St Mel's, Longford, overturned a half-time deficit at Kilcock yesterday to bring this Leinster Schools Junior Cup tie to a replay. St Conleth's were first to make an impression on the scoreboard when winger Eoin Fennessy made light of the difficult handling conditions to cross the line in the corner.

The Dublin school ended the half with an 8-0 lead after Barry Rogerson slotted over a penalty.

St Conleth's found themselves under considerable pressure from the early stages of the second half. They succeeded in repelling a number of St Mel's attacks before outhalf Stephen Lynch got a try. Tommy Nolan missed the conversion but made no mistake with a difficult penalty kick in the 54th minute.

St Conleth's worked hard to prevent St Mel's securing the winner and deserved another chance.