Noonan's tries propel Blackrock forward

The final scoreline, as a reflection of yesterday's second Leinster Schools' Senior Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road, was a little misleading. Blackrock College were appreciably the better team, more cohesive in possession and offering the greater potency as a result.

They scored three tries to nil and yet it wouldn't have taken a huge turnaround in fortune for Castleknock College to have been closer at the final whistle.

The losers largely dominated the last 15 minutes and on two occasions enjoyed decent try-scoring opportunities; turnovers within metres of the Blackrock line stifling their ambition. They might also rue the number of place-kicking opportunities that went abegging. Number eight Simon Crawford enjoyed a fine match in many respects but not when it came to the placed ball.

Castleknock could ill afford a return of three successful attempts from seven. When chances arose they needed to take them and unfortunately failed to do so. In mitigation, a strong wind blew from the Lansdowne Road end and Blackrock outhalf Keelan McGowan was only marginally more accurate with two from five.

One other misgiving which the Castleknock players might harbour in the aftermath is the brittle tackling which gifted their opponents two tries.

On both occasions it provided Blackrock with a little breathing space on the scoreboard. However, there was much to admire in the manner in which Castleknock knuckled down to their task. The pack faced down a physically bigger eight; Michael Brady and Patrick Duffy were particularly effective.

Behind the scrum they boasted the outstanding player on the pitch in full-back Brian Fogarty. Time and again he not only beat the first-up tackler but several others. Blackrock had reason to be grateful to blindside flanker Garrett Noonan, who not only grabbed a brace of tries but was a very influential performer in every facet of the game.

Noonan aside, the sum of the Blackrock eight outshone individual contributions unlike the team's back play which relied heavily on the strong running and good angle of centres John Ronan and John Quigley and left-wing Alan Henry.

A McGowan penalty on five minutes was quickly nullified by a magnificent Crawford strike from close to the touchline.

Castleknock's momentum was short-lived, destroyed by a passage of superb rugby. Henry made 25 metres on a mazy run and thereafter, the appreciation of space and the ability to offload in the tackle saw several Blackrock players combine to send Noonan over untouched for a brilliant try. McGowan missed the conversion, Crawford kicked two penalties either side of a try for Blackrock hooker James Mannion.

The latter demonstrated a decent turn of pace but was facilitated by a porous defence en route to the line.

Blackrock enjoyed the benefit of a strong wind in the second half and while Noonan's second try and a penalty from McGowan eased them into a 21-9 lead, they were forced to give second best, in terms of try-scoring opportunities to their opponents.

Blackrock's thoughts can now turn towards next Sunday's final and the possibility of a 64th schools' Senior Cup.

SCORING SEQUENCE: 5 mins: McGowan penalty, 3-0; 8 mins: Crawford penalty, 3-3; 10 mins: Noonan try, 8-3; 18 mins: Crawford penalty, 8-6; 24 mins: Mannion try, 13-6; 27 mins: Crawford penalty, 13-9. Half-time 13-9. 45 mins: Noonan try, 18-9; 62 mins: McGowan penalty, 21-9.

BLACKROCK COLLEGE: C Sharpe; R Kerr, J Quigley, J Ronan (capt), A Henry; K McGowan, D Geraghty; E McBennett, J Mannion, M Whelan; D Gannon, A O'Reilly; G Noonan, C Treston, D Price. Replacements: O Busteed for Price 69 mins; D O'Donovan for Treston 69 mins; C Willis for Henry 71 mins.

CASTLEKNOCK COLLEGE: B Fogarty; D Stone, P Daly, C Manning (capt), C Mescall; G Stafford, M Flanagan; S O'Reilly, J Reid, J Louth; P Duffy, K O'Neill; K Collins, S Crawford, M Brady. Replacements: G Ryan for Mescall 46 mins; O Carpenter for O'Neill 49 mins; M Demetriou for O'Reilly 58 mins; C Byrne for Louth 64 mins; H M O'Rourke for Stone 69 mins; T Rhodes-Vivour for Flanagan 69 mins; W Barry for Collins 69 mins.

Referee: D Keane (IRFU).