MALLON PENALTY SENDS CLONGOWES THROUGH TO SCHOOLS CUP ROUND 2
LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP FIRST ROUND
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE 17
TERENURE COLLEGE 15
By Daire Walsh
A second-half penalty from Harry Mallon was the difference at Energia Park on Wednesday afternoon as Clongowes Wood College claimed a narrow victory over Terenure College in the opening round of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup.
15-14 adrift at the midway stage in the contest – after the teams had traded two tries apiece in the opening half – Mallon’s accuracy off the kicking tee ensured Clongowes survived by the skin of their teeth and advanced to the last-eight of the competition.
When these two sides met at the same stage three years ago, Clongowes came away with the spoils on a final scoreline of 34-14. The Clane outfit subsequently qualified for the 2020 Senior Cup final alongside Newbridge College, but the Covid-19 pandemic ensured an all-Kildare decider never took place.
Instead, Clongowes and Newbridge shared the title for the year – bringing their overall tally in the roll of honours to nine. Their previous success in 2011 was under the stewardship of future Ireland U20s Grand Slam-winning coach Noel McNamara and the current crop of Wood senior hopefuls can call upon the expertise of former Munster and Ireland scrum-half Tomas O’Leary (the school’s Director of Rugby).
An early knock-on from Clongowes offered Terenure some attacking territory and some neat offloads edged them into the opposition ’22’. Yet the Wood defence held firm to win a turnover penalty and ultimately avert the early danger.
‘Nure continued to apply the pressure, however, and eventually broke the deadlock on 13 minutes. After Paddy Curry had gone perilously close to jinking his way over the whitewash, loosehead prop Adam Cooper applied the finishing touches. Scrum-half Louis Moran stepped forward to split the uprights and leave Clongowes seven points in arrears.
There was no reason for the Lilywhite boys to panic just yet and the sin-binning of ‘Nure winger James McCormack for a deliberate knock-on presented them with a strong platform in the attacking half of the pitch. Following a sustained spell inside the ’22’, Clongowes No 8 Dan Daly crashed over for a score that was supplemented by a Harry Mallon conversion.
14-men ‘Nure did respond with a 22nd-minute penalty by Moran, but their latest lead was even more short-lived than their previous one. Powerful Clongowes lock Alex Kelly found his way through a defensive gap and courtesy of an infringement by ‘Nure tighthead Olan Storey, a penalty try was awarded by referee Andrew Cole.
This meant that, at the same time as McCormack returned from his own yellow-card offence, Storey found himself temporarily consigned to the sidelines. Nonetheless, ‘Nure remained intent on bringing the game to their opponents and moved back in front when flanker Carlos Montero Belard dotted down off a line-out maul just shy of the half-hour mark.
Moran’s resulting bonus strike from the touchline drifted past the target and with the same player falling short from a penalty at the very end of the half, Clongowes were just a single point adrift at the break.
Although it was an eminently manageable deficit, Wood started the second period with massive attacking ambition. Winger Oscar O’Brien looked set to cross over off a sweeping move across the Terenure defence, only to be forced into touch before he could ground the ball beyond the try-line.
However, Clongowes continued to dominate possession and squeezed back in front on 46 minutes when the trusty left boot of Mallon dissected the uprights off a 35-metre penalty.
In comparison to the free-flowing action that both sets of supporters were treated to before the interval, the second half was proving to be a taut and tense affair as it progressed – understandably so, given what was at stake. A succession of stoppages also made it difficult for either team to develop an attacking rhythm.
As the clock moved towards the 70th minute, ‘Nure were starting to ramp up the pressure on Clongowes and it took some committed Wood defence to prevent them from gaining a stranglehold on the contest. The Dublin side did spread the ball effectively into the right-hand channel off an attacking scrum late on, but Curry lost his footing at the vital moment and Clongowes dug deep to secure a turnover penalty.
There was one final opportunity for ‘Nure to spoil the party, but their replacement Michael Murphy was forced into touch to confirm Clongowes’ place in the next phase of the competition.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: Padraic Spillane; Ross Adams, Harry Roche Nagle, Callum McDonald, Oscar O’Brien; Harry Mallon, Tom Murtagh; James Wyse, Kosi Ugwueru, Max Duggan; Blayze Molloy, Alex Kelly; Matthew Roche Nagle, Dermot Collins, Dan Daly.
Replacements: George Strickland for Collins (31-35), Gavin Keane for McDonald, Luke Murtagh for Duggan (both 54).
TERENURE COLLEGE: Jim Kennedy; Paddy Curry, Thomas Costello, Daniel Martin, James McCormack; Casper Lorin Gabriel, Louis Moran; Adam Cooper, Keith Byrne, Olan Storey; Lochlann Wardick, Matthew Somerville; Ben Blaney, Carlos Montero Belard, Ben Nolan.
Replacements: Eamon Geraghty for Wardick (54), Simon Horgan for McCormack (62), Michael Murphy for Belard (64), Rory King for Costello (66).
Referee: Andrew Cole (Leinster Rugby Referees).