Terenure and Michael’s book last-eight places
Daire Walsh
Leinster Schools Senior Cup
Terenure College and St Michael’s College booked their places in the last-eight of the Leinster Schools Senior Cup yesterday afternoon, following their respective victories over Kilkenny College and St Gerard’s, Bray.
‘Nure’s first-round encounter with Kilkenny was staged on the all-weather surface in Clontarf RFC, where the rain and wind made life difficult for both sets of players. Kilkenny had taken an early lead with a penalty from skipper Josh Miller, but the south Dubliners delivered a swift response when winger Zak Vaughan crossed over the whitewash for a ninth-minute try. This score was supplemented by a conversion from out-half Mark Fabian, as ’Nure brought a 7-3 lead into the break. The Metropolitans had dominated possession for much of the opening period, and six minutes after the restart, they increased their lead with a well-worked Luke Murnaghan try.
Kilkenny battled bravely but the Vinnie Murray Cup qualifiers ultimately crashed to a 12-3 defeat.
It was a tight affair for large spells of the game between Michael’s and Gerard’s at Donnybrook, before the Ailesbury Road outfit stepped up a gear to secure a 23-0 triumph. The deadlock remained unbroken when the second-half action started, but a try from Ian O’Kelly (converted by Harry Byrne) helped Michael’s to create a 7-0 cushion in the third-quarter. A successful Byrne place-kick put further daylight, and in spite of the best efforts from Gerard’s, Stephen Judge subsequently claimed a second try for Michael’s. Byrne enhanced his own personal tally with another three-pointer, and after Chris Carey dotted down in the closing moments, Michael’s sealed their spot in the quarter-final draw in clinical style.