SCHOOLS' RUGBY/Leinster Junior Cup: A determined Castleknock twice overcame deficits at Donnybrook yesterday to progress to the semi-final. They produced their best rugby in the final quarter when they posted 11 points without reply and, although their lead was a precarious one, they always looked the more assured in possession.
Belvedere looked favourites to win after Peter Woods had put them back in front on 44 minutes with outhalf Eoin Heavey orchestrating the play but Castleknock's single-mindedness was to see them through.
Castleknock had gone in front through a Brian Collins penalty on five minutes before a succession of five-metre scrums brought play in front of the Castleknock posts and Eoin Heavey's skipped pass to wing forward Robert Carson sent the Belvedere captain over for a try.
Castleknock responded well and a penalty by Collins left them a point in front at half-time.
With a strong breeze behind them in the second half, Belvedere then enjoyed a good spell of pressure and eventually went ahead when Heavey and Darren Kenna combined to give Woods a clear run into the corner.
But from there, Castleknock showed their character with two well-executed tries coming in the final 13 minutes. The first of these came in the 47th minute when scrumhalf Daniel O'Connor released Collins out wide and the outhalf had the pace to beat three tackles before going over on the right.
Victory was then secured in the dying seconds when David Stapleton came into the line before releasing wing Karl Coombes and, although a fair distance out, his pace and strength saw him over on the right.
Scoring sequence (Castleknock first): 5 : Brian Collins penalty 3-0; 13: Robert Carson try 3-5; 19: Collins pen 6-5; 44: Peter Woods try 6-10; 47: Collins try 11-10; 60: Karl Coombes try 16-10.
CASTLEKNOCK COLLEGE: D Stapleton; P O'Beirne, P Conway, S MacKay, K Coombes; B Collins, D O'Connor; C Farrell, C McIntyre, R O'Mahony, J Murray, H Carty, E Cummins, E Mullen (Capt), A Hickey). Replacement: D O'Connell for Murray (36 mins) .
BELVEDERE COLLEGE: R O'Brien; M Canavan, D Kenna, C Murphy, P Woods; E Heavey, L Power; S Mitchell, C Healy, E Byrne, D Ryan, G O'Rourke, M Cuddy, R Carson (Capt), E O'Carroll. Replacement: J Bennett for Mitchell (65 mins).
Referee: A Baird (ARLB).
Castleknock College ... 16
Belvedere College ... 10
