LEINSTER SCHOOLS JUNIOR CUP FIRST ROUND

NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE 12
CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA 17

By Daire Walsh

There was disappointment for Newbridge College at Energia Park on Monday afternoon as the defending champions exited the Leinster Schools Junior Cup courtesy of a first round defeat to Cistercian College Roscrea.

Nine points in front at the break, ‘Bridge looked set to book their place in the last-eight and maintain their quest for back-to-back titles for another day at least. That was until Roscrea pounced for two tries in the space of four minutes to sensationally claim the spoils and advance into the quarter-final of the Cup.

Having won last year’s competition as recently as last October, Newbridge were launching an early defence of their crown. They were also joint-winners of the Junior Cup in 2020 – their final meeting with Blackrock College was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic – and you had to go back to the previous year to find their previous defeat at this level.

Playing amidst driving rain that ensured handling errors were going to be inevitable, the holders made a bright start to the contest. Ross Kenny and Joseph Flanagan carried the ball forward with purpose, while a neat box kick from scrum-half Ben O’Connor helped them to establish attacking territory inside the Roscrea ’22’.

Rory Taylor also made significant ground from a ninth-minute break, but the Roscrea defence was largely holding firm under intense pressure. Hailing from the Offaly-Tipperary border, Cistercian College looked to outside centre Rob Carney for their attacking momentum.

They released pressure on themselves with a series of defensive turnovers and despite enjoying the bulk of possession, Newbridge fell short of creating a try-scoring opportunity during the first-quarter.

That started to change as the action wore on, however, and the south Kildare school eventually broke the deadlock in the 21st-minute. After several surges towards the line on the left-flank, the ball was worked out towards the central channel.

A Taylor pass into Thomas Flynn’s direction didn’t quite stick, but it was subsequently brought back for a penalty advantage. Newbridge opted to run with it and powerful lock Gearoid Scanlon ultimately drove over the whitewash in clinical fashion.

Flanagan’s resulting bonus strike floated off-target and with Jack Deegan smoothly slotting over a 30-metre penalty at the opposite end, the Newbridge lead stood at just two points. Yet there was to be further drama in the dying moments of the opening period.

Following another extended spell close to the Roscrea line, Robert Flynn dotted down in fine style. Flanagan superbly supplied the extras on this occasion to leave Newbridge 12-3 in front at the interval.

The onus was now on Roscrea to chase the game and while the Newbridge defence weren’t unduly troubled in the early stages of the second period, their opponents ratcheted up the tension inside the final-quarter. Having developed multiple phases inside the 22-metre line, Roscrea finally breached the ‘Bridge whitewash through James Miller’s powerful finish.

The pressure had suddenly been ramped up and within minutes of reducing their deficit back to two points, Roscrea found themselves in the ascendancy. Carney impressively sprinted through a gap in the Newbridge defence and dived over for a try that Deegan converted.

After being in front for so much of the tie, ‘Bridge were now chasing the game with time running out. They did push hard for an equalising score off a line-out maul deep into stoppage-time, but the disciplined Roscrea rearguard held up the ball just shy of the whitewash to seal a precious victory.

NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: Ross Kenny; Thomas Daly, Thomas Flynn, Joseph Flanagan, Sam Collins; Rory Taylor, Ben O’Connor; Charles O’Loughlin, Mark Connolly, Sam O’Loughlin; Patrick Kennedy, Gearoid Scanlon; Daniel Cox, Jonathan Fardy, Robert Flynn.

Replacements: Michael Murphy for R Flynn (36), Odhran Brannigan for S O’Loughlin, Patrick Waters for Collins (both 42).

CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: Sam Cusack; Ronan Sullivan, Rob Carney, Joe Finn, Sonny O’Hara; Jack Deegan, Fionn Carney; Davin Egan, Evan Brophy, Henry Maher; Reece Daly, Sean Killeen; Alex Kinsella, Billy Hayes, Lee Fitz.

Replacements: Fionn Higgins for Sullivan (half-time), James Miller for Daly (40).