Steely Clongowes shock St Michael’s
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE…………………………………… 19
ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE……………………………………………… 13
By Daire Walsh
Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup
Clongowes Wood College produced an outstanding defensive play to get the better of a hotly-fancied St Michael’s College in the Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup quarter-final at Donnybrook yesterday.
James Lappin’s 55th-minute try proved to be the decisive score for the Clane men, who are aiming to reach their fifth senior decider in six years.
Clongowes started well and outside centre Colm Mulcahy (who scored four tries against Castleknock) drove over underneath the posts on 11 minutes, while out-half Jonny Glynn slotted the conversion.
This was an early platform for Noel McNamara’s charges, but highly-rated St Michael’s began to showcase their ability. A massive break from No 8 Max Deegan placed them in the Clongowes ‘22’ for the first time, and after sustained pressure, prop Rory Mulvihill dotted down on the right-flank. Barry Fitzpatrick was off-target with the conversion but made amends by touching down for his side’s second try on 22 minutes.
However, just as Michael’s were starting to open up, Clongowes scrum-half Rowan Osborne ran through for an unconverted try, and the north Kildare side held a slender 12-10 half-time advantage.
The introduction of Harry Byrne breathed life into the Michael’s challenge on the resumption, though, and a successful 35-metre penalty from the replacement fly-half moved the Ailesbury Road outfit ahead after 47 minutes.
But with the impressive Clongowes back-row instigating a series of attacks, Lappin crossed over via an Osborne offload just after 60 minutes.
Glynn also contributed two points in spectacular fashion, but thanks to strong leadership from the superb Deegan, Michael’s continued to make life uneasy. A game-changing try seemed inevitable but Clongowes survived to book their place in the semi-final.
Scorers for Clongowes Wood College: C Mulcahy, R Osborne, J Lappin try each, J Glynn 2 cons.
Scorers for St Michael’s College: R Mulvihill, B Fitzpatrick try each, H Byrne pen.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: M Sylvester; J Lappin, C Mulcahy, M McDermott, C Murray; J Glynn, R Osborne; N Rinklin, J Molony, C Carroll; T Burke, D O’Mahony; W Connors, D Mongey, S McCrohan.
Replacements: P Nulty for McCrohan (30-34), F Madden for Mulcahy (32), J Moore for Burke (56-66), E Carroll for C Carroll (66).
ST MICHAEL’S COLLEGE: M O’Shea; J Kelly, O O’Meara, J Hickey, T Molony; R Cosgrave, D Duggan; R Mulvihill, G Barrett, S Griffin; O Dowling, J Ryan; B Fitzpatrick, G Croke, M Deegan.
Replacements: J Dunne for Fitzpatrick (6-7), H Byrne for Cosgrave (h-t), T Killeen for Kelly (62), R Duffy for Mulvihill (66).
Referee: B Montayne.