Bailey-Kearney pounces as Kilkenny go through

Kilkenny College 10 Pres Bray 3 Tries in both halves from centre Ross Bailey-Kearney proved significant in Ashbourne yesterday afternoon, as Kilkenny College moved into the second round of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup following a hard-fought encounter with a dogged Presentation College, Bray, outfit.

With the wind playing a major factor throughout the contest, this game had all the hallmarks of a low-scoring contest from the word go.

Indeed, it looked like it was going to remain a stalemate right up until the end of the opening period.

However, the influential Bailey-Kearney had other ideas, as he crossed the whitewash in emphatic style just before the break, ensuring that the boys from the Marble County took a 5-0 cushion into the second period with them.

This was a very slender advantage, though, and the Wicklow school were still very much in the reckoning after the re-start, and they eventually opened their account with a penalty from outhalf Diarmuid Masterson.

Although Kilkenny were on top in terms of territorial possession, this did make things very interesting in the closing stages.

Unfortunately for Bray, though, Masterson was wide of the mark with two more place kick attempts (one of which shaved the upright), and Kilkenny made the most of these missed opportunities with a second Bailey-Kearney try 50 minutes in.

Scrumhalf Craig Miller came up short with the subsequent conversion (as he had in the opening half), but Bailey-Kearney’s sizeable contribution was enough to get them over the line in the end.