St Michael's 41 Castleknock 3: SIMPLY PUT, St Michael's blew Castleknock away in this Leinster Schools' Senior Cup quarter-final yesterday.
A comedic wave to the crowd after converting the fourth try early in the second half said a lot about outhalf Cathal Marsh. Here was a young man, at the top of his game, clearly enjoying himself.
The kid had a dream outing at Donnybrook, creating three tries and crossing for a brilliant individual effort, while showcasing a kicking game to revival any opponent in the competition.
Marsh revealed his full array of attacking talents, but, most importantly, he has the vision to make space so centre Alex Kelly can work his magic. Both were loudly applauded from the field late on, with everyone present paying their respects.
All told, the 2007 champions must be favoured to progress past giant-killing St Gerard’s in the semi-final on March 2nd. They possess no obvious weaknesses.
St Michael’s will not be allowed the same latitude and may have to rely on hard yards up front from the likes of hooker Finlay Barry, number eight Patrick Dix and flanker Dan Leavy. All are willing and able grunt-merchants.
But, with events in Stade de France fresh in the memory, there was a distinct Gallic feel to the way this St Michael’s side go about their business. The three-quarters attack from deep, in waves, with a constant willingness to punch holes. It is relentless and highly entertaining rugby, but St Gerard’s will ask more stringent questions of their defence.
It was a truly entertaining display of running rugby by the Greg McWilliams-coached team, but you could almost hear the cogs ticking over in the mind of St Gerard’s coach and former Irish international Eric Miller as he surveyed the team standing in the way of the Bray schools’ first progress to a St Patrick’s Day final.
A fascinating duel is promised against Blackrock’s conquerors.
The scoreboard was needed after just one minute. Clean lineout possession saw a reverse pass by Marsh put Kelly over the gainline, but two defenders tamely fell off him.
There was a lull in tries until the half hour mark, as Marsh and Ross Jones exchanged penalties. But Emmet MacMahon’s pack were turning ball over almost at will.
Then came Marsh’s memorable try after the outhalf was involved four times in some excellent phase play. He eventually eased through a gap, jogging untouched to the line.
Dublin minor footballer Cormac Diamond sealed the deal in first-half injury time after Marsh had switched the point of attack with a run down the blindside before releasing the fullback. Quick ball was guaranteed after MacMahon ruthlessly removed two Castleknock bodies from an earlier ruck.
On 42 minutes, winger Mark Corballis profited from a no-look Marsh flick pass that again bamboozled the hapless Castleknock rearguard. Marsh saluted the main stand after a finely struck conversion from wide right.
The final contribution from the Irish under-18 representative was to side-step opposite number and Irish under-19 player Ross Jones.
Jones responded with a decent break up the right, but Diamond was on hand to make the cover tackle. Marsh had also been tracking back but hit the deck soon after, understandably, suffering from cramp.
Leavy stretched his legs for the fifth try, with Diamond finishing off the sixth as Castleknock visibly wilted in the dying moments.
That made it 10 touch-downs from two cup matches. The Ailesbury Road college means business this spring.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 1 min: A Kelly try, C Marsh conv, 7-0; 15: C Marsh pen, 10-0; 22: R Jones pen, 10-3; 30: C Marsh try, conv, 17-3; 36: C Diamond try, 22-3. Half-time. 42: M Corballis try, C Marsh conv, 29-3; 69: D Leavy try, B Butler conv, 36-3; 70: C Diamond try, 41-3.
ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE: C Diamond; M Corballis, A Kelly, M Craig, D Egan; C Marsh, L McGrath; K Duffy, F Barry, D Reynolds; S O’Connor, E MacMahon (capt); D Leavy, C Kenna, P Dix. Replacements: S McGarry for C Kenna (44 mins), K Jones for L McGrath (50 mins), S Hogan for S O’Connor, B Butler for C Marsh (both 59 mins), A Murphy for F Barry (63 mins), W Browne for D Reynolds (65 mins), C Gilsenan for A Kelly (66 mins).
CASTLEKNOCK COLLEGE: C Toolan; M Mellet, M O’Sullivan, T Farrell, S Lacey; R Jones (capt), P Byrne; A Noonan, P Reilly, B O’Malley; M Webb, L Briody; C O’Riordan, T Austin, J O’Brien. Replacements: F Toolan for C Toolan (15 mins), M Briody for A Noonan, N Cullen for L Briody (both h-t), R Gleeson for P Byrne (43 mins), S Scott for J O’Brien (55 mins), R Hickey for S Lacey, S Condon for C O’Riordan (both 63 mins).
Referee: A Rogan (ARLB).
