Sport

Blackrock's first-half haul proves enough

Leinster Schools' Junior Cup/Blackrock College 13 Terenure College 10: It took a fast start and a disciplined defence for Blackrock…

Wed Mar 14 2007 - 00:00

Leinster Schools' Junior Cup/Blackrock College 13 Terenure College 10:It took a fast start and a disciplined defence for Blackrock College to squeeze past Terenure College in the Powerade Leinster Schools Junior Cup semi-final at Donnybrook yesterday.

In the tight, Terenure were more than a match for Blackrock as their pack rumbled forward and stretched the fringes to breaking point. It was possession without penetration and the Williamstown side soaked up the pressure before striking through an expert penalty by centre Seán Barron in the fourth minute.

Fullback Andrew Conway's intercepted inside his own 22 and his pace took him three-quarters the length of the pitch for a try converted by Barron in the 14th minute. Another Barron penalty made it 13-0 at the break.

Terenure were energised on the restart. Their back line almost did the business before the forwards took on the responsibility of getting them back into the match. A series of drives from a five-metre penalty led to a try from tighthead Cronan Creagh.

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The transformation was palpable in the swarming, front-foot defence of Terenure. Number eight Eoin Joyce and centre Barry Kelly were menaces around the contact zone.

Fullback Niall Thornton was also having an effect. His counterattack was taken on by centre Dylan Olin and hacked to the line by left wing Stephen Lowe for Barry Kelly to win the race to the ball to leave three points between them. But the losers were left to curse their bad luck and the absence of a reliable goal-kicker in contrast to Barron's immaculate shooting. It now sets up a Blackrock-St Michael's final.

SCORERS: Blackrock College- A Conway try; S Barron 2 pens, con. Terenure College- C Creagh, B Kelly try each.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE:A Conway; D Westman, S Barron, G Stevens, C Fitzpatrick; B Geraghty, M Walsh; S Wijntjes, P Carroll, C Maguire; J Kelly (capt), P Dargan; B McAleer, C Sheehan, D Walsh. Replacements:S Cooke for McAleer (34 mins); G Brennan for Wijntjes (48 mins).

TERENURE COLLEGE:N Thornton; C Kelly, B Kelly, D Olin, S Lowe; N Lynch, N Casey (capt); B Mooney, B Elliott, C Creagh; L Cowhig, P Soave; G Speiran, D Church, E Joyce. Replacements:C Ronan for Elliott (58 mins).

Referee: D Phillips(Leinster Branch).