Junior Cup
Heartbreak for juniors in cup quarter-final
TERENURE COLLEGE…………………………………. 10
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE………………………………. 07
By DAIRE WALSH
There was heartbreak for Newbridge College at Donnybrook last Tuesday, as a dramatic injury-time try from centre Adam La Grue helped Terenure College to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a tentative Leinster Schools’ Junior Cup quarter-final.
Newbridge had entered this last-eight encounter on the back of an excellent 40-12 opening round success over Castleknock College, when five first-half tries put the contest beyond the reach of the Metropolitan outfit. Terenure, on the other hand, had come in under the radar thanks to their scrappy 8-5 triumph over Kilkenny College, and as a consequence, it was hard to know precisely what they would bring to the table.
As it turned out, this game had much more in common with the south Dublin school’s earlier outing, and because of an overly greasy surface in the Dublin 4 venue, the respective attacks were somewhat restricted in their approach during the opening period.
Terenure did make a bright start to the proceedings, but both sides deployed a cautious approach in the early moments, and they were mindful of how costly any error might be in the long-run. However, as the action progressed, ‘Bridge did start to make an impact with the ball in hand, and following strong breaks by Louis Younge, Daithi Murphy and Luke Morris, they were able to force Terenure on the back-foot.
When outside centre Johnny Dean made a gallop towards the ‘Nure line 20 minutes in, it seemed like only a matter of time before the deadlock was broken. Persistent work by the Terenure rearguard kept them at bay on this occasion, though, and the 2010 champions were presented with an ideal opportunity to open the scoring just shy of the half-hour mark when referee Brian McNiece penalised Newbridge on their own 22-metre-line.
Terenure skipper Mark Fabian stepped forward to negotiate this kick from a left-hand angle, but much to the relief of the Newbridge faithful, his subsequent kick dropped well short of his intended target.
This ensured that the game remained scoreless at the mid-way point and although it mightn’t have been the greatest of spectacles, there was still considerable intrigue.
Terenure’s Josh Strahan did ground the ball on the right-wing eight minutes after the restart for what seemed like a perfectly legitimate score, but the final pass from scrum-half Mark Eaton was deemed to have been forward.
Although it was openly accepted that this was the correct call in the end, it was still something of a let-off for Newbridge, who took full advantage of this moment of fortune on the stroke of 40 minutes. An attempted lay-off by Terenure full-back Callum Ashmore was cut out superbly by Cian Murphy, and he ran through unopposed to finally produce some daylight between the sides.
Luke Morris’ routine bonus kick gave Newbridge a seven-point buffer, but ‘Nure were able to peg back this lead 45 minutes in courtesy of a close-range penalty by Fabian.
This set-up a nerve-wracking final-quarter, but Newbridge continued to take the game to their opponents, and Daithi Murphy was perilously close to securing his side’s second try four minutes later.
This may well have put the outcome beyond doubt, but despite admirable endeavours, Terenure were struggling to create clear openings in the Newbridge half.
Yet, their perseverance eventually paid off, and at the end of a lengthy passage inside the College ‘22’ six minutes into added on, the waiting La Grue dived over towards the left-wing, via a neat off-load from replacement Rory McGrath.
Having performed so effectively up to this point, this was a cruel blow for Newbridge College, and with Fabian brilliantly splitting the posts from his third kick at goal, the Kildare side’s Junior Cup journey for 2014 had come to an end.
TERENURE COLLEGE: C Ashmore; J Strahan, A La Grue, J Murphy, K Sweeney; M Fabian, M Eaton; Z Vaughan, J Cadell, J Kerins; C Somerville, J O’Hare; P Heneghan, A Melia, C Shenton.
Replacements: F Bolger for Heneghan (50), R McGrath for Ashmore (50), B O’Hara for Kerins (65).
NEWBRIDGE COLLEGE: Tom Connolly; Cian Murphy, Johnny Dean, Daithi Murphy, Kevin Kyne; Luke Morris, Louis Younge; Niall Stapleton, Rob Wynne, Dylan Morrissey; Luke Heffernan, Thomas Grant; Patrick O’Brien, Ben Howlett, Patrick Ryan.
Replacements: E Morrin for Grant (h-t), D Ryan for Younge (42), C Timmons for Wynne (54), D Doyle for Howlett (60), B Caulfield for Morris (60), L Kelly for O’Brien (65).
Referee: Brian McNiece.