connor for Cawley (61 mins).
Referee: A Lewis (ARLB)
