RUGBY LEINSTER SCHOOLS' SENIOR CUP: CUS 16 CBC Monkstown 13MARC HINEY was the hero at Anglesea Road yesterday, as his 70th-minute penalty secured Catholic University School's passage to the second round of the Leinster Senior Cup following a tight and tense encounter with a committed CBC Monkstown side.
Monkstown started at a great tempo and just five minutes into the contest wing Adam Swan got through for a try in left corner following a fine team move involving Michael Courtney and Ben Howard.
Centre Tom O’Reilly was off target with the subsequent conversion, but Ruadhan Magee also came up short from a 25-metre penalty three minutes later.
CUS were certainly growing into the contest as it developed, though, and following a missed penalty each from Magee and CBC’s Seán Kearns, inspirational hooker and captain Barry Keelan registered a fantastic individual try on the left-hand side three minutes before the break.
This proved to be a major confidence booster for CUS, as a successful penalty on the right from outhalf Hiney ensured they held an 8-5 advantage heading into the second half.
They maintained that momentum after the resumption, and it was Keelan who came up trumps for them once again by kicking the ball enterprisingly forward before grounding for his second try of the afternoon.
The pendulum was starting to swing in the direction of CUS at this stage but, as the game entered the final 20 minutes, CBC started to recompose themselves and they were back on level terms by the 55th minute as a superb try by centre Michael Courtney came just moments after an expertly-converted penalty by Kearns.
This set the game up for a tantalising finale, where every passage of play would take on even greater significance. Indeed, it seemed likely the tie would be heading to a replay when Hiney’s close-range 67th-minute penalty drifted wide of the posts. However he made amends on the stroke of full-time from 30 metres, much to the delight of the Leeson Street school’s travelling support.
CUS: C Divney; K Lynsky, R Magee, A Neary, J Fallon-Doran; M Hiney, M O'Driscoll; J Fisher, B Keelan, M McCann, D Gahan, J Gavin, K Beakey, A Quinlan, M Beakey. Replacements: N Gilson for Gavin (50 mins).
CBC MONKSTOWN: D Jordan; B Howard, M Courtney, T O'Reilly, A Swan; M Rogers, S Kearns; A Heffernan, S Moore, K Patterson, H Warren, M Shirin, J Brown, A Brennan, M O'Mahoney. Replacements: D Hanney for Brennan (42 mins), C Cunningham for Patterson (50 mins), J McGrath for Shirin (59 mins).
Referee: N Correll (Leinster Branch).
