Terenure College 47 St Fintan’s HS, Sutton 3

Terenure College comfortably progressed into the last eight of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup with an emphatic victory against St Fintan’s HS, Sutton at Castle Avenue on Friday afternoon.

Fintan’s had begun brightly on Clontarf Rugby Club’s 4G surface and edged in front courtesy of a fifth-minute penalty from winger Luke Ingle. ’Nure eventually settled into their stride, however, with lock Cuan Doyle and influential inside centre Yago Fernández Vilar getting over for converted tries either side of the first-quarter mark.

While their Sutton counterparts couldn’t be faulted for their industry, they lacked a cutting edge in attack and were staring into a 14-3 deficit at the interval.

A strong start to the second half was needed from the underdogs if they were going to pull a comeback win out of the bag, but instead it was the 10-time champions who stormed out of the blocks.

Latching on to a lineout maul in the 44th minute, captain Darragh Brooks touched down to create further daylight between the teams. Despite the worsening conditions – hail descended upon the venue for much of the second period – ’Nure continued to take the game to their opponents.

Regan Gallaher, Ben Nolan, Ultan Byrne and Matthew Lydon also pounced for additional tries inside the final quarter to ensure their side advanced in style.

Scorers – Terenure College: Y Fernández Vilar try, 2 cons, C Doyle, D Brooks, R Gallaher, B Nolan, U Byrne, M Lydon try each, J Grimes 4 cons. St Fintan’s HS, Sutton: L Ingle pen.

Terenure College: J Kennedy; R Gallaher, D Martin, Y Fernández Vilar, J Clarke; J Grimes, C Keaney; A Cashman, K Byrne, T Staunton; O Shannon, C Doyle; D Brooks, S Ruane, U Byrne. Replacements: S Keegan for Cashman, half-time; J Delaney for Staunton, 44 mins; B Nolan for Doyle, M Somerville for Ruane, P MacNamara for Keaney, all 48 mins; M Vaughan for Martin, 54 mins; R King for Grimes, M Lydon for Byrne, both 59 mins.

St Fintan’s HS, Sutton: J Hansen; L Ingle, S Patterson, C Cribbin, R McDonald; C Cleary, N Clarke; D Walsh, C Macari Kelly, O Hogan; C Byrne, C Bolger; D Be Brun, M Linehan, A Poole. Replacements: F Meenan for Cleary, D Tadijan for Walsh, both 54 mins; H Dummer for Cribbin, 60 mins; C McGloughlin for C Macari Kelly, 61 mins; D Ali for Hogan, D Dromgoole for Bolger, C Curley for McDonald, all 63 mins.

Referee: J Flynn (Leinster Rugby Referees)