Stoppage time try does the trick for Clongowes
Clongowes Wood College 10
Blackrock College 08
Daire Walsh
A try from centre James Lappin in first-half stoppage time proved decisive in Donnybrook last Thursday afternoon, as Clongowes Wood College dethroned reigning champions Blackrock College in a low-scoring, yet nonetheless gripping, Leinster Junior Cup quarter-final encounter.
Clongowes did have to put up a strong resistance against a powerful Blackrock side, but a strong defensive performance got them over the line in the end, with many of the qualities that are so evident in their senior side being on full display for their vociferous travelling support.
Clongowes had started the game with great urgency, as Tim Burke and William Grealy made powerful surges towards the Blackrock line, and they deservedly took the lead five minutes in courtesy of a close-range penalty from out-half Jonathan Glynn. Blackrock were finding it difficult to settle into the contest, and were struggling to get the ball out of their own half. They did start to gather some possession after the opening few minutes, but they were opting to kick up the wings rather than running at a strongly built Clongowes back division.
They soon got a handle on the kind of game that their north Kildare counterparts were trying to play, though and, after scrum-half James McGowan had opted for a touch with a penalty on 17 minutes, Blackrock brilliantly secured the line-out, before eventually recycling the ball to powerful No. 8 (and captain) Roghan McMahon, who drove over to the right of the posts.
Centre Mark McCallion was extremely unlucky to see his subsequent conversion crashing off the post and away to safety, but Blackrock had firmly settled into the contest, and were beginning to find plenty of inroads through the Clongowes rearguard. However, the Clane school would finish the half in much the same way that they started it, as full-back Conor Murray started to cause Blackrock a number of problems with his pace and trickery in possession.
They seemed poised to add to their tally before the half’s end and, two minutes into over time, they got the reward that their efforts so richly deserved when dynamic centre Lappin burst through for a try underneath the posts at the end of a fine team move. Glynn was on hand to calmly slot over the conversion, giving Clongowes a 10-5 mid-way advantage.
The start of the second period proved to be rather scrappy, though Blackrock were the ones who were doing most of the pressing. They were finding it difficult to put the finishing touches to their numerous attacks, however, and it wasn’t until the 47th minute that they added to their advantage with a superbly struck penalty from a right angle by McCallion.
This ought to have been the catalyst for the south Dubliners to push on for victory, but the five-time Champions would frustrate them time and time again, as they forced the ball back into their direction on a number of occasion in the closing moments. Indeed, Clongowes started to force ‘Rock on the back-foot towards the end of normal time, and despite never really threatening to add to their advantage, they were still running the clock down to considerable effect.
They did have to survive eight tension-filled minutes of injury-time, which included McCallion trying his luck with a penalty from half-way (which proved to be the last kick of the game), but his effort ultimately came up short, much to the delight of a jubilant Clongowes outfit, who exacted revenge on Blackrock after their agonising semi-final loss to the same opposition in last year’s competition.
CLONGOWES WOOD COLLEGE: Conor Murray; Colm Mulcahy, James Lappin, Donal Mongey, Michael McDermott; Jonathan Glynn, Rowan Osborne; Daniel O’Leary, John Molony, Charles Carroll, Tim Burke, Daniel O’Mahony, William Connors, Hugo McDermott, William Grealy.
Replacement: Jonathan Sullivan for Grealy (52).
BLACKROCK COLLEGE: James Fennelly; Christian Delaney, Mark McCallion, Ruairi Egan Barron, Andrew Dunne; Conor Dean, James McGowan; Michael Reidy, Hugo Kean, Greg O’Meara, Daniel Mullane, Pierce West, Aaron Cassidy, Jonathon Mion, Roghan McMahon.
Replacements: Niall Wilson for Mullane (47), Mahon O’Brien for Egan Barron (56), Hugh Egleston for Mion (63), Matthew O’Callaghan for Fennelly (67).
REFEREE: John Carvill (Leinster Rugby).