Newbridge College 12 King's Hospital 5Left wing Joe Darcy struck for two tries that ultimately sealed the fate of King's Hospital in the Powerade Leinster Schools Senior Cup first round at the NUI Maynooth yesterday.
Newbridge had to get out to a lead and keep it due to the strength of the wind at their backs in the first half.
Moving the ball from one to another was a liability in the swirling conditions that made the lineout a complete lottery.
Newbridge did manage to secure one attacking ball in the 11th minute, runners powering around the side of a maul to make solid ground.
Lock Tom Treacy made significant headway to suck in the fringe defence.
It was then that halfbacks Robbie Mullen and Mark Sutton decided to test the outside, where Darcy just about made it into the left corner, fullback Chris Healy making up for an earlier missed penalty with a stunning conversion from the touchline.
Newbridge held their seven-point advantage to the break. It looked a meagre lead.
That was until Darcy flew outside one defender and inside another on a remarkable solo effort from his own 40-metre line to make it 12-0 one minute into the second half.
King’s Hospital struck back straight away, a clever front-of-the-lineout move culminating in Austrian secondrow Tassilo Herberstein claiming a try in the right corner.
Despite the backing of a gale force wind, Hospital could not get the foothold they were looking for. Instead, the Newbridge boys got home with something more than the final score-line would suggest.
