LEINSTER SENIOR CUP:TWO SUCKER-punch tries from St Mary's in either half broke some brave, if at times misguided, resistance from Cistercians of Roscrea in the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup quarter-final at Lakelands yesterday.
All told, this was the correct result with the midlanders hanging in there by dint of the polished kicking of centre Tadhg Leader and some emotionally-charged raids into enemy territory.
Roscrea battered away for the remainder of the first half after the powerful St Mary’s centre Maurice Walsh crossed for the first try on 14 minutes after an initial line break by Harry Norton.
Roscrea’s left winger Stephen Kelly made the closest foray to the try line only to be bundled in to touch by a double tackle when greater patience in the build-up may have delivered the score. The only points they could conjure up were from a Leader penalty moments before the break, which merely served to lift the siege and allow St Mary’s land what seemed a mortal blow.
From the restart they quickly engineered a foothold in Roscrea territory with a poor clearance allowing fullback David O’Halloran to carry deep into the 22. From the ensuing ruck, possession was transferred to number eight Mark Fallon, coming like a steamtrain up the inside centre channel, and three would-be tacklers barely slowed his rumble to the line. A 12-3 turnaround, especially considering St Mary’s had lost a premier lineout operator in Liam Curran to injury, must have made coach Rodney O’Donnell crack a wry smile.
As it proved, the loss of Curran was barely noticed as his engine-room partner, Jerry Sexton, dominated the lineout for the remainder of the contest. Jerry’s elder sibling was a noticeable face in the crowd before taking his leave to rejoin the senior Irish squad ahead of Saturday’s match in Paris.
At this juncture, the contest seemed over, but 10 minutes into the second half Leader pulled the deficit back to three points with his third accurate strike.
Thankfully, that call did not hinder the result as, like before, St Mary’s merely saw the concession of points as an opportunity to readjust the territorial disadvantage.
Within two minutes, imposing winger Eoin Moriarty was racing over for the third try having gathered Conor Hogan’s clever kick ahead.
That finally seemed to be it but Leader had other ideas, landing a fourth penalty from wide left only to make his only poor contact of the day with the next effort.
Roscrea, fueled by pride, came again but a failure of basic skills under intense pressure saw them stumble.
The last big chance arrived on 66 minutes when a Leader chip glanced the touchline five metres out. The biggest lineout of these Roscrea players young lives was upon them. Sexton rose at the front, gathered cleanly and marched the other seven St Mary’s forwards out of their 22. It seemed like the game’s defining moment even if Moylett barrelled into a ruck soon after and beautifully stole back possession. But there was simply no way through, over or around the thin blue line.
St Mary’s now await the winners of Clongowes and Kilkenny College who meet today at Templeville Road.
ST MARY’S COLLEGE: D O’Halloran; E Farrell, H Norton, M Walsh (capt), E Moriarty; C Hogan, D Fanagan; G Gallivan, D Drumm, S Kearney; J Sexton, L Curran; S O’Carroll, K Barnewell, M Fallon. Replacements: P Doran for L Curran (23 mins), G Hennessy for G Gallivan (52 mins), A Martin for S O’Carroll, H McGovern for E Farrell (70 mins).
CISTERCIAN COLLEGE, ROSCREA: P O’Dwyer; K O’Connell, T Leader, C Finn, S Kelly; B Duggan, R Durcan; M Murray, D O’Dwyer, C Farrell; C Moloney, B Moylett; D Egan, J Murphy, R Farrell (capt). Replacements: S Layden for K OConnell, S Moran for C Farrell (both 48 mins), C Dever for B Duggan (57 mins).
Referee: K Beggs (ARLB).
