THE fate of this Leinster Schools' Junior Cup quarter-final lay in the hands of Blackrock's Thomas O'Leary. When scrum-half Patrick McCormack retired due to injury one minute into the second half, O'Leary switched to the number nine berth.

From the first line-out that followed, Blackrock gained possession and drove forward. An inviting gap opened in the Terenure defence and the quickthinking O'Leary promptly sped through it and went all the way to stretch his side's half-time lead. Out-half Conor Sharpe converted to make it 14-5. In fact, it was Sharp who had the biggest influence on the game. He shaped it with a mixed bag of running and kicking that always kept the opposition in two minds.

Flanker Daniel Johnson was another to occupy Terenure's attention. He was never less than tigerish in possession as well as making telling tackles. Indeed, that was a necessity forced on all the Blackrock boys before the break as they withstood a barrage of attacks. However, just when all seemed well, Terenure full back James Donnelly applied an effective hand-off that gave him the opportunity to surge down the left wing and score in the corner. This made it 7-5 at the interval.

Earlier, Blackrock had broken out of their half for Sharpe to cross for a try which he converted in the seventh minute.

Terenure did all but score for long periods. They were usually going forward thanks to a bigger pack spearheaded by props Frank Cronin and Colin O'Hagan and outstanding number eight David Page. Yet, there was no way through. Although centre Cormac Langford did strike a penalty to reduce the deficit, Blackrock gained control. A Sharpe penalty was followed by a try from Johnson in injury time to seal victory.

Scorers: Blackrock: C Sharpe try, penalty, 2 conversions, D Johnson and T O'Leary try each; Terenure: J Donnelly try, C Langford penalty.

BLACKROCK: P Leonard; T O'Leary, B Canavan, G Creevy, M O'Sullivan; C Sharpe, P McCormack; N Ledbetter, N Crowley, R McGrath, G Curry, J Tevlin, D Johnson, J Mannion, C Treston. Replacements: BJ Leahy for McGrath (19 mins), B Lee for McCormack (31 mins), O Cullen for Curry (36 mins), P Lindsey for Tevlin (58 mins).

TERENURE: J Donnelly; A Sherlock, C Langford, D Cazabon, S Mitchell; R Jones, W Moore; F Cronin, C Duffy, C O'Hagan, B Moroney, D O'Doherty, S Kelly, K Dooley, D Page.

Referee: P Grey (ARLB).