SCHOOLS RUGBY/Gonzaga College - 21; CBC Monkstown - 20: In a see-saw battle between two honest teams, CBC Monkstown were on the receiving end of a Simon Murphy penalty, in the 44th minute, to find themselves out of the Leinster Schools' Section C Junior Cup at the first hurdle at Donnybrook yesterday.
That scenario didn't seem likely early on as Monkstown's left-wing Sam Stephens brushed aside a tackle to go over in the left corner. Gonzaga responded with a penalty from captain Murphy to make it 5-3. Gonzaga right-wing Peter Lynn catapulted his side to the lead with an unconverted try midway through the half.
Then, from broken play, referee Dews Woods awarded a penalty try when Monkstown's Paul Whelan was tackled without the ball by Will McGreal. Murphy responded with a penalty before Conor Banahan nailed his first penalty to stretch Monkstown's lead to 15-11 at half-time.
When Monkstown centre Robert Kohls surged to the line early in the new half, it didn't look good for Gonzaga. That advantage was cut to 20-18 when James Gethings crashed over for Murphy to add the points in the 36th minute.
The next score was crucial and Murphy kicked a superb penalty from out on the left.
GONZAGA COLLEGE: M Kelly; P Lynn, M Appleby, S Murphy, S Ryan; S Gahan, W McGreal; J Conlon, D O'Shea, J Moriarty, J Gethings, D O'Sullivan, G Fitzgerald, S Corcoran, S Hodgins. Replacements: C McKinney for Conlon 42 mins; R Kenny for Appleby 51 mins.
CBC MONKSTOWN: P Whelan; J Clarke, R Kohls, K Keogh, S Stephens; C Banahan, J McGann; M Murdock, C Coburn, B Clarke, S Costello, D O'Neill, C O'Raghallaigh, JP O'Reilly, P Grannell. Replacements: E Casey for O'Reilly h.t; C Spillane for Stephens 36 mins; S Guerin for Costello 54 mins.
Referee: D Woods (Leinster Branch).
CONNACHT SCHOOLS' JUNIOR CUP: Quarter-finals: Coláiste Iognaid, Galway, 33 (P Divilly 2 tries, C Connolly, C O'Connell, R Shaughnessy try each, P Cuddy two pens and a con), Marist Athlone (holders) 0; Gort CS 0, Sligo Grammar School 22 (R Butler try, pen, two cons, C O'Grady, J Berry try each); Portumna CS 0, Garbally Ballinasloe 5 (P Birch try).
