Belvedere College - 16 Terenure - 3:Leinster School's Junior Cup: A rapidly improving Belvedere College crushed Terenure College with second-half tries from centre David Gibbons and outhalf Eoin O'Malley in the first round of the Leinster Schools' Section C Junior Cup at Donnybrook yesterday.

Belvedere outhalf O'Malley showed a few nice touches before converting an early penalty.

Centre Colin Murphy and left wing Johnny McDevitt almost forced tries.

But Belvedere had to settle for O'Malley striking his second penalty in the 20th minute.

Terenure's centre Stephen Page was a handful every time he received the ball, and his college edged their way up the field only to turn over possession three times in the Belvedere 22 approaching half-time.

The first try was always going to be crucial, especially to a trailing Terenure.

Two minutes into the new half, Belvedere centre David Gibbons accelerated through a gap for the first try.

Strong running from full back David Mongan and McDevitt eventually led to O'Malley diving over in the 40th minute for a 16-0 lead.

It looked a foregone conclusion. The losers responded with a penalty from the boot of left wing Shane Reddy and upped their game to force the issue from there to the end, without the try their efforts deserved.

BELVEDERE COLLEGE: D Mongan; P Dunne, C Murphy, D Gibbons, J McDevitt; E O'Malley, P O'Donohoe; C Healy, S Ryan, P McCabe, K Leyden, J Slattery, C Farrelly-Pendred, E O'Carroll, C McGinn.

TERENURE COLLEGE: S Durkin; T Byrne, S Page, S English, S Reddy; C Morley, M O'Neill; G Tully, K Gallagher, S Burdock, M O'Sullivan, C Diskin, C Malone, R Donaldson, B Byrnes. Replacement: S McCann for Donaldson (53 mins).

Referee: M Flanagan (Leinster Branch).