The expectation was immense. Terenure College's destruction of the defending champions, Clongowes Wood College, in the previous round was one of the finest performances by any schools side in the history of the competition. One almost feared for Kilkenny College in yesterday's Senior Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road.
Terenure didn't reproduce the quality of their previous outing and for 35 minutes found their opponents to be resilient and tenacious, eking out a slender 3-0 advantage by the interval. Kilkenny's line had enjoyed a charmed existence at times but credit too must go to some wonderful last-ditch tackling that frustrated Terenure.
The game was pock-marked by errors, Terenure's option-taking after the initial breach of their opponents' defence too often undermined by a lack of patience; the over-reliance of long cut-out passes in their back play without committing defenders did not deceive a vigilant Kilkenny defence.
The losers too, were guilty of numerous handling mistakes and despite retaining a large number of last season's squad, too many of their attacking gambits were pedestrian and over-elaborate.
Nevertheless, it wasn't until the 50th minute that Terenure established a decisive grip on proceedings and it was appropriate that it was their excellent outhalf David McAllister who seized the initiative. Receiving possession on the Kilkenny 10-metre line, he accelerated through a gap, stood up to the last defender and stepped inside for a superb individual try.
It was to be his second-last contribution in the match. He missed the conversion before departing injured. McAllister had earlier kicked two penalties and those, coupled with the try, gave his side an 11-0 advantage. Kilkenny's opportunities were limited to the boot of outhalf Greg Jacob but he could not convert any of three penalty chances.
The Terenure pack provided a platform for the entire match, dominant in the scrum (they did lose one against the head) and out of touch, where Roy McDonnell was particularly impressive.
Terenure closed out the match in the 62nd minute when captain Donal Dunlop pinched a Kilkenny lineout and his pack drove over from 12 metres with hooker Graham Doyle credited with the try.
Replacement outhalf Leo Comer missed the conversion but tagged on a penalty to nudge his side to a 19-point victory. Terenure will now face their arch rivals Blackrock in Sunday's final, hoping to recapture the quality of the Clongowes game. They won't lack motivation.
SCORING SEQUENCE: 9 mins: McAllister penalty, 3-0. Half-time: 3-0. 43: McAllister penalty, 6-0; 50: McAllister try, 11-0; 62: Doyle try, 16-0; 66: Comer penalty, 19-0.
TERENURE COLLEGE: D Cazabon; O Pugh, K O'Toole, K Coleman, J Donnelly; D McAllister, P Coleman; JA Lee, G Doyle, F Cronin; E Wallace, R McDonnell; J Barretto, D Dunlop (capt), C McGinn. Replacements: L Comer for McAllister (51 mins); S Jenkinson for P Coleman (58 mins); A Dunlop for Barretto (64 mins).
KILKENNY COLLEGE: G Greene; R Deverell, R Bergin, C Peavoy, C D'Alton; G Jacob, R Jones (capt); G Roe, B Thackaberry, B Thompson; T Langley, I Deverell; J Harvey, R Porter, S Holland. Replacements: I Corrigan for Holland (20 mins); P O'Connell for Harvey (58 mins); B Beegan for Thompson (58 mins); R Hanbidge for Roe (65 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (IRFU).
