Sport

Mount Temple retain cup

Leinster schoolboy A cap Jeff Moore orchestrated the downfall of gallant Marian College, as Mount Temple retained the Leinster…

By DES BERRY
Tue Jan 19 1999 - 00:00

Leinster schoolboy A cap Jeff Moore orchestrated the downfall of gallant Marian College, as Mount Temple retained the Leinster Schools Section A Senior Cup at Donnybrook yesterday.

Marian came into this final as underdogs, given both teams' respective passages through the earlier rounds, but had the audacity to take the lead after three minutes when out-half Albert Allen kicked a penalty after he was late tackled by his opposite number, Moore.

Moore kicked two penalties in the 8th and 17th minutes to give Mount Temple a 6-3 lead which was only really threatened once before halftime.

Marian prop Shane Healy did what his backs could not do, eluding the first line of Mount Temple's defence when side-stepping off his left foot. He was only prevented from going over by a head-on tackle by Temple full-back Stephen Cairns.

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In the second period, Marian kept plugging away. On the other hand, there was always the feeling that the winners had more in their locker despite having to play most of the second period in their own half.

What Temple had going for them was a fierce pressure defence and, ultimately, this and the opportunism of Moore was to prove good enough to win the day. In the 52nd minute, Allen decided to flip the ball into mid-field, where it went astray. In the mess that followed, the ball popped up into Moore's hands and he reacted instantly to race 35 metres to the Marian posts. His conversion was a formality and so too were the final minutes that were played out as Marian sought in vain to strike back.

Mount Temple: S Cairns; R Kiely, I Kelly, D Handcock, S Jones; J Moore, T Casey; S Lynch, G Mercer, D Hickey, C Cummins, R Mullins, N O'Carroll, J Fitzachary, K Ellis. Replacements: D Moore for Casey 50 mins, M Rusk for Cummins 69 mins, K O'Mahony for Kelly and J Adams for Lynch, both 70 mins.

Marian College: C Daly; D Prior, B Egan, D Walsh, N O'Donovan; A Allen, M Egan; T Keating, A Whelan, S Healy, R Russell, G Dolan, M Reid, D O'Reilly, G Trehy. Replacements: D Kearney for Dolan 53 mins, M Nolan-Miralles for Egan 60 mins.

Referee: N Lynnis, ARLB.