Schools Rugby Leinster Junior Cup semi-final/Gonzaga College - 5 Newbridge College - 3: It is the very shape of an oval ball that can make rugby the biggest game of chance in sport and Newbridge paid the price for that unpredictability when David Layden pounced to put Gonzaga College into the Leinster Schools' Junior Cup final at Donnybrook yesterday.
Newbridge were second best to Gonzaga in the Leinster League final, admittedly only after a replay. The Kildare school needed a good start to sow doubt into their opponents' minds. Not only did they manage that, they sustained it most of the way through the hour.
Outhalf Barry Daly tested the Gonzaga defence and captain Ronan Skehan was given the first scoring opportunity from a penalty when Gonzaga forwards did not roll away from the point of contact at a ruck. Skehan was right and wide.
Gonzaga were efficient in the tight. Hooker Nick Rutledge struck against the head at the first, second and third scrums and they made a mess of the Newbridge lineout on more than one occasion.
Newbridge centre Jonathan Gray was the next to make a dent and Daly's quick feet bamboozled two fresh air tacklers. Gonzaga were restricted to a policy of containment. Soon, Gray took off again and secondrow Jack Lalor took his pack with him into the 22. The pressure told and Skehan kicked a penalty for a 3-0 lead in the 15th minute.
Newbridge could not tame the restart and it gave Gonzaga the opening to get their impressive continuity game into gear. They moved the ball out of contact and into space as wings Ben Hickey and Layden got their hands on the ball at the end of the first half.
It was surely the start of better things to come. Not really. Skehan was a massive presence when the ball was on the floor. Gray cut a line through the heart of midfield and left wing Diarmuid Carr popped up on the other side of the field to carry to within an inch of glory. Referee Ken Henley-Willis ruled Carr knocked-on in the act of grounding the ball.
Gonzaga scrumhalf Alex Byrne was snared behind his own line from the following five-metre scrum and the pressure remained until secondrow Eoin Cusack got his hands to James Treacy's misdirected lineout throw.
The first-up tackling was as hard as stone and Gonzaga were gradually forced into kicking downfield. When they did, Gary Burns returned the ball.
It looked as though Newbridge had all the answers to Gonzaga's questions until centre Godfrey Greene took off down the left wing and chipped over Burns. The ball bounced up and Robert O'Connor kicked it to safety. Cruelly, it squirted only as far as the in-goal area. Layden landed on the bobbling ball for a 54th minute match-winning try.
Scorers - Gonzaga College: D Layden try. Newbridge College: R Skehan pen.
GONZAGA COLLEGE: D McEvoy; B Hickey, G Greene, K Ryan, D Layden; K Tuite (capt), A Byrne; K Larchet, N Rutledge, C Mounsey, P Lynn, E Cusack, N Dillon, A Naughton, R Kenny.
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: G Burns; R O'Connor, S Coughlan-Murray, J Gray, D Carr; B Daly, S Sutton; J Treacy, A Devine, E Conway, J Lalor, M Small, J Higgins, R Skehan (capt), E Burke. Replacement: O Deering for Small 52 mins.
Referee: K Henley-Willis (IRFU).
