Clongowes 27 St Andrew's 12
St Andrew's refused to go quietly. With the result of this semi-final guaranteed, and with it a Blackrock versus Clongowes Wood final on March 16th, the Booterstown school had one last moment together as a team.
They made it count. The late try by Jonny Guy was all guts.
The confrontational lock carried to the blindside, to be welcomed by three Clongowes defenders. He ran through them all to gain his team respectability on the scoreboard, something they had already achieved from the watching public.
Very little could be added to St Andrew’s first-half performance. They created a try from nothing, defended like warriors and were structurally solid. They deservedly led 7-3.
The three points that were coughed up can be described as a captain's score. Clongowes carriers were inching ever closer to the try line when Greg Jones, the Leinster schools number eight, took a calculated gamble to collar opposing scrumhalf Rowan Osborne.
Seven points
A penalty resulted but Jones avoided a yellow card – instead of what seemed a certain seven points, Clongowes turned tails with just three from the reliable boot of Alan Hughes.
In Stephen McVeigh, Clongowes had the game’s outstanding performer and guaranteed yardage every time he bulldozed into contact. Same can be said of Will Connors and centre Colm Mulcahy. In Josh Pim they have the type of flanker who can change any game while outhalf Fergal Cleary is all class, be it offloading, kicking or in his strong tackling.
There seemed no way through the Clongowes machine. But on 23 minutes right wing Jordan Larmour’s quickly taken lineout caught Clongowes unawares and two clever offloads later fullback Andrew Fogarty touched down.
All of a sudden we had a real battle – no David and Goliath scenario. Power prevailed in the end. Clongowes regained the lead early in the second half when Pim was shunted over by a lineout maul. Hughes’s conversion and a penalty on 47 minutes made it 13-7.
There should've been a third try but both Conor Gleeson and Pim were deemed to have knocked on when grounding the ball.
Their wits
Again, living on their wits, St Andrews survived. Despite the heroics of Jones, Guy and quick-thinking outhalf Jack Balbirnie, it was Clongowes ability to counter punch that made them so unstoppable. They are masters of the turnover.
The end, when it came for St Andrew’s, was a horrible moment of misfortune. As they attacked, the ball went to ground and there was Clongowes left wing Cian O’Donoghue. A despairing hand-trip slowed him but his balance prevailed as his pace took him away.
Hughes stitched the touchline conversion and that was that. McVeigh landed a cruel blow late on, carrying off a scrum for another try, but Guy delivered the last line in a landmark season for St Andrew's. They died with their boots on.
Scoring sequence -
14 mins: A Hughes pen, 3-0; 23: A Fogarty try, 3-5; J Balbirnie conv, 3-7. Half-time. 37: J Pim try, 8-7; A Hughes conv, 10-7; 47: A Hughes pen, 13-7; 61: C O'Donoghue try, 18-7; A Hughes conv, 20-7; 67: S McVeigh try, 25-7; A Hughes conv, 27-7; 69: J Guy try, 27-12.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE:
A Hughes; J Lappin, C Mulcahy, C Burke, C O'Donoghue; F Cleary (capt), R Osborne; N Rinklin, J Molony, D O'Leary; C Gleeson, J Kennedy; W Connors, J Pim, S McVeigh.
Replacements:
J Lyons for J Molony (27-30, 34-36, blood and 69 mins), J Inglis for D O'Leary (42 mins), J Glynn for R Osborne (60 mins), D Kiely for J Kennedy (67 mins), C Godson for N Rinklin, E Tyrrell for J Pim, C Gillick for C Gleeson, C Murray for F Cleary (all 69 mins).
ST ANDREW'S:
A Fogarty; J Larmour, G Fearon, M Kirk, G Beere; J Balbirnie, D Joyce; A Porter, A Brady, D Higgins; A Guy, J Guy; R Bradley, B Ingram, G Jones (capt).
Replacements:
F Irwin-O'hara for A Brady (40 mins), S Hayes for B Ingram, R Nicholl for A Fogarrty (both 51 mins), D Hide for G Beere (57 mins), A Waller for A Guy (60 mins).
Referee:
S Gallagher.
