GALLANT CLONGOWES JUNIORS FALL TO ROSCREA
LEINSTER SCHOOLS JUNIOR CUP FIRST ROUND
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE 13
CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA 17
By Daire Walsh
They produced a gallant effort on the day, but Clongowes Wood College ultimately lost out by four points to Cistercian College Roscrea in the opening round of the Leinster Schools Junior Cup at Energia Park on Thursday.
Scrum-half Tom Walsh registered six points off the kicking tee to compliment a penalty try, but two converted scores from Roscrea proved crucial in earning them a spot in a forthcoming quarter-final.
The most recent final triumph for Clongowes at this grade was back in 2008 – a superb 36-0 demolition of St Michael’s College. Wood had a star-studded bench for that game with the Byrne twins – Ed and Bryan – both going on to enjoy professional careers (that are still ongoing) after making cameos off the bench.
Another replacement (Jordan Coghlan) went on to feature for Leinster, Munster and Leicester Tigers at the highest level of rugby and despite the presence of Luke McGrath within their ranks, Michael’s simply no answer to the pace and power of Clongowes.
Yet the Clane school haven’t reached a junior decider since then and they were coming up against a Roscrea side that were hoping to go one better than the class of 2022, who suffered a seven-point final defeat to Michael’s last April.
Indeed, it was the boys from the Offaly-Tipperary border who got the ball rolling in this contest as fly-half Ronan Sullivan kicked over a routine penalty inside the Clongowes ’22’. There was no reason for Wood to panic, however, and they issued an immediate response to this minor set-back.
Following an extended spell of attacking pressure, the ball was worked into the hands of winger Brian McCulloch. He wasn’t in a position to touch down, but referee David Williams deemed that Sean Stone had illegally impeded his march for the line.
In addition to Stone being sent to the sin-bin for five minutes, a penalty try was awarded in favour of Clongowes. While this helped Wood to settle, a determined Roscrea fired back in clinical style on 13 minutes.
After delivering an excellent throw off an attacking line-out, hooker Oscar Doody latched onto the ensuing maul and crossed over for a five-pointer that was supplemented by a Sullivan bonus strike. Clongowes found themselves under increased pressure as the half progressed and breathed a sigh of relief when the returning Stone knocked on with the try-line in sight just beyond the first-quarter mark.
This only served as a temporary respite for Clongowes as Roscrea’s outside centre Pablo Pascaul found space on the right-flank to power over for a superb 22nd-minute try. Another Sullivan conversion left Wood further in arrears, before a successful Walsh place-kick cut their deficit to seven points (17-10) in time for the interval.
A strong end to the opening period left Wood with a spring in their step on the resumption and, following an encouraging spell of possession inside the opposition half, Walsh split the uprights off a 22-metre penalty to edge his side a step closer to Roscrea.
However, a series of stoppages – a couple of which were for serious-looking injuries to Clongowes players – made it difficult for either team to develop attacking momentum for large stretches of the second half. Roscrea forged an initial push for a third try inside the final-quarter, but Clongowes held firm to force an impressive turnover.
The curtain-raiser to this game saw Gonzaga College edging out their south Dublin neighbours St Mary’s College by a single point and this was another encounter that looked set to go down to the wire. Clongowes did find themselves inside the Roscrea ’22’ from an offensive line-out, but Cistercian dug deep to win back possession.
Roscrea captain Alejandro Kinsella Garcia subsequently looked set to break free for a game-clinching try, only offered for an outstanding one-handed tackle to halt him in his tracks.
As a consequence, Clongowes remained in contention for a comeback win in a second period that lasted for an astounding 44 minutes. It wasn’t to be in the end though as Roscrea did just enough to progress into the last-eight.
CISTERCIAN COLLEGE ROSCREA: William Mac Entire; Eamon O’Sullivan, Pablo Pascaul, Harry Finlay, Sean Stone; Ronan Sullivan, Aaron Maloney; Fionn Hogan, Oscar Doody, Henry Maher; James Kennedy, Jacobo Serna; Cullan Kehoe, Alejandro Kinsella Garcia, James Miller.
Replacements: Ruben Flynn for Kehoe (40), Denny O’Hara for Doody (49), Ruairc Fay for O’Sullivan (66), Jack Doris for Kennedy (70).
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: Rian Kehoe; Brian McCulloch, Freddie McGuigan, Joshua Grant, Matthew Colton; Ollie Worth, Tom Walsh; Noah Rooney, James Lenehan, DJ Howley; Charlie Ryan, Patrick Jones; Turlough Devitt, Charlie Hussey, Michael O’Sullivan.
Replacements: Dylan Morrissey for Devitt (34), Maxim Stasyukaytis for Colton (39), Hugh Keaney for O’Sullivan (44), Jake Carswell for Lenehan, Peter Gibbons for Jones (both 49), Toby Costello for Walsh (53), Hugo Chiu for Hussey (59), Richie Hyland for McCulloch (71).
Referee: David Williams (Leinster Rugby Referees).