Leinster Schools Senior Cup first round: Cistercian College Roscrea 47 Presentation College Bray 15
Cistercian Roscrea ran in seven tries to overwhelm Pres Bray in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup first round at Energia Park on Thursday afternoon.
Pres did well to come out with renewed vigour in the second half, scoring two tries and shipping just two compared to five in the first period.
The gulf in class was obvious much sooner than the scoreboard revealed and Roscrea didn’t encounter the physical resistance necessary to plant any seeds of doubt.
A picture-perfect set play from a scrum on halfway was turned into Rob Carney running away from the defence for the first of his two tries.
Pres did apply enough territorial pressure for a penalty to accrue, with Dan Moraghan notching three points.
It was one-way traffic from this point on as Jack Deegan shot through a gap for the second try and slick handling by Aaron Moloney created the third for Carney.
Metres through contact were the key to hooker Eoin Naughton driving to the posts and left wing Fionn Higgins started and finished the fifth try for Deegan to add his fourth conversion for a 33-3 lead in the 23rd minute.
Every time Pres attempted to make a move, they could not go beyond second phase or the lineout would break down as half-time arrived.
It was a damage-limitation exercise at this stage as illustrated by Seán McDonald’s steal in the shadow of the posts.
Whenever Deegan got the ball, there was a sense of pending doom as the centre steamed through the first line to set Fionn Carney up for a try which Deegan converted.
It was then Pres finally secured the ball inside the 22. Seán McDonald used the tap-and-go to create an advantage for Luca Nolan to score on the right in the 52nd minute.
Replacement Nolan was alert enough to make Roscrea pay for moving the ball along their line for his second try, converted by Moraghan.
It was left to fullback Sam Cusack to demonstrate his speed from distance for Roscrea’s seventh try, converted by Deegan.
SCORERS – Roscrea: R Carney 2 tries; J Deegan try, 6 cons; E Naughton, F Higgins, F Carney, S Cusack try each. Pres Bray: L Nolan 2 tries; D Moraghan pen, con.
ROSCREA: S Cusack; K Dunne, R Carney, J Deegan, F Higgins; A Moloney, F Carney; O Doody, E Naughton, H Maher; J Walsh, J Finn; S Killeen, E Brophy, W Hayes (Capt).
Replacements: P Deegan for Killeen, J Miller for Hayes, H Finlay for Dunne (all 51 mins); A Kinsella Garcia for Finn, R O’Neill for Naughton (both 63); W Powell for Doody, A Carroll for Maher, R Sullivan for Deegan (all 64).
PRES BRAY: R O’Boyle; J Brandon, L Mooney, A McDonald, F Kelly; D Moraghan, S McDonald; H Graham, M Lawless, S Gillespie; A O’Dowd, M McGovern; D Jordan (capt), B O’Reilly-Rhodes, R Wrafter.
Replacements: R Hogan for O’Dowd (23 mins); E Croysdill for O’Reilly-Rhodes (32); D Corrigan for Graham, L Nolan for A McDonald (both 48); C James for Brandon, P Doyle for Kelly (both 67).
Referee: E Lyons (Leinster).
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