Clongowes book Senior Cup final spot
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE……………………………………………….. 27
ST ANDREW’S COLLEGE……………………………………………………………. 12
DAIRE WALSH
Clongowes Wood College will stand between Blackrock College and their back-to-back Senior Cup aspirations, after Noel McNamara’s charges held off a strong showing from St Andrew’s College at Donnybrook last Tuesday afternoon to book their place in the March 16 decider at the RDS.
The Clane men were certainly favourites to progress from this last-four encounter, but Andrew’s have proven to be the surprise packet in this year’s competition, and they managed to frustrate Clongowes for large spells of the contest.
The class and power of the eight-time champions eventually told in the end, however, and with the excellent back-row of Will Connors, Josh Pim and Stephen McVeigh providing leadership throughout, they eventually overcame the Booterstown boys.
‘Rock had come through a similar game against Newbridge College (the long-standing rivals of Clongowes) two days beforehand, and will feel confident about their chances of retaining the much-coveted Leinster Schools’ crown. Yet, Wood recorded consecutive successes themselves in 2010 and 2011, and having fallen narrowly short in their bid to secure a historic three-in-a-row against St Michael’s College two years ago, they will hell-bent on returning to the top table.
Clongowes had impressed en route to the semi-final, with victories over Kilkenny College (34-15) and Belvedere College (26-14) showcasing their capabilities. However, having finally defeated Castleknock College at the second time of asking in the opening round, Andrew’s produced arguably the performance of the quarter-final stage, when a rampant display aided their 47-3 demolition of Gonzaga College.
Wood full-back Alan Hughes finally broke the deadlock in the 15th minute courtesy of his second attempt at the posts.
Slowly but surely, Andrew’s started to grow in confidence, they started to apply enormous pressure on Clongowes in possession. Wood were then hit with a sucker punch when Fergal Cleary kicked the ball straight into touch.
Full-back Andrew Fogarty spotted an opportunity to pounce, and following his own quick line-out, he linked up neatly with Jordan Larmour, before driving over in clinical fashion to the right of the posts.
Jack Balbirnie’s bonus strike was emphatically sealed, and after surviving a late onslaught by Clongowes, the underdogs brought a surprising 7-3 advantage into the interval.
Wood had been frustrated by their plucky opponents at numerous stages in the opening period, but given how relentless Andrew’s had been in closing down the channels in their half, an element of fatigue was bound to set in at some point.
Just four minutes after the restart, powerhouse Clongowes Wood flanker Pim crossed the whitewash after his side had developed a strong maul on the right-hand side.
Hughes’ conversion was expertly-converted from a tight-angle, and when he added another routine three-pointer on 48 minutes, Clongowes were finally in control of their own destiny again.
The Andrew’s challenge did grow in prominence as the final-quarter beckoned, and their response to the third-quarter surge by Clongowes was generally positive. Unfortunately for them, Wood were alert to the danger in this juncture, and a fabulous individual try down the left-wing by Cian O’Donoghue seven minutes from time effectively placed the outcome beyond any doubt.
The victors were not finished there, though, and No 8 McVeigh added a converted score inside the early moments of stoppage-time. Andrew’s registered a consolation try through lock Jonny Guy but it wasn’t enough to spoil the party for Clongowes, who will now embark on their fourth Senior Cup final in five years.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: Alan Hughes; James Lappin, Colm Mulcahy, Cillian Burke, Cian O’Donoghue; Fergal Cleary, Rowan Osborne; Nicolas Rinklin, John Molony, Dan O’Leary; Conor Gleeson, Jake Kennedy; Will Connors, Josh Pim, Stephen McVeigh.
Replacements: James Lyons for Molony (28-31 & 73), Jonathan Inglis for O’Leary (42), Jonny Glynn for Osborne (67), Darragh Kiely for Kennedy (69), Conor Godson for Rinklin (73), Eric Tyrrell for Gleeson (73), Cormac Gillick for Pim (73), Conor Murray for Cleary (73).
ST ANDREW’S COLLEGE: Andrew Fogarty; Jordan Larmour, Gary Fearon, Michael Kirk, Gavin Beere; Jack Balbirnie, Danny Joyce; Andrew Porter, Alex Brady, Darragh Higgins; Alfie Guy, Jonny Guy; Ryan Bradley, Ben Ingram, Greg Jones.
Replacements: Fionn Irwin-O’Hara for Brady (49), Steven Hayes for Bradley (52), Kyle Jordan for Fogarty (52), Daniel Hide for Beere (58), Alex Waller for A Guy (61).
REFEREE: Sean Gallagher (Leinster Rugby Referees).