Terenure College bridge 16-year gap to reach Leinster Schools Cup final after emphatic win
Michael Smyth grabbed a hat-trick of tries at Energia Park on Tuesday afternoon as Terenure College reached their first Leinster Schools Senior Cup final since 2009 with an emphatic triumph over St Fintan’s High School, Sutton.
Frank Maher, Josh Mooney, Benedict Dohnal, Michael Kennedy and Ethan Balamash (two) also made their way over the whitewash to ensure Terenure comfortably booked their spot in an upcoming showpiece against either title holders Blackrock College or Cistercian College Roscrea at Tallaght Stadium on St Patrick’s Day.
Playing at this stage of the competition for the very first time, Fintan’s found themselves in arrears with a little over 60 seconds on the clock as a quick ‘tap and go’ penalty from Terenure was passed into the hands of second row Maher for a simple finish over the whitewash.
While Gareth Morgan’s resulting conversion was fired marginally wide of the target, Sean Skehan’s side had seemingly issued a serious statement of intent at the Donnybrook venue. Yet Fintan’s were equally determined to show what they were made of and a kick to touch from fly-half Ben Barnes brought them inside the Terenure ‘22’ for an extended spell.
Scrum-half Oisin Kelly was agonisingly close to breaking over for a five-pointer of his own, before Michael Bolger ultimately pounced for a seventh-minute try. A successful bonus strike from Barnes edged Fintan’s into a 7-5 lead, but it wasn’t long before 10-time champions Terenure reinforced their authority in this contest.
After being fed through a gap at the tail end of an elongated move, back-row Mooney clinically dotted down for a converted try on 16 minutes.
This helped to restore the confidence within their ranks and with Mooney’s fellow flanker Smyth rounding off additional attacks with tries in the 22nd and 26th minutes, Terenure were creating significant between themselves and Fintan’s.
There was enough time left in the first half to secure their fifth try of the action – winger Dohnal capitalising on excellent approach work from Maher and Jamie Coleman before diving over in the right-corner.
This five-pointer ensured Terenure brought a 29-7 buffer into the interval and any prospect of a dramatic Fintan’s fightback was effectively ended when Smyth completed his hat-trick off a line-out maul seven minutes after the resumption.
Outside centre Kennedy also touched down moving towards the final-quarter and even though Fintan’s did their utmost to keep their opponents at bay, Terenure finished this game with a flourish.
Having gotten on the end of a long delivery from Morgan on 59 minutes to dive over on the right-hand side, Balamash added a second try on the opposite wing in the closing moments to leave all of 44 points between the teams in the end.
Tries: M Smyth 3, E Balamash 2, F Maher, J Mooney, B Dohnal, M Kennedy Cons: G Morgan 3
Tries: M Bolger Cons: B Barnes
: G O’Sullivan (W O’Leary 60); E Balamash, M Kennedy, A Swords, B Dohnal (N Fallon 49); G Morgan, J Coleman (A Boehm 60); P Kelly (E McMonagle 32), L Zelman (D McKenna 60), A Cooper (R O’Brien 60); L McNiff, F Maher (M Candon 60); J Mooney (S Gavin 54), M Smyth, B Blaney.
: R O’Shea (R Curley 66); T Young, M Haas (E Curley 66), G Nostro, S O’Leary; B Barnes (J Burke 43), O Kelly (N Sheridan 66); T O’Connor Hehir, L Macari-Kelly (M Burke 68), P Palazzetti (F Cullen 60); R Harvey, M Bolger; L Sanfey (H Curley 60), B Dillon (Y Lin 28), R O’Connor Hehir.
: P Reidy (LRR).